HR0331 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0331 LRB103 32712 LAW 62464 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to recognize Bill Rosso of Gurnee on his donation of a historic Illinois Supreme Court desk to the State of Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Bill Rosso, as a child, purchased the desk from the Effingham City Council for $18.91 in April 1962; he saved a newspaper article from the Effingham Daily News regarding his purchase, which references that the desks being sold came from the Vandalia Statehouse; and

WHEREAS, After additional research, the desk is believed to be one of the pieces created in the mid-1870s as furnishings for the current Capitol building, with desks of the same design being made for members of the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate, as well as for use in the Illinois Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, The desk appears to have been received by the Effingham City Council in approximately 1912, due to the most visible signature in a desk drawer being from the city clerk of that year; and

WHEREAS, The desk was retrieved from Gurnee by the Office of the Architect of the Capitol in January 2023 and has since been cleaned and stabilized by woodworker specializing in historic pieces; and

WHEREAS, The Office of the Architect of the Capitol plans to put the historic desk on display in the future; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize Bill Rosso on his donation of a historic Illinois Supreme Court desk to the State of Illinois, and we thank him for taking great care of the desk over the many years it was in his possession; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Bill Rosso as an expression of our esteem and respect.