Full Text of HR0079 97th General Assembly
HR0079 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Irving | 4 | | Maurice King of Chicago on February 6, 2011; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Mr. King was born on July 22, 1931 in Ashland, | 6 | | Virginia, the youngest of six children of Charles Henry King | 7 | | and Martha Bradby King, Native Americans descended from the | 8 | | Chickahominy, Cherokee, and Pamunkey nations; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Growing up during a time of racial segregation, | 10 | | Mr. King attended African-American schools, married an | 11 | | African-American woman, and considered himself black; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, Mr. King, not allowed to attend schools closer to | 13 | | his home, graduated from Virginia Randolph Community High | 14 | | School in Henrico County and received a four-year scholarship | 15 | | to Hampton Institute, a historically black college where he | 16 | | graduated with honors with a degree in English, received a John | 17 | | Hay Whitney Fellowship to Yale Law School, and met his future | 18 | | wife of 60 years, Lillian; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Mr. King was inspired to go to law school by his | 20 | | admiration for the NAACP's chief counsel, Thurgood Marshall, | 21 | | and was among three African-Americans listed in Yale Law |
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| 1 | | School's graduating class of 1958; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, When recruiters from law firms came to Yale, they | 3 | | liked Mr. King but they would not hire him because of his race; | 4 | | one of his Yale professors saw the barriers Mr. King was facing | 5 | | and put in a call to the Chicago law firm of Eugene Cotton; | 6 | | Cotton offered Mr. King a job and eventually he became a | 7 | | partner and the firm added his name to become Cotton, Watt, | 8 | | Jones and King; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, Mr. King fought for workers' rights and civil | 10 | | rights for more than 50 years, often taking cases pro bono; he | 11 | | handled landmark cases including an Iowa packinghouse case that | 12 | | contributed to a National Labor Relations Board requirement | 13 | | that unionized firms must bargain with workers before | 14 | | relocating; he worked with legendary civil rights leader Fannie | 15 | | Lou Hamer to challenge voting rights violations against | 16 | | African-Americans in Mississippi; and he helped win a | 17 | | pioneering sex-discrimination case against a major airline | 18 | | when it fired a female flight attendant for getting married; | 19 | | and | 20 | | WHEREAS, Mr. King liked fishing in Wisconsin and he loved | 21 | | music, especially Beethoven and Mahler; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Mr. King is survived by his wife, Lillian; his |
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| 1 | | sons, Michael and Alan; his daughter, Karen; his sisters, Alma | 2 | | Winston and Verna Gray; his three granddaughters; and his | 3 | | great-granddaughter; therefore, be it
| 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 5 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 6 | | we mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of | 7 | | Irving King; and be it further
| 8 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 9 | | presented to the family of Irving King as a symbol of our | 10 | | deepest sympathies and great esteem.
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