HR1271 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1271 LRB100 24055 ALS 43254 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to congratulate the schoolchildren of Sangamon County on raising over $18,000 worth of pennies and spare change over a period of two weeks in order to purchase the Minute Book of Sangamon County; and

WHEREAS, The penny drive was modeled after a similar campaign from the early 1940s, when Illinois State Historical Library Trustee Oliver Barrett asked schoolchildren from around the state to raise money to buy the "Everett Copy," a copy of the Gettysburg Address written by Abraham Lincoln himself; the campaign was extremely successful and raised $50,000; the Everett Copy now resides at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum; and

WHEREAS, As part of the Illinois Bicentennial, Sangamon County schoolchildren were encouraged to donate pennies and spare change as part of the "Illinois Proud Penny Drive" campaign, which ran for two weeks from April 16, 2018 until April 27, 2018, with a goal of $15,000; that goal was surpassed, and $18,031 was raised; and

WHEREAS, Proceeds from the Illinois Proud Penny drive will be used to buy the Minute Book of the Sangamon County Circuit Court from July 6, 1835 to July 7, 1838, which contains a certification that formally admitted Abraham Lincoln to the Illinois Bar and attested to his "good moral character"; in addition, the book contains records of some of the earliest cases with which Abraham Lincoln and his law partner, John Todd Stuart, were involved; and

WHEREAS, The penny drive was a true community effort, involving not only children from more than 60 Sangamon County schools, but also contributors such as the Sangamon County Bar Association and Staab Funeral Homes, as well as partners including the Bank of Springfield, Pease's at Bunn Gourmet, Midwest Family Broadcasting, Looking for Lincoln, Springfield Pepsi Bottling Company, Giganti & Giganti, Staff Carpet, Midwest Office Supply, and the Illinois Bicentennial Commission; and

WHEREAS, Because of the efforts of these community partners and the schoolchildren of Sangamon County, the Minute Book of Sangamon County will be brought back to Mr. Lincoln's hometown and displayed in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum for visitors to admire; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the children of Sangamon County on their efforts to bring this historic Lincoln artifact back to his hometown, and we admire their hard work and dedication, as well as that of the community, to make a meaningful impact out of spare change; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Jilinda Larson, Superintendent of Tri-City CUSD #1, Lance Thurman, Superintendent of Rochester CUSD #3A, Douglas Wood, Superintendent of Ball Chatham CUSD #5, Matt Runge, Superintendent of Pleasant Plains CUSD #8, Darren Root, Superintendent of Auburn CUSD #10, Gary Alexander, Superintendent of Pawnee CUSD #11, Brad Polanin, Superintendent of Riverton CUSD #14, Adam Ehrman, Superintendent of New Berlin CUSD #16, Jennifer Gill, Superintendent of Springfield SD 186, Dawn Klinner, Principal of Blessed Sacrament, Glenn Rollins, Principal of Lutheran High School, William Moredock, Principal of Little Flower School, Kara Rapacz, Principal of Sacred Heart-Griffin, Rich Harkins, Principal of St. Aloysius School, Jan Williams, Principal of St. Patrick Grade School, Zachary Klug, Principal of Trinity Lutheran School, Pam Fahey, Principal of Christ the King School, and Jay Hinckley, Principal of Calvary Academy.