SR0445 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0445 LRB102 19264 ECR 28030 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of Ellen M. Whitney of Springfield, who passed away on July 14, 2021; and

WHEREAS, Ellen Whitney was born to Reverend C.H. and Irene Whitehurst Todd in Evanston on March 13, 1920; she graduated from Greenville High School; she married Francis A. Whitney in 1940; she attended Southern Illinois University and finished third in the class of 1941; and

WHEREAS, Ellen Whitney worked for the International News Service as a reporter and as a teacher at Feitshens High School; she worked for 32 years at the Illinois State Historical Library; she was a historical research editor of the papers of the late Dr. George E. Black, which required more than a year of work; she noted that her most difficult assignment was editing the library's exhaustive collection of the Black Hawk War papers, which required many years of work and filled four volumes; as part of her work, she was called to Washington, D.C. to serve as an expert witness in a very difficult American Indian claims case from the Black Hawk War of 1832, which ended with a rare Native American victory; for her last major project, she was a compiler of Illinois History: An Annotated Bibliography with Janice A. Petterchak and Sandra Stark; and

WHEREAS, For her work on the Black Hawk War papers, Ellen Whitney earned a national reputation and awards from the American Association for state and local history and from the State Historical Society of Wisconsin; and

WHEREAS, Ellen Whitney was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; her brother, Harold Todd; and her sister, Grace Todd; and

WHEREAS, Ellen Whitney is survived by her one son, Blair (Rita) Whitney; her two grandchildren, Ruth (Ken) Antonoff and Helen Whitney; and her four great-grandchildren, Zachary and Chelsea Marek and Eva and Joseph Antonoff; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Ellen M. Whitney and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Ellen Whitney as an expression of our deepest sympathy.