SR0644 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0644 LRB097 20757 GRL 67307 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Franklin McMahon, who passed away on March 3, 2012; and

WHEREAS, Franklin McMahon was born on the west side of Chicago in 1921; he grew up in Oak Park and Los Angeles before returning to Chicago, where he attended high school; in 1939, he graduated from Fenwick High School, where his professional artistic career started when one of his drawings for his high school publication was published in Collier's Magazine; he is also a member of the Fenwick High School Hall of Fame; and

WHEREAS, After graduating from high school, Franklin McMahon enlisted in the United States Army Air Force, where he served as a B-17 navigator conducting missions over Germany during World War II; during the war, his plane was shot down and he spent months as a German prisoner of war; during his time in the POW camp, he made drawings of his Nazi captors, which were later published; after the war, he returned to Chicago, where he married his high school sweetheart, the late travel reporter Irene Leahy McMahon; and

WHEREAS, Franklin McMahon was an internationally-recognized artist reporter; he made drawings and paintings for numerous publications, including the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Daily News, the Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Magazine, the New York Times, Life and Look Magazines, and Sports Illustrated; and

WHEREAS, Franklin McMahon's artistic works captured the major historical events of the post-World War II era; he created works for such iconic events as the trial of Emmett Till, the political campaigns and conventions from 1960 through 2004, the Vatican II Council, the 1965 March on Selma, the Conspiracy Trial of The Chicago 8, the first walk on the moon, as drawn from Mission Control, and the Watergate hearings; he created all of his drawings "on scene" because he believed that an artist reporter could "see around the corners" to capture the essence of the emotion of the subjects of his work; his work is in a variety of public collections, including the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Chicago History Museum; and

WHEREAS, Franklin McMahon was the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the Renaissance Prize of the Art Institute of Chicago; in 1963, he was named "Artist of the Year" by the New York Artists Guild; in 2000, he received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Civil Rights from the Minority Economic Resources Board; he was the recipient of three Emmy Awards and one Peabody award for films incorporating his artwork that were broadcast on WTTW and a number of other Chicago television stations; he received honorary degrees from Loyola University of Chicago and Lake Forest College; he was also a member of the Guiding Faculty of the Famous Artists School in Wilton, Connecticut; and

WHEREAS, Franklin McMahon was preceded in death by his wife; and

WHEREAS, Franklin McMahon is survived by his children, Wm. Franklin McMahon, Mark McMahon, Mary I McMahon Taplin, Deborah McMahon Osterholtz, Patrick McMahon, Hugh McMahon, Margot McMahon, Michelle McMahon-Kubota, and Michael McMahon; his 13 grandchildren; and his 5 great-grandchildren; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Franklin McMahon; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Franklin McMahon as an expression of our sympathy.