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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Ella Louise Park Lawrence, known as the Mother of
3the Illinois State Flag, was born May 13, 1857, during a period
4of great upheaval preceding the Civil War; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Ella Park Lawrence's father, George Park,
6published an abolitionist newspaper in Parkville, Missouri,
7where at that time there were ongoing bloody conflicts between
8pro-slavery factions and abolitionists; her father's printing
9press was thrown into the Missouri River in 1855 by a
10pro-slavery mob, and he slept in caves for several months to
11avoid being killed; after the Civil War, Parkville's commercial
12activity and population declined and, in 1875, George Park
13established Park College (now known as Park University), which
14reinvigorated the town that he founded; and
 
15    WHEREAS, The experiences of her childhood stayed with Ella
16Park Lawrence for the rest of her life; she was devoted to the
17flag of the United States, and she donated flags to schools and
18various organizations; and
 
19    WHEREAS, In 1874, Ella Park Lawrence began attending Knox
20College in Galesburg, but she did not complete her studies
21there; while she was a student at Knox College, she met George
22A. Lawrence, a lawyer and author, and they married on October

 

 

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118, 1882 at the Park homestead in Putnam County; during their
2marriage, they lived in several houses in Galesburg; shortly
3after her time at Knox College, she enrolled at Vassar College;
4and
 
5    WHEREAS, In 1890, the National Society of the Daughters of
6the American Revolution (DAR), a women's patriotic lineage
7society, was organized in Washington, D.C.; in order to become
8a member, a woman had to provide documents proving she was a
9descendant of a Revolutionary War participant; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The Rebecca Parke Chapter of DAR was organized in
11Galesburg on January 23, 1901; Rebecca Gibson Parke was an
1211-year-old girl living near Lexington, Massachusetts when the
13Revolutionary War began; her father, Isaac Gibson, and 5 of her
148 brothers responded to the alarm at Lexington in April of
151776; she was an ancestor to 2 members of the new DAR chapter,
16Ella Park Lawrence and Marietta Howe Ervin; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Ella Park Lawrence became a charter member of the
18Rebecca Parke Chapter, and, in 1906, she was elected regent of
19the chapter, serving 4 years; in 1911, she was chosen as the
20State regent of the Illinois DAR; and
 
21    WHEREAS, All of the state regents were required to attend
22the National Congress at the DAR headquarters in Washington,

 

 

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1D.C. each year; while attending one of these meetings, Ella
2Park Lawrence noticed that there was no flag representing
3Illinois hanging among those in Memorial Continental Hall; in
4fact, the State had no flag at all; she decided this situation
5should be remedied and felt that the 5,500 DAR members in
6Illinois were just the ones to do it; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Ella Park Lawrence started writing letters and
8visiting chapters across the State to promote the idea of
9adopting a design for a State flag; she also contacted State
10officials and members of the General Assembly, trying to create
11interest in the adoption of a State flag; she did not succeed
12in her goal during her tenure as state regent, but she
13continued her work; and
 
14    WHEREAS, On April 1, 1914, Ella Park Lawrence sent a letter
15to every DAR chapter in Illinois offering a prize of $25 ($500
16in today's dollars) for the winning flag design; and
 
17    WHEREAS, The judging was led by Secretary of State Lewis G.
18Stevenson, father of future Governor Adlai E. Stevenson; the
19prize was awarded to the Rockford chapter; the design consisted
20of the Great Seal of Illinois on a white background; and
 
21    WHEREAS, The General Assembly passed legislation
22authorizing a State flag, and it became law on July 6, 1915;

 

 

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1the legislation specified that the State seal could be
2reproduced in black or color on a white background and the
3Secretary of State was required to oversee the use of the seal
4on the flags; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Ella Park Lawrence had 5 "first flags" made; she
6gave one of the flags to the National Headquarters of the DAR,
7one to the State DAR, one to Secretary of State Stevenson, one
8to Governor Edward Deneen, and one to the Illinois State
9Historical Society; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Fifty-four years after the Illinois State Flag was
11officially designated, a young Chief Petty Officer serving in
12Vietnam, Bruce McDaniel from Waverly, observed the state flags
13hanging in his mess hall; he pointed out that the Illinois flag
14was difficult to identify because the name of the State did not
15appear on it; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Representative Jack Walker of Lansing introduced
17the bill to add the word 'Illinois' below the Great Seal on the
18flag; it was passed by the State Legislature on September 17,
191969; Governor Richard B. Ogilvie signed the legislation and
20appointed a commission to set standards for production of the
21flag and a uniform design; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Ella Park Lawrence continued to give flags to

 

 

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1schools and organizations until her death on March 17, 1924; a
2week after her funeral, the Rebecca Parke Chapter of the DAR
3conducted a memorial service in her name; Myra Patch, one of
4the speakers, said of Ella Park Lawrence: "Tremendous in
5energy, fervent in patriotism, resourceful in plans, Mrs.
6Lawrence not only gave of her money, her time, her thought, and
7her physical strength, but she also had the happy faculty of
8inspiring others to do likewise - by the high standard of her
9work as State Regent of Illinois, Mrs. Lawrence added greatly
10to the honor and fame of our chapter"; therefore, be it
 
11    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
13recognize the 100th Anniversary of the creation of the flag of
14the State of Illinois on July 6, 2015; and be it further
 
15    RESOLVED That the State of Illinois honors all of the
16individuals and organizations who helped with the design and
17creation of the State Flag; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
19presented to the Governor, the Secretary of State, and the
20Illinois Senate.