Full Text of HR0822 102nd General Assembly
HR0822 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Harold Lee Washington, a native son of Chicago, | 3 | | was born on April 15, 1922; he was a product of Chicago Public | 4 | | Schools, having attended Forestville Elementary and DuSable | 5 | | High Schools; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Harold Washington served in the United States | 7 | | Army Air Forces from 1942 to 1946; he served in the Pacific | 8 | | Theater during World War II; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, In 1949, Harold Washington received his | 10 | | bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University, where he served | 11 | | as president of the Student Council and joined the Upsilon | 12 | | Sigma Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.; he was a | 13 | | highly respected student leader; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Harold Washington served as the secretary of the | 15 | | Third Ward Regular Democratic Organization for Alderman Ralph | 16 | | Metcalfe and helped to organize the Third Ward Young | 17 | | Democrats, which became one of the leading Young Democratic | 18 | | organizations in the State of Illinois; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Harold Washington received his Juris Doctor from | 20 | | Northwestern University Law School in 1952 and was admitted to | 21 | | the bar in 1953; he later served as an assistant city |
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| 1 | | prosecutor in Chicago from 1954 to 1958 and as an arbitrator | 2 | | for the Illinois Industrial Commission from 1960 to 1964; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, Harold Washington was elected to the Illinois | 4 | | House of Representatives in 1965, where he served with | 5 | | distinction until he was elected to the Illinois Senate in | 6 | | 1977; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, During his tenure in the General Assembly, Harold | 8 | | Washington was the first legislator in the nation to organize | 9 | | a Black Legislative Caucus and to successfully pass a bill | 10 | | commemorating a holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; | 11 | | and | 12 | | WHEREAS, In 1980, Harold Washington was elected to the | 13 | | United States Congress; during his time in Congress, he served | 14 | | on three House Committees, an unprecedented number for a | 15 | | freshman congressman; he also led the effort to secure a | 16 | | 10-year extension of the Voting Rights Act; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, In 1983, Harold Washington was drafted by his | 18 | | community to run for the office of mayor of the City of | 19 | | Chicago; his campaign will be especially remembered for his | 20 | | use of an extensive vocabulary and his victory with a diverse | 21 | | coalition of support; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, As mayor, Harold Washington accomplished many | 2 | | positive things, including reducing the widespread practice of | 3 | | political patronage, establishing a functioning affirmative | 4 | | action program for minority businesses, and creating a women's | 5 | | affairs commission, a viable sister cities program, and | 6 | | several other initiatives, which improved all sections of the | 7 | | Chicago community; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, Harold Washington was truly "the People's Mayor"; | 9 | | therefore, be it
| 10 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 11 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 12 | | we recognize the life of Harold Washington, African American | 13 | | lawyer and politician who served as the 51st Mayor of Chicago, | 14 | | at the time of what would have been his 100th birthday and | 15 | | honor this great man and his many political and personal | 16 | | accomplishments.
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