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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate Barbara Jean (nee
4Matthews) Gleghorn on the occasion of her 80th birthday on
5April 19, 2014; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn was born in the city of
7Carbondale to an African American railroad worker named Robert
8Matthews, who relocated to Carbondale after changing his
9surname to flee the noose of intolerance and bigotry in the
10South, marrying Lou Della Griffin, the daughter of a plantation
11owner from Carruthers, Mississippi, they raised 9 children; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn was the 5th child, with the
13children affectionately calling their parents "Daddie" and
14"Dea"; due to only having an 8th-grade education, Robert and
15Lou Della misspelled their daughter's name as "B-A-BR-A" on her
16birth certificate; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Throughout her youth, Barbara Gleghorn, nicknamed
18"Bobbie", studied hard to rise above her station of poverty to
19become a writer on her school newspaper; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn attended Crispus Attucks School
21and earned a scholarship in the sport of tennis allowing her to

 

 

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1attend Southern Illinois University in Carbondale as a student,
2with an English major and business minor; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn fell in love with a young man,
4whom she would accept as her fiance, only to mourn his death
5after a car train accident and then discovering she was with
6child; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn welcomed her 1st child into this
8world in 1953, then at 19-years-old, moved to Springfield to
9stay at the boarding house formerly used as the now-historic
10Colored Folks Orphanage and, upon marrying Charles Price,
11subsequently was blessed with 6 other children; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Alan, Evelyn, Charlotte, Charles, Patricia,
13James, and Jacqueline were reared by their parents in a loving
14environment in the city of Springfield while also attending St.
15John's African Methodist Episcopal Church for several years
16before joining St. Paul AME Church; and
 
17    WHEREAS, For more than 50 years, Barbara Gleghorn has been
18a member of the little red church at 16th and Stuart streets in
19Springfield, where she currently holds the offices of
20Past-President of the Estella Thompson Women's Missionary
21Society, as well as being a member of the Steward Board and
22serving the Lord in the adult Gospel Choir; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn's dedication and spirituality
2called her to serve also as a member, past-President of the
3local chapter, Area Chair, and Vice-President of the State
4Chapter of Church Women United with offices in the United
5Nations in New York City, serving the meek and needy citizens
6of this world; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn supported and became a member of
8the Jerome Irwin Republican Club in Springfield and helped her
9son, Charles Price, to become one of the few black youths to
10work as a page on the floor of the Illinois House of
11Representatives for Republican legislators; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn retired from working for the
13State of Illinois after 35 years and later periodically worked
14for Springfield Public School District 186 as a substitute,
15retiring again to do charitable work and with the James Weldon
16Johnson Literary Guild, founded after members became friends
17with James Weldon Johnson; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Barbara Gleghorn volunteered with the Parent
19Helpline to help new mothers learn how to care for their
20babies, and is active with AMVETS Auxiliary to ensure that
21military veterans receive the honors they deserve; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, After the end of her marriage to Charles, Barbara
2married Alexander Gleghorn, whom she loved and cared for until
3he lost a battle with cancer; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Despite the tragic and heart-wrenching passing
5away of her fourth child Charles Philip Price, Barbara Gleghorn
6holds on to her unfaltering faith in a higher being greater
7than she professing the words of the gospel spiritual, "I don't
8feel no ways tired. I've come to far from where I started from.
9Nobody told me, the road would be easy. I don't believe He
10brought me this far, to leave me," to keep soldiering on; and
 
11    WHEREAS, On April 18th and 19th, 2014, friends and family
12including her 6 surviving children, her step-children, her 22
13grandchildren, her 41 great-grandchildren, and her 2
14great-great-grandchildren, will fete her ceremoniously at the
15Springfield Park District's Erin's Pavilion in Southwind Park
16with laughter, food, and fun to honor a woman who, through her
17charitable work, has helped hundreds of friends who are known
18and unknown; therefore, be it
 
19    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
20NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
21we honor Barbara Jean Gleghorn on the occasion of her 80th
22birthday and wish her well in all of her future endeavors; and
23be it further
 

 

 

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1    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2presented to Barbara Jean Gleghorn as an expression of our
3esteem and respect.