Full Text of HR0071 96th General Assembly
HR0071 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of James | 4 |
| Webb Wagner, activist, civic leader, and long-time Hyde Park | 5 |
| resident, who died on January 10, 2009; and
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| WHEREAS, Jim graduated from DuSable High School, received | 7 |
| his B.S. from Northwestern University, his M.A. from the | 8 |
| University of Chicago, and his Ph.D. from Western Colorado | 9 |
| University; and
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| WHEREAS, Jim began his career as a teacher with the Chicago | 11 |
| Public Schools; he then became the Education Director at the | 12 |
| Chicago Urban League, and then the Dean of Students in the | 13 |
| School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at | 14 |
| Chicago where he served for nearly 20 years; and
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| WHEREAS, Jim was a community activist and consummate | 16 |
| organizer; he headed the DuSable Alumni Coalition, which | 17 |
| successfully fought to keep DuSable High School open when the | 18 |
| Chicago Public Schools had plans to close it, and the Mary | 19 |
| Herriek Scholarship Fund, which raised over $200,000 for | 20 |
| scholarships for more than 200 DuSable graduates; even after | 21 |
| his retirement, he worked as a consultant to non-profit | 22 |
| organizations and continued his deep commitment to community |
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| and civic interests; he led efforts for 10 years to bring | 2 |
| Neighbors' Eve to Hyde Park, enabling families to celebrate, | 3 |
| without cost, New Years Eve with music, food and games in local | 4 |
| venues; and
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| WHEREAS, Jim was a longtime civil rights activist; he was | 6 |
| one of 9 members of the Emergency Relief Committee for Fayette | 7 |
| County, Tennessee, which in 1961 and 1962 raised thousands of | 8 |
| dollars and sent tons of food to sharecroppers in Tennessee who | 9 |
| had been thrown off the land for registering to vote; he was | 10 |
| captain of the "Green Train" which in 1963 transported hundreds | 11 |
| of Chicagoans to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's March on | 12 |
| Washington; he led the Attending to Black Culture committee, | 13 |
| which met at the University Church in Hyde Park and focused on | 14 |
| African-American customs and celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. | 15 |
| years before the holiday came to be; one of Mr. Wagner's | 16 |
| greatest joys was the election of Barack Obama as President; | 17 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Jim's love for Jazz, originally stoked by Captain | 19 |
| Walter Dyett at DuSable High School, led him to found the Hyde | 20 |
| Park Jazz Society in an effort to revive jazz in Hyde Park; | 21 |
| with the help of the University of Chicago, the society brought | 22 |
| the Checkerboard Lounge to Hyde Park and established the highly | 23 |
| successful Sunday night jazz series; he helped create the Hyde | 24 |
| Park Jazz Festival, which drew over 15,000 listeners in its |
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| second year; last year, the Jazz Society dedicated and | 2 |
| permanently named the Midway Plaisance stage the James W. | 3 |
| Wagner Center Stage; and
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| WHEREAS, Jim lived for his community, his music, and the | 5 |
| civil rights of all people, but his first love was for his | 6 |
| family: Almarie, his wife of 36 years and his daughters, Cecily | 7 |
| and Cynthia; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 9 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 10 |
| mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of James | 11 |
| Webb Wagner; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 13 |
| presented to the family of Jim Wagner as a symbol of our | 14 |
| sincere sympathy.
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