HR1426 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1426 LRB094 21465 HSS 59829 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of this Body are honored to recognize significant milestones in the lives of the people of this State; and

WHEREAS, It has come to our attention that Oriella Robinson of Edwardsville is celebrating the 103rd anniversary of her birth; and

WHEREAS, Oriella May Robinson was born on September 22, 1903, in Edwardsville, the second child of Edward and Alice Ellington Robinson; her siblings were older brother, Courtland, younger sisters, Irene Madison and Malvena Hayes, and younger brothers, Edward Udell Robinson and Ralph Robinson; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Robinson is a member of Wesley Chapel A.M.E. Church in Edwardsville; she joined the church in 1917 at the age of 14, during a revival; she says that she loves the church and once she joined, she never left; she cleaned the church on Saturdays and gave socials to help pay the pastor's salary; and

WHEREAS, To earn a living, Ms. Robinson cooked and cleaned for private families; she also cooked at the St. James Hotel and the Leland Hotel in Edwardsville, where she was paid $10 per week; and

WHEREAS, Throughout her lifetime, Ms. Robinson has seen many things; some of her early memories include paying five or ten cents to see a "silent" movie, with African Americans segregated in the balcony and off to the side in the theater; she attended the segregated Lincoln School in Edwardsville, where she finished the eighth grade; she recalls going to the city park where bands played, window shopping at the Palace Store, using a well before running water was installed in the house, using oil lamps before electricity was available in homes, the ice man delivering ice, heating the house with coal, and cooking, baking, and canning on a "cook" stove with a fire built inside; and

WHEREAS, The Lincoln School Alumni Foundation is hosting a birthday party in her honor on September 23, 2006; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Oriella Robinson on the occasion of her 103rd birthday, and we extend to her our sincere best wishes for the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Ms. Robinson as an expression of our respect and esteem.