Alcee Hastings Collection

Alcee L. (Lamar) Hastings was born on September 5, 1936 in Altamonte Springs, Florida to Mildred and Julius “J. C.” Hastings. He received a B.A. degree in Zoology and Botany from Fisk University in 1958. From 1958 to 1960, Hastings attended Howard University School of Law and earned his Juris Doctorate degree in 1963 from Florida A&M University School of Law.

After practicing law, Hastings became a judge in the circuit court of Broward County, Florida in 1977. He was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and held this position from 1979 to 1989.

In 1992, Alcee L. Hastings was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Florida’s 23rd district (1993-2013) and 20th district (2013-2021). These congressional districts cover Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Congressman Hastings, Carrie Meek and Corrine Brown were the first black representatives from Florida elected to Congress in 1992.

Congressman Hastings participated in several community and political organizations and events such as the Urban League of Broward County inaugural “Achievement Matters…Salute to Scholars”, the National Advancement for the Association of Colored People (NAACP), Broward County Young Democrats, Little Haiti Housing Association, Inc., and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity alumni chapter gatherings. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and the Congressional Black Caucus.

Alcee L. Hastings was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2019. He died on April 6, 2021.