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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the | ||||||
3 | members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened | ||||||
4 | to learn of the death of Albert W. Johnson of Chicago, who | ||||||
5 | passed away on January 13, 2010; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Mr. Johnson, a St. Louis native, who started | ||||||
7 | selling cars door to door, then went on to become General | ||||||
8 | Motors' first African-American franchise owner, helped elect | ||||||
9 | Chicago's first black mayor and President Barack Obama; and
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10 | WHEREAS,
Mr. Johnson was born February 23, 1920, the son of | ||||||
11 | a physician and a homemaker; he received a B.S. degree in | ||||||
12 | business administration at Lincoln University in 1940 and an | ||||||
13 | M.S. degree in hospital administration from the University of | ||||||
14 | Chicago in 1960; he was a hospital administrator in St. Louis | ||||||
15 | in 1954 when he began to sell cars part-time; even though the | ||||||
16 | owner would not allow a black man on the Oldsmobile premises | ||||||
17 | and insisted he only sell to blacks, Mr. Johnson was the | ||||||
18 | dealership's top salesman; and
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19 | WHEREAS, He wanted his own dealership and had to petition | ||||||
20 | the company for 15 years before getting a franchise, finally | ||||||
21 | securing his own in 1967; his dealership was so successful that | ||||||
22 | General Motors handed him a Cadillac dealership in 1971; Al |
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1 | Johnson Cadillac grew and Mr. Johnson became an independent | ||||||
2 | dealer the following year; and
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3 | WHEREAS, He moved the business to Tinley Park, helping spur | ||||||
4 | a dealership row along a suburban stretch; he worked for Harold | ||||||
5 | Washington's administration for $1 a year; he founded a | ||||||
6 | coalition that drafted Mr. Washington to run for mayor, and | ||||||
7 | then was a major campaign contributor;
Mr. Johnson also was the | ||||||
8 | first large donor to Barack Obama's U.S. Senate campaign, | ||||||
9 | contributing $50,000; he was an important player in the John H. | ||||||
10 | Stroger campaigns; and he was a founder of Rainbow, Operation | ||||||
11 | PUSH's predecessor; and | ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, He married Marion E. Johnson in 1953;
Mr. Johnson | ||||||
13 | was chairman emeritus of the University of Illinois Center for | ||||||
14 | Urban Business, College for Business Administration; he was a | ||||||
15 | board member of LaRabida Children's Hospital, a member of the | ||||||
16 | Executives' Club of Chicago, and the General Motors Black | ||||||
17 | Dealers Advisory Board; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Albert Johnson is survived by his wife, Marion; | ||||||
19 | his sons, Donald, Al Jr., and Antwoine; therefore, be it
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20 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
21 | NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
22 | mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Albert |
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1 | Johnson; and be it further
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2 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
3 | presented to the family of Albert W. Johnson as a symbol of our | ||||||
4 | sincere sympathy.
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