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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Harold Washington, a native son of Chicago, was | ||||||
3 | born on April 15, 1922; he was a product of Chicago Public | ||||||
4 | Schools, having attended Forestville Elementary and DuSable | ||||||
5 | High Schools; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Harold Washington served in the United States Army | ||||||
7 | Air Forces from 1942 to 1946; he served in the Pacific theatre | ||||||
8 | during World War II; and
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9 | WHEREAS, In 1949, Harold Washington received his | ||||||
10 | bachelor's degree from Roosevelt University, where he served as | ||||||
11 | President of the Student Council and was a highly respected | ||||||
12 | student leader; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Harold Washington served as the Secretary of the | ||||||
14 | Third Ward Regular Democratic Organization for Alderman Ralph | ||||||
15 | Metcalfe and helped to organize the Third Ward Young Democrats, | ||||||
16 | which became one of the leading Young Democratic organizations | ||||||
17 | in the State of Illinois; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Harold Washington received his Juris Doctor | ||||||
19 | degree from Northwestern University Law School in 1952 and was | ||||||
20 | admitted to the Bar in 1953; he later served as an Assistant | ||||||
21 | City Prosecutor in Chicago from 1954 to 1958 and as an |
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1 | Arbitrator for the Illinois Industrial Commission from 1960 to | ||||||
2 | 1964; and | ||||||
3 | WHEREAS, Harold Washington was elected to the Illinois | ||||||
4 | House of Representatives in 1965, where he served with | ||||||
5 | distinction until he was elected to the Illinois Senate in | ||||||
6 | 1977; and
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7 | WHEREAS, During his tenure in the General Assembly, Harold | ||||||
8 | Washington was the first legislator in the nation to organize a | ||||||
9 | Black Legislative Caucus and to successfully pass a bill | ||||||
10 | commemorating a holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; | ||||||
11 | and | ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, In 1980, Harold Washington was elected to the | ||||||
13 | United States Congress; during his time in Congress, he served | ||||||
14 | on three House Committees, an unprecedented number for a | ||||||
15 | freshman congressman; he also led the effort to secure a | ||||||
16 | 10-year extension of the Voting Rights Act; and
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17 | WHEREAS, In 1983, Harold Washington was drafted by his | ||||||
18 | community to run for the office of Mayor of the City of | ||||||
19 | Chicago; he conducted a campaign in which his extensive | ||||||
20 | vocabulary sent even the most articulate Chicago journalists | ||||||
21 | running for the dictionary and won the election with a diverse | ||||||
22 | coalition of support; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, As Mayor of the City of Chicago, Harold Washington | ||||||
2 | accomplished many positive achievements, including reducing | ||||||
3 | the widespread practice of political patronage, establishing a | ||||||
4 | functioning affirmative action program for minority | ||||||
5 | businesses, and creating a women's affairs commission, a viable | ||||||
6 | sister cities program, and several other initiatives, which | ||||||
7 | improved all sections of the Chicago community; and | ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, Harold Washington was truly "the People's Mayor", | ||||||
9 | whose memory is cherished by multitudes of ordinary citizens in | ||||||
10 | Chicago and throughout the world; therefore, be it
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11 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL | ||||||
12 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate the date | ||||||
13 | of April 15, 2013 as Harold Washington Day in the State of | ||||||
14 | Illinois in honor of this great man and his many political and | ||||||
15 | personal accomplishments.
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