But Amoros, on the state Democratic Party staff since 2005, already has a key local milestone on his growing resume.

He was elected to York City Council in 1991, the first Latino to be so honored. In fact, Amoros appears to have been the first Latino to be elected to any public office in the York area.

York County women and minorities started entering appointed and elected political office in noticeable numbers after 1970.

That date coincides with the York-area's painful efforts to recover from the race riots of 1968-69.

Good people can disagree on whether the riots and subsequent attempts at recovery exerted a cause-and-effect result that leveraged women and people of color into office and other high community positions.

Before 1970, such promotions were scarce - and some maintain they still are.

Jane Alexander was one exception, becoming York County's first female state rep in 1964.

Here is a sampling of other female and minority pioneers assuming important community positions since the late 1960s:

York City School District
First Latino school board president: Jeanette Torres
First Latino school superintendent: Carlos Lopez
First black school board member: W. Russell Chapman.
First black female school board member: Doris Sweeney
First black school board president: Douglas Smallwood
First black school superintendent: Frederick D. Holliday
First black female superintendent: Tresa Diggs
First black homecoming queen, William Penn High School: Linda Woodward

York City
First appointed female mayor of York: Jessie M. Gross
First elected female mayor of York: Elizabeth Marshall
First black chief of police: Thomas Chatman
First female police officer: Becky Downing
First black city councilman: Roy Borom
First black candidate for mayor: Ray Crenshaw

York County
First black elected York County row officer: Mattie Chapman
First female county commissioner: Lorraine Hovis
First female York County Common Pleas Court judge: Sheryl Dorney

Other community positions
First black member, York County Chamber of Commerce Board: Bobby Simpson
First black chairman, York County Chamber of Commerce: Vernon Bracey
First black member, Lafayette Club: Vernon Bracey

If you have others to add to the list, comment below.

Here is the York Daily Record/Sunday News story (3/14/08) on Amoros' temporary appointment:

When Abe Amoros of York agreed to the assignment, he knew he was looking at a trial by fire.

Stepping in as executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party? That was challenge enough.

But it just so happens that he took on the job during what's shaping up to be the biggest Democratic presidential primary in Pennsylvania's history.

Since he took the job a week ago, the demands on his time and attention have been pretty much nonstop, Amoros said.

"The phone has basically been growing out of my ear since Wednesday morning," he said.

But then, the presidential primary is why he's taking on the temporary assignment in the first place. Amoros, a former director of community development for York, has worked for the state Democratic Party since December 2005 as political and communications director.

Hillary Clinton's campaign asked the state party's regular executive director, Mary Isenhour, to run Clinton's primary campaign in Pennsylvania.

So at the request of Gov. Ed Rendell and state Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney, Amoros agreed to take on the state executive director's job for seven weeks.

In that capacity, Amoros said, he has to help maintain a database of registered Democratic voters for all of the candidates. He also has to answer questions from elected officials, candidates and members of the state Democratic committee -- from all registered Democrats, basically.

He also has to be available to assist the Barack Obama and Clinton campaigns. It's not his job to pick sides in this particular contest, and he must be equally accessible to both factions.
Although the job started out busy, Amoros said, he has every expectation that it will get only more intense in the weeks leading up to the state primary April 22. And that doesn't bother him a bit.

"I'm having a blast," Amoros said. "This is exactly what I enjoy doing."

For scores of entries on achievements of blacks, see this blog's black history category.

(Sources for "firsts" above: James McClure's "Never to be Forgotten," "Almost Forgotten," various newspaper accounts.)