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92_HR0634
LRB9215572BHbh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives would like to express their sincere
4 condolences to the family and friends of A. Abbot Rosen, of
5 Chicago, Illinois, who passed away recently; and
6 WHEREAS, Mr. Rosen moved to Chicago in 1948 to become
7 director of the Anti-Defamation League's Midwest region, a
8 position he held for 38 years; during the late 1970s, Mr.
9 Rosen's commitment to fighting discrimination and hate became
10 an international event when he helped lead a confrontation
11 with a neo-Nazi group that planned to march in Skokie,
12 Illinois; Skokie was then home to one of the largest
13 communities of Holocaust survivors; Mr. Rosen's unwavering
14 leadership and judgement throughout the crisis were greatly
15 needed for it was a time of high tension and passion; he was
16 later portrayed by Carl Reiner in a made-for-television movie
17 based on the planned rally; and
18 WHEREAS, Mr. Rosen was born in New York City in 1915, and
19 graduated from Yale College and the Colombia University Law
20 School in 1937; he then went on to work in the Justice
21 Department's espionage and sabotage unit, where he prosecuted
22 German spies and saboteurs; shortly thereafter, Mr. Rosen was
23 drafted into the Army and served in France and Belgium; after
24 the Army, he served as special assistant to the attorney
25 general prosecuting war-fraud cases; in 1947, he became a
26 member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations, acting
27 as legal advisor to the UN special committee that drafted the
28 genocide treaty; and
29 WHEREAS, Mr. Rosen became active in the civil rights
30 movement when he was hired under President Harry Truman in
31 1947 as the U.S. Justice Department's first civil rights
32 section chief; during the 1960s, Mr. Rosen was involved in
33 organizing Soldier Field civil rights rallies where Martin
-2- LRB9215572BHbh
1 Luther King, Jr. spoke; he was awarded the Chicago Commission
2 on Human Relations' Thomas H. Wright Award for his
3 professional leadership as well as Loyola University's
4 Founder's Day Award for his community service; and
5 WHEREAS, the passing of A. Abbot Rosen will be greatly
6 felt by all those who knew him and loved him, especially his
7 wife of over fifty years, Charlotte; his son, Josh; his
8 daughter, Julie Beth; and his sister, Carolyne Maimin;
9 therefore, be it
10 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
11 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
12 we mourn the passing of A. Abbot Rosen and extend our
13 sympathies to his family and friends at this time; and be it
14 further
15 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
16 presented to the family of A. Abbot Rosen.