HR1351 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1351 LRB099 22342 MST 49733 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of John Henry Samuel Wallace, who passed away on June 16, 2016; and

WHEREAS, John Wallace was born on July 19, 1925; and

WHEREAS, John Wallace served his country honorably and proudly as a World War II Naval veteran; he served his God morally and nobly as an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church; and

WHEREAS, John Wallace graduated from Chicago State University with a master's degree in special education; he was a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and was a chartering member of two campus chapters; and

WHEREAS, John Wallace taught at Malcolm X College where he also served as a Dean; he went on to become Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Educational Policy at Howard University in Washington D.C.; and

WHEREAS, In the 1970s and 1980s, John Wallace took action against the predominately white New Trier High School in Winnetka after his son was forced to read Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn aloud in class; recognizing the novel as racially intolerant, he took up this issue and appeared on Nightline with Ted Koppel and had numerous articles printed by the Washington Post; he went on to rewrite the novel, replacing the "N" word with "slave"; and

WHEREAS, John Wallace was preceded in death by his siblings, Jo Anne and James, and his sons, Johnny and Mark (Mary) Wallace; and

WHEREAS, John Wallace is survived by his wife of 62 years, Joan; his sons, Eric (Jennifer) and Victor (Karen); his grandchildren, Eric, Gregory, and Jahanah; his great-grand-daughter, Ja'Mayah; and his siblings, Mary Livingston and Peter (Katsuko); therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we, along with his family and friends, mourn the passing of John Henry Samuel Wallace; and be it further

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