Reporter: Associated Press

Saturday, June 30, 2012

A former state senator who helped Kansas move past Jim Crow segregation has died.

Jackson Mortuary says Curtis McClinton Sr. died Wednesday. He was 99. The funeral home's online obituary didn't provide a cause of death.

The Sedgwick County Democratic Party says McClinton was the first black man elected to the Kansas Senate. He served two terms in the Kansas House before being elected to the state Senate in 1960. He continued to serve there until 1968.

McClinton was instrumental in introducing the state's public accommodation law. It ensured equal treatment in restaurants and hotels regardless of race, religion or national origin.

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