HR0603LRB098 14102 MST 48675 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate Quinn Chapel
4African Methodist Episcopal Church in Chicago, which
5celebrated its 166th anniversary on July 21, 2013; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Quinn Chapel is the oldest African American church
7in the City of Chicago and is believed to be the sponsor of one
8of the longest-running African American events in the city, the
9"June Rose Concert", of which the 118th concert was performed
10on June 9, 2013; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Quinn Chapel was started in 1844 by a prayer group
12of 7 members, 7 years after the City of Chicago was
13incorporated; the first group met in the home of John Day,
14located at what is now an alley between Randolph and Lake
15Streets; as the group grew, they relocated to the home of Maria
16Parker, one of the organizers of the Prayer Band; by 1846, the
17growing size of the congregation necessitated another move and
18they settled into an old school house located at State and
19Madison Streets and began the application process of becoming
20accepted as a congregation of the African Methodist Episcopal
21Church; on June 22, 1847 the Prayer group became an official
22congregation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was
23named in honor of Bishop William Paul Quinn, the African

 

 

HR0603- 2 -LRB098 14102 MST 48675 r

1Methodist Episcopal Missionary who organized many churches in
2Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Quinn Chapel has stood at its present location on
4South Wabash Avenue since 1891; before moving to its current
5location, it was destroyed twice by fire, the first time being
6during the "Great Chicago Fire" of 1871; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Quinn Chapel is rich in history; prior to the
8Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, it played an important role
9in the abolition movement in Chicago and served as a station
10for the Underground Railroad; notable speakers at the church
11have included Presidents William B. McKinley and William Howard
12Taft; educators George Washington Carver and Booker T.
13Washington; poet and literary genius Paul Lawrence Dunbar;
14abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglas; journalist and
15activist Ida B. Wells; women suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony;
16and preachers Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr., Reverend Dr.
17Martin Luther King, Jr., and Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.;
18in recent years, Governors Pat Quinn and Rod Blagojevich, Mayor
19Richard M. Daley, Congressmen Danny K. Davis, Bobby Rush, and
20Jesse Jackson, Jr., and then-Senator Barack Obama have spoken
21at the church; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Quinn Chapel was placed on the National Register
23of Historic Places in 1979 by the Joint Commission on

 

 

HR0603- 3 -LRB098 14102 MST 48675 r

1Landmarks; therefore, be it
 
2    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
4we congratulate Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal
5Church which celebrated its 166th anniversary and wish them
6many more successful years; and be it further
 
7    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8presented to Quinn Chapel as an expression of our esteem and
9respect.