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SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
3to learn of the death of Josephine "Jo" Baskin Minow of
4Chicago, who passed away at the age of 95; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Josephine Baskin Minow earned her Bachelor of
6Science from Northwestern University in 1948; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Josephine Baskin Minow was a prominent organizer
8and advocate; while raising her three children, she also
9fought to improve the lives of others; after teaching
10kindergarten and 5th grade at Francis W. Parker School in the
11late 1940s, she later became president of the Juvenile
12Protective Association originally founded by Jane Addams; her
13work with children led her to be part of the Citizens Committee
14of the Juvenile Court, and she became a prominent member of the
15Jane Addams Juvenile Court Foundation; and
 
16    WHEREAS, While her husband worked in government in
17Washington, D.C., Josephine Baskin Minow helped create the
18Hospitality and Information Service (T.H.I.S.), operating out
19of the U.S. Department of State, which welcomes diplomats and
20their families to D.C. and helps them navigate stays in the
21capital; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Josephine Baskin Minow funneled her advocacy for
2children and passion for writing into writing children's
3books, and she authored three; she wrote Marty the
4Broken-Hearted Artichoke, which was published in 1992,
5distributed free to nonprofits across the country, and chosen
6by then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton to be read at the
7inaugural Reach Out and Read project at the University of
8Chicago Friends Children's Clinic; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Josephine Baskin Minow served on the boards of
10many of Chicago's most significant civic organizations,
11including the Chicago History Museum, the Ravinia Music
12Festival, Chicago's Center on Halsted, and Know Your Chicago;
13she was a founding member of the Northwestern University
14Women's Board in 1978 and a member of the women's boards of the
15University of Chicago and the Field Museum; she was a
16governing member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; she served
17both as director and executive committee member of the Chicago
18Council on Global Affairs; she became a member of the Abraham
19Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Board in Springfield
20at the age of 80; and
 
21    WHEREAS, Josephine Baskin Minow was a staunch believer in
22equal rights and advocacy; during college, she was a member of
23the Quibblers, a group advocating against the exclusion of
24members of racial minority groups from university housing; in

 

 

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1the mid-1970s, she joined a group of women pushing department
2stores to end racial discrimination, meeting with Marshall
3Field's to advocate for Black sales associates to be allowed
4on the floor; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Josephine Baskin Minow played the role of
6assistant to Henry Fonda's character Robert Leffingwell in the
71962 dramatic movie Advise and Consent; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Josephine Baskin Minow received a number of
9accolades over the course of her life; she was given an award
10from the Ravinia Music Festival for her work as a trustee in
11the 1980s; she received the honor of having the Jo Baskin Minow
12Balcony Gallery at the Chicago History Museum dedicated in her
13honor in 2015; she was honored with the Caroline Margaret
14McIlvaine Making History Award for Distinction in Creative
15Cultural Leadership from the Chicago History Museum in 2018;
16and
 
17    WHEREAS, Josephine Baskin Minow had a lifetime love affair
18with Chicago and its history; she meticulously chronicled her
19family's life in scrapbooks, totaling 70 volumes that she
20donated to the Chicago History Museum; she will be especially
21remembered for dedication and service to the City of Chicago;
22and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Josephine Baskin Minow is survived by her husband
2of 72 years, Newton N. Minow; her daughters, Nell, Martha, and
3Mary; her sons-in-law, David Apatoff and Joseph Singer; and
4her grandchildren, Ben Apatoff, Rachel (Scott Collette)
5Apatoff, and Mira Singer; therefore, be it
 
6    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
7ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
8Josephine "Jo" Baskin Minow and extend our sincere condolences
9to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be
10it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12presented to the family of Josephine Baskin Minow as an
13expression of our deepest sympathy.