Full Text of SR0565 94th General Assembly
SR0565 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the State of Illinois | 3 |
| learned with regret of the death of Truman K. Gibson Jr. on | 4 |
| Friday, December 23, 2005; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Gibson was a Chicago attorney who had been the | 6 |
| last surviving member of the World War II-era "black Cabinet" | 7 |
| of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman; he was | 8 |
| an advocate for African-American soldiers in the War Department | 9 |
| from 1940 through 1945 and fought tirelessly to break down the | 10 |
| segregation that ruled the U.S. Army, to persuade the military | 11 |
| leadership to commit black servicemen to combat instead of | 12 |
| relegating them to service and support duty, and to protect the | 13 |
| rights and even the lives of African-American soldiers trained | 14 |
| at camps mostly in the Jim Crow South where white violence was | 15 |
| a constant threat; and
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| WHEREAS, This story was the heart of Mr. Gibson's memoir, | 17 |
| "Knocking Down Barriers: My Fight for Black America", published | 18 |
| this year by Northwestern University Press; and
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| WHEREAS, Born in Atlanta on January 22, 1912, Mr. Gibson | 20 |
| moved with his family to Chicago in 1929; as a young graduate | 21 |
| of the University of Chicago Law School, he was a member of the | 22 |
| legal team that challenged a restrictive racial covenant | 23 |
| prohibiting African Americans from living in the Washington | 24 |
| Park area of the South Side of Chicago; he spent months pouring | 25 |
| over property deeds to build the factual basis for the U.S. | 26 |
| Supreme Court case that overturned the covenant; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1940, Mr. Gibson served as executive director | 28 |
| of the American Negro Exposition, which was in effect an | 29 |
| African-American world's fair to commemorate the 75th | 30 |
| anniversary of emancipation, showcase black excellence in the | 31 |
| arts and entertainment, and celebrate African-American |
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| contributions to U.S. history, featuring Duke Ellington, Paul | 2 |
| Robeson, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, and other famous | 3 |
| entertainers of the day; and
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| WHEREAS, With the outbreak of war in Europe and the | 5 |
| increasing likelihood that the United States would be drawn in, | 6 |
| the Roosevelt administration created the office of civilian | 7 |
| aide to the secretary of war as an advocate for African | 8 |
| Americans; Mr. Gibson served as an assistant to the first | 9 |
| civilian aide, William Hastie, and in 1943 was promoted to the | 10 |
| job; he played an influential role in finally convincing the | 11 |
| U.S. Army that it had to commit African-American troops to | 12 |
| battle; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Gibson was an adviser to filmmaker Frank Capra | 14 |
| of "It's a Wonderful Life" fame in making the movie short "The | 15 |
| Negro Soldier" to demonstrate to the civilian population the | 16 |
| African-American contribution to the war; he got Joe Louis, the | 17 |
| world heavyweight boxing champion, to form a group of boxing | 18 |
| champs to put on matches at U.S. Army bases here and aboard; | 19 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Gibson was appointed to the Advisory | 21 |
| Commission on Universal Military Training by President Harry S. | 22 |
| Truman; he had met boxing champ Joe Louis and become his lawyer | 23 |
| in the 1930s; during the war, Mr. Louis often reported to Mr. | 24 |
| Gibson about racial conditions on Army posts, and after the | 25 |
| war, his association with Louis propelled Mr. Gibson into a | 26 |
| career as one of the nation's premier boxing promoters; and
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| WHEREAS, With Chicagoans James Norris and Arthur Wirtz, he | 28 |
| ran the International Boxing Club, which ruled the sport until | 29 |
| declared a monopoly by the courts in 1959; he pioneered network | 30 |
| television broadcasting of the sport; and
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| WHEREAS, After leaving boxing, Mr. Gibson returned to law |
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| practice in Chicago; he practiced law until his health failed | 2 |
| in November of 2005; and
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| WHEREAS, The passing of Truman K. Gibson Jr. has been | 4 |
| deeply felt by many, especially his daughter, Karen Kelley; his | 5 |
| two grandchildren; his three great-grandchildren; and his | 6 |
| great-great-grandchild; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL | 8 |
| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 9 |
| Truman K. Gibson, who championed the rights of African-American | 10 |
| military members, and we extend our sincere condolences to his | 11 |
| family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it | 12 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 14 |
| presented to his family as an expression of our deepest | 15 |
| sympathy.
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