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SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Harold Lee Washington, a native son of Chicago,
3was born on April 15, 1922 and was a product of Chicago Public
4Schools, having attended Forestville Elementary and DuSable
5High School; and
 
6    WHEREAS, During World War II, Harold Washington served in
7the United States Air Force from 1942 to 1946; and
 
8    WHEREAS, Harold Washington received his Bachelor of Arts
9from Roosevelt University in 1949, where he served as
10president of the Student Council and was a highly respected
11student leader; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Harold Washington was the secretary of the Third
13Ward Regular Democratic Organization for Alderman Ralph
14Metcalfe and helped to organize the Third Ward Young
15Democrats, which became one of the leading Young Democratic
16organizations in the State of Illinois;; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Harold Washington received his Juris Doctorate
18from Northwestern University Law School in 1952 and was
19admitted to the Bar in 1953; he served as an assistant city
20prosecutor in Chicago from 1954 to 1958 and as arbitrator for
21the Illinois Industrial Commission from 1960 to 1964; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Harold Washington was elected to the Illinois
2House of Representatives in 1965, where he served with
3distinction until his election to the Illinois Senate in 1977;
4and
 
5    WHEREAS, While in the General Assembly, Harold Washington
6was the first legislator in the nation to organize a Black
7Legislative Caucus and to successfully pass a bill
8commemorating a holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.;
9and
 
10    WHEREAS, In 1980, Harold Washington was elected to the
11United States Congress and served on three House Committees,
12which was unprecedented for a freshman congressman; he was the
13leader in securing a 10-year extension of the Voting Rights
14Act; and
 
15    WHEREAS, In 1983, Harold Washington was drafted by the
16community to run for the office of mayor of the City of
17Chicago, and he conducted a campaign in which his extensive
18vocabulary sent even the most articulate Chicago journalist
19running for the dictionary; he won the election with a diverse
20coalition of support; and
 
21    WHEREAS, As mayor of the City of Chicago, Harold

 

 

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1Washington accomplished many positive achievements, including
2reducing the widespread practice of political patronage,
3establishing a functioning affirmative action program for
4minority business, creating a women's affairs commission and a
5viable sister cities program, and several other initiatives,
6which improved all sections of the Chicago community; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Harold Washington was truly the people's mayor,
8and his memory is cherished by multitudes of ordinary citizens
9in Chicago and throughout the world; therefore, be it
 
10    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
11ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare April 15,
122022 as "Harold Washington Day" in the State of Illinois; and
13be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
15presented to the family of Harold Washington as a token of our
16respect and esteem.