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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Illinois State Archives | ||||||
| 4 | Director David Joens on his retirement after 20 years as | ||||||
| 5 | director and 35 years in state government and public service; | ||||||
| 6 | and | ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, David Joens is the son of Alan I. and Betty H. | ||||||
| 8 | Joens, the husband of Mona B. Martin, and the father of | ||||||
| 9 | Benjamin Alan Joseph Joens and is a fifth generation resident | ||||||
| 10 | of the State of Illinois, who attended Illinois public schools | ||||||
| 11 | from kindergarten at Pershing Grade School in Joliet to his | ||||||
| 12 | Ph.D. in Illinois History at Southern Illinois University in | ||||||
| 13 | Carbondale; and | ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, David Joens served two years in the United States | ||||||
| 15 | Army, was a reporter for the Sun newspaper in Lisle, served as | ||||||
| 16 | an intern and a press secretary for the Illinois Senate | ||||||
| 17 | Democratic staff for six years, worked at the University of | ||||||
| 18 | Illinois at Springfield Legislative Studies Center for four | ||||||
| 19 | years, and worked on the Illinois Secretary of State's | ||||||
| 20 | Programs and Policy staff for four years; and | ||||||
| 21 | WHEREAS, David Joens was appointed by Secretary of State | ||||||
| 22 | Jesse White in 2004 to serve as the Director of the Illinois | ||||||
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| 1 | State Archives, making him the fifth director of the archives | ||||||
| 2 | in its 103-year history, following in the footsteps of his | ||||||
| 3 | predecessors Margaret Cross Norton, LeRoy DePuy, Ted Cassady, | ||||||
| 4 | and John Daly; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, David Joens, during his tenure at the Illinois | ||||||
| 6 | State Archives, modernized that office's micrographics | ||||||
| 7 | section, increased the capacity of its records center by | ||||||
| 8 | one-third, moved its public finding aids from paper to a state | ||||||
| 9 | of the art on-line system, added numerous indexes and records | ||||||
| 10 | to the archives' website, instituted an intern program that | ||||||
| 11 | provided an entry point for young professional archivists to | ||||||
| 12 | join the Illinois State Archives, and created the on-line | ||||||
| 13 | exhibit, "The 100 Most Valuable Documents at the Illinois | ||||||
| 14 | State Archives", which offers a brief history of the state | ||||||
| 15 | using primary documents; and | ||||||
| 16 | WHEREAS, David Joens helped secure more than $1 million in | ||||||
| 17 | grant funding for the Illinois State Archives and its advisory | ||||||
| 18 | board and established a now 14-year-old award winning re-grant | ||||||
| 19 | program, which uses federal grant money to fund archival | ||||||
| 20 | projects at small, underserved Illinois historical museums, | ||||||
| 21 | libraries, and archives and provide scholarships and free | ||||||
| 22 | classes in archival studies to Illinois archivists; and | ||||||
| 23 | WHEREAS, David Joens served on numerous boards and | ||||||
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| 1 | commissions as director of the Illinois State Archives, | ||||||
| 2 | including both the Downstate and Cook County Local Records | ||||||
| 3 | Commissions, as chair of the State Records Commission, as | ||||||
| 4 | chair of the Illinois State Flag Commission, as a member of the | ||||||
| 5 | Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, the Illinois | ||||||
| 6 | Bicentennial Commission, the Route 66 Centennial Commission, | ||||||
| 7 | and the Underground Railroad Task Force; and | ||||||
| 8 | WHEREAS, David Joens was an active member of the National | ||||||
| 9 | Council of State Archivists, including serving two terms on | ||||||
| 10 | its board of directors, and was an active member in numerous | ||||||
| 11 | organizations that promoted Illinois history, including the | ||||||
| 12 | Illinois State Historical Society, where he is a Lifetime | ||||||
| 13 | Achievement Award recipient, the Old State Capitol Foundation, | ||||||
| 14 | the Abraham Lincoln Association, the Illinois State | ||||||
| 15 | Genealogical Society, the Illinois Heritage Association, the | ||||||
| 16 | Chicago Metro History in Education Center, the Center for | ||||||
| 17 | Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield, | ||||||
| 18 | and the Chicago Area Archivists; and | ||||||
| 19 | WHEREAS, David Joens has a deep and abiding love for | ||||||
| 20 | Illinois, authoring numerous scholarly journal and popular | ||||||
| 21 | history articles about all aspects of Illinois history, two | ||||||
| 22 | Almanac of Illinois Politics, and the book, "From Slave to | ||||||
| 23 | State Legislator, John W. E. Thomas, Illinois' First African | ||||||
| 24 | American Lawmaker"; therefore, be it | ||||||
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| 1 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 2 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 3 | we congratulate David Joens, a true son of Illinois, on his | ||||||
| 4 | retirement after 20 years as Director of the Illinois State | ||||||
| 5 | Archives and 35 years of public service to the people of the | ||||||
| 6 | State of Illinois; and be it further | ||||||
| 7 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 8 | presented to David Joens and his family as a symbol of our | ||||||
| 9 | respect and esteem. | ||||||