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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
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
 
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
 
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
 
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
 
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
 
18     WHEREAS, Albert Johnson is survived by his wife, Marion;
19 his sons, Donald, Al Jr., and Antwoine; therefore, be it
 
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
 
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.