093_HJ0016

 
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 1                       HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members of this body would like to recognize
 3    and honor Marian Byrnes  who  has  distinguished  herself  in
 4    service to her community and this State; and

 5        WHEREAS, Marian Byrnes was born in New Albany, Indiana on
 6    November 1, 1925; she married Bruce Byrnes, Jr., a veteran of
 7    World  War  II,  on  April 20, 1946 and had four sons; David,
 8    Kevin, Alan, and Brian; and they  have  three  grandchildren,
 9    Erin, Joshua, and Morgan; and

10        WHEREAS,  Mrs.  Byrnes  attended  Indiana University from
11    1943 to 1945, where she worked part time at the RCA war plant
12    and became a founder of the first student chapter  of  NAACP;
13    and

14        WHEREAS,  Mrs.  Byrnes  received  her  Divisional M.A. in
15    Social Sciences from the University of Chicago; this was  one
16    of  the  broad  spectrum degrees initiated by Robert Hutchins
17    and included, Political Science,  Economics,  Sociology,  and
18    Education; she worked part-time as secretary for Leo Szilard,
19    the "Father of the Atomic Bomb"; and

20        WHEREAS,  Mrs. Byrnes became active with the civil rights
21    movement in 1964,  and  participated  in  marches  until  the
22    culminating  open  housing  march  of  25,000 to City Hall in
23    1966; she was also a founding member of Breadbasket Teachers,
24    a  branch  of  Operations  Breadbasket,  the  predecessor  of
25    Operation PUSH; and

26        WHEREAS, Mrs. Byrnes taught in the Chicago Public  School
27    District for 22 years, teaching primary grades, then educable
28    mentally handicapped classes, and finally a resource room for
29    children of all grades with learning disabilities; she was an
30    active  member  of  Chicago  Teachers Union (CTU), serving as
31    school delegate to the House of Delegates for 15 years and as
 
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 1    a district supervisor in CTU's first strike; she also  worked
 2    with  the  Concerned  FTB's  (full-time basis substitutes) to
 3    help them prove discrimination  in  the  Board's  process  of
 4    examinations for teachers to become certified; this issue was
 5    resolved  by  the  first  strike,  when  the  Teachers Action
 6    Caucus, of which Marian was a leader, prevailed  on  the  CTU
 7    House  of  Delegates  to  make  certification  based on three
 8    years' satisfactory service a non-negotiable  demand  in  the
 9    contract negotiations; and

10        WHEREAS,  After retiring from the public schools in 1984,
11    she worked for two years as an  administrative  assistant  to
12    the  executive director of Protection and Advocacy, an agency
13    which must exist in each state in  order  for  the  state  to
14    receive  its  federal  funding  for people with developmental
15    disabilities and/or mental illness; and

16        WHEREAS, Mrs. Byrnes became a legislative aide  to  State
17    Representative Clem Balanoff from 1988 to 1991; she was chief
18    organizer  for  the  32nd  District Environmental Task Force,
19    which later became the Southeast  Environmental  Task  Force;
20    and

21        WHEREAS,  After  retiring from the State Representative's
22    office, she increased  her  amount  of  volunteer  work;  she
23    founded  the committee to Protect the Prairie, saving the Van
24    Vlissingen Prairie from  development;  she  was  one  of  the
25    founders  of  Citizens  United  to  Reclaim  the Environment,
26    working to save wetlands and prevent additional landfills  in
27    region;  she  was one of the originators of the 32nd District
28    Environmental  Task  Force  and  its  successor  group,   The
29    Southeast  Environmental  Task Force, leading the fight which
30    closed   the   malfunctioning    Waste    Management    toxic
31    incinerators,  limited  landfills,  stopped the transport of,
32    and  disposal  of,  unused  napalm  in  the  area,  monitored
33    pollution,  and  established  Good  Neighbor  Dialogues  with
 
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 1    industry; she helped to  reclaim  the  Calumet  area  Cluster
 2    Sites,  Hegewisch Marsh and numerous other local wetlands and
 3    openlands for cleanup and restoration; she  was  founder  and
 4    co-chair   of   the  Lake  Calumet  Vision  Committee,  which
 5    continues working to restore the ecological value of the lake
 6    and its surroundings and develop  a  feasible  plan  for  the
 7    region;   and   she   continues  to  work  with  the  Calumet
 8    Sustainable  Growth  Advisory  Committee,  Chicago  Recycling
 9    Coalition,  Calumet  Heritage   Partnership,   Lake   Calumet
10    Ecosystem  Partnership  and  numerous  other organizations to
11    better the region; and

12        WHEREAS, Mrs. Byrnes has been the  recipient  of  various
13    awards   including:   the   Conservation   Leadership  Award,
14    Openlands Project; Protector  of  the  Environment/Avocation,
15    Chicago  Audubon Society; Environmentalist of the Year, Earth
16    Share of Illinois; Chicago Recycling  Coalition;  Citizen  of
17    the  Year,  South  Chicago Chamber of Commerce; and the Belle
18    Whaley   Award   (for   community   activism),   Center   for
19    Neighborhood Technology; and

20        WHEREAS, Mrs. Byrnes is looking forward to polishing  the
21    final drafts of her two unpublished books: "Stumbling Through
22    Wonderland:  Notes  from  a  Ghetto  School",  based  on  her
23    experiences  in  the  Chicago  public schools; and "A Country
24    Girl's Book of Christmas", point-and-counterpoint reflections
25    on incidents from her childhood on the  farm  and  her  adult
26    life   in   the  city,  focusing  on  the  Christmas  season;
27    therefore, be it

28        RESOLVED,  BY  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES   OF   THE
29    NINETY-THIRD  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
30    SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we  honor  and  recognize  the
31    hard  work  and  dedication  of  Marian  Byrnes to better her
32    community and this State, and we wish her well in all of  her
33    future endeavors; and be it further
 
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 1        RESOLVED,  That  a  suitable  copy  of this resolution be
 2    presented to Marian Byrnes as an expression  of  our  respect
 3    and esteem.