State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_SR0314

 
                                               LRB9215733RHrh

 1                          SENATE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate would like to
 3    express their sincere condolences to the family  and  friends
 4    of  A.  Abbot  Rosen,  of  Chicago, Illinois, who passed away
 5    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 helped
10    lead  a  confrontation  with a neo-Nazi group that planned to
11    march in Skokie, Illinois; Skokie was then home to one of the
12    largest  communities  of  Holocaust  survivors;  Mr.  Rosen's
13    unwavering leadership and  judgement  throughout  the  crisis
14    were  greatly  needed  for  it was a time of high tension and
15    passion;  he  was  later  portrayed  by  Carl  Reiner  in   a
16    made-for-television movie based on the planned rally; and

17        WHEREAS, Mr. Rosen was born in New York City in 1915, and
18    graduated  from  Yale College and the Colombia University Law
19    School in 1937; he then  went  on  to  work  in  the  Justice
20    Department's espionage and sabotage unit, where he prosecuted
21    German spies and saboteurs; shortly thereafter, Mr. Rosen was
22    drafted into the Army and served in France and Belgium; after
23    the  Army,  he  served  as  special assistant to the attorney
24    general prosecuting war-fraud cases; in  1947,  he  became  a
25    member  of  the U.S. delegation to the United Nations, acting
26    as legal advisor to the UN special committee that drafted the
27    genocide treaty;  and
28        WHEREAS, Mr. Rosen became  active  in  the  civil  rights
29    movement  when  he  was hired under President Harry Truman in
30    1947 as the U.S.  Justice  Department's  first  civil  rights
31    section  chief;  during  the 1960s, Mr. Rosen was involved in
32    organizing Soldier Field civil rights  rallies  where  Martin
33    Luther King, Jr. spoke; he was awarded the Chicago Commission
 
                            -2-                LRB9215733RHrh
 1    on   Human   Relations'   Thomas  H.  Wright  Award  for  his
 2    professional  leadership  as  well  as  Loyola   University's
 3    Founder's Day Award for his community service; and

 4        WHEREAS,  The  passing  of A. Abbot Rosen will be greatly
 5    felt by all those who knew him and loved him, especially  his
 6    wife  of  over  fifty  years,  Charlotte;  his son, Josh; his
 7    daughter,  Julie  Beth;  and  his  sister,  Carolyne  Maimin;
 8    therefore, be it

 9        RESOLVED, BY THE  SENATE  OF  THE  NINETY-SECOND  GENERAL
10    ASSEMBLY  OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing
11    of A. Abbot Rosen and extend our sympathies to his family and
12    friends at this time; and be it further

13        RESOLVED, That suitable  copies  of  this  resolution  be
14    presented to the family of A. Abbot Rosen.

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