Full Text of HR1051 98th General Assembly
HR1051 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The phenomenal growth of Waukegan Township, | 3 | | located 36 miles north of Chicago and 60 miles south of | 4 | | Milwaukee, can be attributed to industry, Lake Michigan, and | 5 | | the railroads; toward the middle of the 19th century, Waukegan | 6 | | Township became a thriving center of industry; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company of | 8 | | Worcester, Massachusetts established a wire mill, the Waukegan | 9 | | Works, along Lake Michigan; the land for its Illinois operation | 10 | | was purchased on January 16, 1891 at the recommendation of its | 11 | | advisers, Philip W. Moen, Charles G. Washburn, Fred H. Daniels, | 12 | | and Edwin Lenox, and included much of the Elisha Wadsworth | 13 | | Estate; in March of 1891, construction of the Mill complex was | 14 | | started on a 40 acre plot; by September, a galvanizing | 15 | | operation began; in November, the company's subdivision, The | 16 | | Waukegan Highlands, was platted west of the mill; the first | 17 | | wire was drawn in December; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, In 1892, the company, a principal manufacturer of | 19 | | Glidden barbed wire, introduced Waukegan Barbed Wire, invented | 20 | | by John D. Curtis; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, The establishment of the plant led both an | 22 | | industrial and population boom, with workers from Worcester and |
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| 1 | | immigrants from Finland, Sweden, and Eastern Europe moving to | 2 | | the Washburn and Moen subdivision; Slovenian workers called the | 3 | | area "the Kompanija" - the Company District; first named South | 4 | | Waukegan, the community that rapidly developed near the mill | 5 | | was later incorporated as North Chicago; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The first wave of industrialization attracted | 7 | | Eastern Europeans, Finns, and Swedes; during the 1920s, the | 8 | | next round of manufacturing expansion, Waukegan's population | 9 | | went up about 75%, drawing upon African-Americans and Southern | 10 | | whites; by 1955, there were around 19,000 manufacturing jobs in | 11 | | the Waukegan-North Chicago economic complex; all the workers | 12 | | who came for those jobs were critical to growing thriving | 13 | | communities; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, The American Steel and Wire Company, which later | 15 | | became the United States Steel Corporation, acquired the Mill | 16 | | in 1899; by the 1950s, the company had become one of Lake | 17 | | County's largest employers; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Many companies, including American Steel & Wire | 19 | | (United States Steel), Cyclone Fence, Fansteel, and Chicago | 20 | | Hardware Foundry, among others, forged not just metals, but the | 21 | | means of growth and support for Waukegan Township; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, In 1980, the Steel Worker Retirees Club was |
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| 1 | | created to further the interests of retired steelworkers and | 2 | | their spouses and better the communities where they live; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, The Steel Worker Retirees Club welcomes any person | 4 | | as a member who was in good standing with the United Steel | 5 | | Workers of America at the time of their retirement; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The Steel Worker Retirees Club includes any person | 7 | | as a member who was a retiree, spouse, widow, or widower of a | 8 | | former employee of United States Steel, Waukegan Works, Cyclone | 9 | | Fence, and the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The Wire Mill Workers Retirees Club has been an | 11 | | integral part of the communities of Waukegan and North Chicago; | 12 | | therefore, be it
| 13 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 14 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 15 | | we recognize and congratulate the members of the Wire Mill | 16 | | Workers Retirees Club and their families at their annual | 17 | | reunion dinner; and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 | | presented to the Wire Mill Workers Retirees Club as an | 20 | | expression of our esteem and respect.
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