HR0868 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0868 LRB099 14947 MST 39134 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Dr. Carrie Louise Filer Ellis Davis; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Davis was born 91 years ago in Marianna, Arkansas to Vera and Squire Filer; she attended Moten Elementary and was a member of St. Luke African Methodist Episcopal Church; she was valedictorian of her high school class at Robert Moten High School and graduated cum laude from Arkansas AM & N (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff), where she joined her beloved Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated; while at Arkansas AM & N, she was an accomplished member of the basketball team and was entrusted to work in the President's office; she had the distinguished honor of being the first, and for a time, the only female on the university's winning varsity debate team; she was the winner of the Scipio A. Jones Oratorical Contest and won the Outstanding Actress Award; she was crowned both "Miss Omega" of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated and "Miss Arkansas State" Campus Queen; after attending Arkansas AM & N, she attended Northwestern University and Northeastern University, where she received her Master of Arts; she earned her doctoral degree from the University of Sarasota, where she graduated with honors; she later taught other doctoral candidates and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Sarasota; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Davis taught at Robert Moten High School in Marianna, Arkansas for 7 years; she was the first classroom teacher to ever deliver the Keynote Address at the State of Arkansas Teachers' Meeting at the capitol in Little Rock; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Davis left Arkansas for Chicago, she became a member of Greater Institutional AME Church for a few years, but the historic Quinn Chapel AME Church was her church home for over 50 years; she was the co-director and a teacher at Crest Modeling/Talent Agency for 4 years and was a certified teacher of Speech, Drama, and English and a high school counselor at Englewood High School; she served as coordinator of Human Relations, Instructional Services, and as an Administrator in Districts 27 and 19 for the Chicago Board of Education; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Davis designed and coordinated numerous programs for her school districts, including the Communication Arts Festival involving Chicago Public School students competing in oral interpretation, public speaking and drama, the Deb Tea for Talent - a talent competition in the district elementary schools, the Great Debates-skill building/thinking for high school students, Spellarama - a Spelling Bee conducted for elementary school students, the Academic Showdown - a knowledge-based contest similar to Jeopardy, and an annual essay contest for Chicago elementary and high school students; these creations became extremely successful under her tutelage and some developed into city-wide activities and contests open to all Chicago Public School students; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Davis was also a private drama coach for students and adults wishing to improve their public speaking skills for competition or career enhancement; she was the designer, writer, and teacher of the course for Chicago teachers in speech, drama, music, dance, reading, and classroom management; she as a poet and the author of "Carrie's Vignette" - a newsletter and she co-authored the "Drama Curriculum Guide" for the high schools of Chicago and the Proficiency Skills Course-Language Arts Portion for the Chicago Board of Education; she was the Executive Producer, co-host, and script writer for FOCUS ON YOUTH, a WLNR radio show; the City of Chicago Board of Education awarded her Outstanding Drama Director and Teacher of the Year; after retiring from the Chicago Board of Education, she returned as an educational consultant on the Probation Team for Troubled Schools; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Davis continuously reached out to make this world a better place with her civic activities; she served as Chairman of United Charities Calumet Family Center Advisory Committee, as President of the Roseland Community Hospital Auxiliary, as Committee Chairperson for Afro-American Family and Community Services Development, as member of the White House Conference for Youth, as member of the Good Citizenship Club, as board member of the Altgeld Urban Program Center, as board member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and was a delegate for the General Conference of the AME Church and Quinn Chapel; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Davis was a Legendary Soror and Leader of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated; she chartered the Alpha Chi Chapter at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in 1948, served as Basileus of Delta Sigma Chapter in Chicago, was Central Region Campus Coordinator, served as the 11th Central Region Syntaktes from 1974 to 1978, was elected Grand Epistoleus from 1980 to 1984, was a National Board Member, Dean of Pledgees, and Chairperson of the following committees: Debutante Tea, Miss Black Teenage Pageant, National Scholarship, Regional Scholarship and Nominating Committee; her public speaking passion was further realized through the Kaleidoscope of the Arts - a talent search involving Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority's high school Rhoers and college Sigma women competing for trophies in speech, drama, and dance; as Grand Epistoleus, she authored IN TOUCH, a newsletter to all Sorors and WRITE ON, a publication containing Media Hints for Epistolei; her originated the "Mother-Daughter Gallery" which spotlighted daughters who followed their mother's legacy into Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority; she was a founding member of Eta Xi Sigma Chapter in Oak Lawn; devotion to Sigma is a family affair as her's sister Vivian and all 3 of her daughters are members of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated; and

WHEREAS, On November 18, 1978, Dr. Davis journeyed with others to Chicago to help charter the second chapter of the National Women of Achievement, Incorporated (NWOA); she became the first President of the Chicago Chapter; under her leadership, membership increased from 5 to 35, in a relatively short time; she worked tirelessly to continue the promulgation of progress for growth of the organization; she initiated the NWOA Pageant that focuses on outstanding Achievers, organized the "GEMS", a youth group later named Youth Achievers, and organized the oratorical contest for youth; in 1985, she became the Second National President of NWOA; the numbers of chapters of NWOA more than doubled under her leadership; she enhanced the financial status of the national coffers through contests among chapters, focusing on the outstanding Presidents; her innovations were youth competitions in debates, public speaking, and oral interpretation; young ladies and men won financial rewards for outstanding performances; leadership seminars were devised for officers and members of local chapters and thousands of dollars were given to worthy students as grants and scholarship to provide avenues for further study; numerous achievers and community leaders were given awards through the Profiles of Prominence Ceremony each year; she designed a replica of NWOA'S gem stone into a beautiful award for these recipients; additionally, she established the Achiever Carrie Filer Davis Award to be presented to the Regional Director who had excelled during the 2 year period leading up to CON WOA, the National Convention; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Davis's numerous honors and recognitions include: being honored by Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton in Recognition for Distinguished Accomplishments and Excellence in Education; the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. 80th Anniversary Pearl Award; the United Charities 20 Years of Service Award; Mayor Daley's City of Chicago Senior Citizen Hall of Fame; the National Women of Achievement, Inc. Hall of Fame Award; National Women of Achievement, Inc.-Youth Activity of the Year; Outstanding Service to Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Delta Sigma; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.-Bicentennial Festival; the Roseland Community Hospital Community Award; the En Verite Progressive Charity Club-Progressive Black Women's Award; the National Women of Achievement, Inc.-"The Diamond Award"; the National Award for Outstanding Dramatic Contribution to the Field of Speech and Drama-the Vivian Tate Hegwood Award; Altgeld CSC Advisory Council Award for Outstanding and Dedicated Service; University of Sarasota Hall of Fame Award; the Roseland Community Hospital Commitment to Volunteerism Award; the Project Reassurance Award; the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Psi Sigma Chapter-Community Service/Founder's Day Award; the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Gamma Pi Sigma-Recognition of Support Award; the National Women of Achievement, Inc.-Second Annual Profiles of Prominence Award; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Eta Xi Sigma-In Appreciation of Dedicated Service, Leadership, and Commitment; the Moton Hall of Fame Award; the Lamplighters Club of Greater Institutional A.M.E. Church-Outstanding Qualities of Humility, Loyalty, Spiritual Dedication, High Academic Pursuits, and Unselfish Devotion; Calumet Advisory Committee-Sincere Appreciation for Years of Service and Many Contributions; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Rho Sigma Chapter's Founders' Day Luncheon-Outstanding and Dedicated Service to the Sorority and to the Community; Who's Who in Black America; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Delta Sigma Chapter-In Appreciation for Dedication and Services to the Central Region as Regional Syntaktes; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Delta Sigma Chapter-In Appreciation for Dedicated Service as Basileus; the Humanitarian Award in Education for the establishment of a school in honor of her mother, Vera Burchett Filer, an educator for over 35 Years; the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Delta Sigma Chapter-Black History Month Recognition Award; Service to Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Eta Xi Sigma Chapter Basileus Thweatt-Pippion Thank You for Special Efforts and Continued Support; the University of Sarasota Campus Dedication Award; National Women of Achievement, Inc. Houston Cluster Chapters In Appreciation for Dedicated and Loyal Service, Seventh Anniversary CON-WOA; the Chicago Public Schools Local School Council Inaugural Award; National Women of Achievement, Inc.-In Appreciation for Service as Midwest Regional Director; LeMoyne-Owen College Alumni Association, Chicago Chapter In Grateful Appreciation; National Women of Achievement, Inc. First National President's Award-In Recognition of Outstanding Achievement in Education, Speech Arts, and Community Service; the UNCF School Campaign-Recognition Award for Outstanding Service; the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Hall of Fame Award; Sub-District 9 Council-In Recognition of Excellence as Parliamentarian; National Women of Achievement, Inc.-Life Member Award; the National Woman of Achievement, Inc. Chicago Chapter-Outstanding Service Award; the Outstanding Service to the Community-Human Services Award; the National Women of Achievement, Inc. Manderline Scales Scholarship Award, 17th Biennial CON-WOA; the Outstanding Administrator Award from the State of Illinois for Those Who Excel in Administration; National Women of Achievement, Inc. 10th Biennial CON-WOA-In Appreciation of Outstanding Service; the National Women of Achievement, Inc. Chicago Chapter-Wind Beneath Our Wings Achiever Award; and the National Women of Achievement, Inc. 13th Biennial CON-WOA Coordinators Award; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Davis was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Bessie Filer Edwards; her sister, Gayle Filer Manley; and her brother, Macy Dean Filer; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Davis is survived by her daughters, Norma Louise Ellis Olya Bush, Helen Davis Gardner, M.D., and Gina Renee Davis, Esq.; her sister, Vivian Filer Branton; her sister-in-law, Blondell Burson Filer; her grandchildren, Taurin Ellis Penn (Corey), Walter Forrest Bush, IV (Sandy), Tiffany Latrice Renea Ellis, Kossie Gardner III, and Najee Squire Gino Olya; her great-grandchildren, Sarah Penn-Cox, Sydney Penn, and Javion and Asia Bush; her great-great-grandchildren, London Marie and Paris Simone Cox; her very special niece, Tamera Thompson Fair; her children in her heart, Art Norman, JoAnne Hawkins White, Lynn A. Norment, Donald K. Johnson, and Deborah A. Rountree; her nieces and nephews around the country; Sorors; Achievers; former students; and friends all over the world; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Dr. Carrie Louise Filer Ellis Davis, and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Dr. Davis as an expression of our deepest sympathy.