HR0937 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0937 LRB098 20645 MST 57248 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate Barbara Jean (nee Matthews) Gleghorn on the occasion of her 80th birthday on April 19, 2014; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn was born in the city of Carbondale to an African American railroad worker named Robert Matthews, who relocated to Carbondale after changing his surname to flee the noose of intolerance and bigotry in the South, marrying Lou Della Griffin, the daughter of a plantation owner from Carruthers, Mississippi, they raised 9 children; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn was the 5th child, with the children affectionately calling their parents "Daddie" and "Dea"; due to only having an 8th-grade education, Robert and Lou Della misspelled their daughter's name as "B-A-BR-A" on her birth certificate; and

WHEREAS, Throughout her youth, Barbara Gleghorn, nicknamed "Bobbie", studied hard to rise above her station of poverty to become a writer on her school newspaper; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn attended Crispus Attucks School and earned a scholarship in the sport of tennis allowing her to attend Southern Illinois University in Carbondale as a student, with an English major and business minor; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn fell in love with a young man, whom she would accept as her fiance, only to mourn his death after a car train accident and then discovering she was with child; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn welcomed her 1st child into this world in 1953, then at 19-years-old, moved to Springfield to stay at the boarding house formerly used as the now-historic Colored Folks Orphanage and, upon marrying Charles Price, subsequently was blessed with 6 other children; and

WHEREAS, Alan, Evelyn, Charlotte, Charles, Patricia, James, and Jacqueline were reared by their parents in a loving environment in the city of Springfield while also attending St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church for several years before joining St. Paul AME Church; and

WHEREAS, For more than 50 years, Barbara Gleghorn has been a member of the little red church at 16th and Stuart streets in Springfield, where she currently holds the offices of Past-President of the Estella Thompson Women's Missionary Society, as well as being a member of the Steward Board and serving the Lord in the adult Gospel Choir; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn's dedication and spirituality called her to serve also as a member, past-President of the local chapter, Area Chair, and Vice-President of the State Chapter of Church Women United with offices in the United Nations in New York City, serving the meek and needy citizens of this world; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn supported and became a member of the Jerome Irwin Republican Club in Springfield and helped her son, Charles Price, to become one of the few black youths to work as a page on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives for Republican legislators; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn retired from working for the State of Illinois after 35 years and later periodically worked for Springfield Public School District 186 as a substitute, retiring again to do charitable work and with the James Weldon Johnson Literary Guild, founded after members became friends with James Weldon Johnson; and

WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn volunteered with the Parent Helpline to help new mothers learn how to care for their babies, and is active with AMVETS Auxiliary to ensure that military veterans receive the honors they deserve; and

WHEREAS, After the end of her marriage to Charles, Barbara married Alexander Gleghorn, whom she loved and cared for until he lost a battle with cancer; and

WHEREAS, Despite the tragic and heart-wrenching passing away of her fourth child Charles Philip Price, Barbara Gleghorn holds on to her unfaltering faith in a higher being greater than she professing the words of the gospel spiritual, "I don't feel no ways tired. I've come to far from where I started from. Nobody told me, the road would be easy. I don't believe He brought me this far, to leave me," to keep soldiering on; and

WHEREAS, On April 18th and 19th, 2014, friends and family including her 6 surviving children, her step-children, her 22 grandchildren, her 41 great-grandchildren, and her 2 great-great-grandchildren, will fete her ceremoniously at the Springfield Park District's Erin's Pavilion in Southwind Park with laughter, food, and fun to honor a woman who, through her charitable work, has helped hundreds of friends who are known and unknown; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor Barbara Jean Gleghorn on the occasion of her 80th birthday and wish her well in all of her future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Barbara Jean Gleghorn as an expression of our esteem and respect.