Full Text of HR0325 100th General Assembly
HR0325 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, It is important to understand the history of the | 3 | | United States and those who played a significant role in that | 4 | | history, blazing trails for those to come; all too often, some | 5 | | of those figures are lost to history, and so it is fitting to | 6 | | recognize those who dedicate themselves to its preservation; | 7 | | and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Maggie Walker was born Maggie Lena Mitchell on | 9 | | July 15, 1864 in Richmond, Virginia, on an estate owned by an | 10 | | abolitionist; her mother was a former slave working at the | 11 | | estate as a cook and her stepfather was the butler; she was | 12 | | educated as a teacher and taught at Lancaster School until her | 13 | | marriage to Armstead Walker Jr. in September of 1886; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, At the age of 14, Maggie Walker became a member of | 15 | | the Grand United Order of St. Luke, an African American | 16 | | fraternal organization established to assure proper health | 17 | | care and burial arrangements to its members and to encourage | 18 | | self-help and racial solidarity; in 1899, she became the | 19 | | Executive Secretary-Treasurer; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Maggie Walker began publishing a newsletter, The | 21 | | St. Luke Herald, to increase awareness of the organization and | 22 | | help in the educational work of the Order; the following year, |
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| 1 | | she opened the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank and became its first | 2 | | president; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Maggie Walker spread tools of economic | 4 | | independence in the days of Jim Crow and she hired and trained | 5 | | African American women at a time when even white women | 6 | | struggled for opportunities; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Maggie Walker passed away in Richmond, Virginia on | 8 | | December 15, 1934; her house is now a National Historic Site; | 9 | | and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, In early 2009, a group of students from the | 11 | | College of William and Mary, while exploring the attic of an | 12 | | old building, came across piles of documents from the 1920s and | 13 | | 1930s from businesses owned by the Order of St. Luke; included | 14 | | in the find were letters to and from Maggie Walker; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Over the next eight years, a group of 16 | 16 | | volunteers, calling themselves The Maggie Walker Community, | 17 | | headed by William and Mary professor Heather Huyck, examined, | 18 | | organized, and preserved the documents; the diverse group of | 19 | | black, white, and Asian women, between the ages of 50 to 89, | 20 | | forged deep bonds while understanding the challenges of race | 21 | | and gender in the early 20th century, especially the role of | 22 | | black women as community builders and organizers; therefore, be |
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| 1 | | it
| 2 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 3 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 4 | | recognize Maggie Lena Walker, an African American icon and the | 5 | | first African American woman to charter and become President of | 6 | | a bank in the United States; and be it further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That we salute the members of The Maggie Walker | 8 | | Community for their years of dedication to the preservation of | 9 | | materials related to the amazing life and legacy of Maggie | 10 | | Walker; and be it further | 11 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 12 | | presented to Heather Huyck and The Maggie Walker Community, the | 13 | | Community Bankers Association of Illinois, the Abraham Lincoln | 14 | | Presidential Library and Museum, the National Museum of | 15 | | African-American History and Culture, the National Civil | 16 | | Rights Museum, the Springfield African-American Historical | 17 | | Museum, and the DuSable Museum of African-American History as a | 18 | | symbol of our esteem and respect.
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