Full Text of HR0852 96th General Assembly
HR0852 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis and the | 3 |
| members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened | 4 |
| to learn of the death of Albert W. Johnson of Chicago, who | 5 |
| passed away on January 13, 2010; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Johnson, a St. Louis native, who started | 7 |
| selling cars door to door, then went on to become General | 8 |
| Motors' first African-American franchise owner, helped elect | 9 |
| Chicago's first black mayor and President Barack Obama; and
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| WHEREAS,
Mr. Johnson was born February 23, 1920, the son of | 11 |
| a physician and a homemaker; he received a B.S. degree in | 12 |
| business administration at Lincoln University in 1940 and an | 13 |
| M.S. degree in hospital administration from the University of | 14 |
| Chicago in 1960; he was a hospital administrator in St. Louis | 15 |
| in 1954 when he began to sell cars part-time; even though the | 16 |
| owner would not allow a black man on the Oldsmobile premises | 17 |
| and insisted he only sell to blacks, Mr. Johnson was the | 18 |
| dealership's top salesman; and
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| WHEREAS, He wanted his own dealership and had to petition | 20 |
| the company for 15 years before getting a franchise, finally | 21 |
| securing his own in 1967; his dealership was so successful that | 22 |
| General Motors handed him a Cadillac dealership in 1971; Al |
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| Johnson Cadillac grew and Mr. Johnson became an independent | 2 |
| dealer the following year; and
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| WHEREAS, He moved the business to Tinley Park, helping spur | 4 |
| a dealership row along a suburban stretch; he worked for Harold | 5 |
| Washington's administration for $1 a year; he founded a | 6 |
| coalition that drafted Mr. Washington to run for mayor, and | 7 |
| then was a major campaign contributor;
Mr. Johnson also was the | 8 |
| first large donor to Barack Obama's U.S. Senate campaign, | 9 |
| contributing $50,000; he was an important player in the John H. | 10 |
| Stroger campaigns; and he was a founder of Rainbow, Operation | 11 |
| PUSH's predecessor; and | 12 |
| WHEREAS, He married Marion E. Johnson in 1953;
Mr. Johnson | 13 |
| was chairman emeritus of the University of Illinois Center for | 14 |
| Urban Business, College for Business Administration; he was a | 15 |
| board member of LaRabida Children's Hospital, a member of the | 16 |
| Executives' Club of Chicago, and the General Motors Black | 17 |
| Dealers Advisory Board; and
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| WHEREAS, Albert Johnson is survived by his wife, Marion; | 19 |
| his sons, Donald, Al Jr., and Antwoine; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 21 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 22 |
| mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of Albert |
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| Johnson; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 3 |
| presented to the family of Albert W. Johnson as a symbol of our | 4 |
| sincere sympathy.
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