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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to
3 learn of the death of Anna R. Langford of Chicago; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford was born to Arthur and Alice
5 Riggs on October 27, 1917 in Springfield, Ohio; she was the
6 youngest of three siblings; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford was raised by her grandmother
8 after her parents died; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford moved to Chicago in 1933 to live
10 with her aunt and uncle; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford graduated from Hyde Park High
12 School and then attended the Washburn Trade School; and
 
13     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford started her professional career
14 as a typist in the Social Security office; she then relocated
15 to the Election Commissioner's office, where she aided in
16 setting up a permanent registration system; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford later worked for and managed the
18 old Secretary of State office on Cottage Grove Avenue in
19 Chicago; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford married Larry Langford in 1947;
2 and
 
3     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford attended John Marshall Law School
4 to become an attorney; while pursuing her goal, she had a son,
5 Larry Jr., in 1952; and
 
6     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford moved with her family to the
7 Englewood neighborhood, integrating the 6000 block of Bishop
8 Street; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford would later join Hope
10 Presbyterian Church; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford was admitted to the Illinois Bar
12 in 1956; however, as a black attorney, she was refused office
13 space in downtown Chicago; and
 
14     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford set up a neighborhood practice
15 and provided legal representation to the poor on matters
16 ranging from divorce to criminal defense to bankruptcy; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford spent much of her time in the
18 1960s providing free legal services to the residents of
19 Mississippi, under dangerous conditions, as they sought to gain

 

 

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1 voting rights; and
 
2     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford worked closely with Dr. Martin
3 Luther King and a young Jesse Jackson to protest segregation
4 and discrimination in Chicago; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford successfully challenged the
6 regular organization in 1971, winning the seat of Alderman of
7 the 16th Ward and becoming the first black female alderman in
8 the history of the Chicago City Council; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford went on to serve three terms and
10 was an avid supporter of Mayor Harold Washington; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford retired from the Chicago City
12 Council in 1991 but remained active in local politics, always
13 working to improve her beloved neighborhood of Englewood, where
14 she would spend the balance of her life; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford has received many humanitarian
16 and civic awards and citations during her lifetime; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford was called home to glory on
18 September 17, 2008; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford was preceded in death by her

 

 

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1 parents, Arthur and Alice Riggs, and her husband, Larry
2 Langford; and
 
3     WHEREAS, Anna R. Langford is survived by her son, Lawrence
4 W. Langford Jr., her grandchildren, Michael, Leslie, and Kris
5 Hicks, her step grandson, Richard Pegue, her daughter-in-law,
6 Marguerita, her great-grandson, Christopher; her niece, Cheryl
7 Williams; her nephew, Arlester Jones; and her long-time
8 friends, Nanny Ryan, Lillian Merrill, and Grace Edwards;
9 therefore, be it
 
10     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL
11 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with
12 her family and friends, the passing of Anna R. Langford; and be
13 it further
 
14     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
15 presented to the family of Anna R. Langford as an expression of
16 our sympathy.