SR0212 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Benjamin O. Davis Sr. was born on July 1, 1877 in Washington, D.C. to Louis Davis, a servant to General John A. Logan and Henrietta Davis; and

WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. entered Howard University in 1897 and became a member of the black unity of the National Guard; and

WHEREAS, On July 13, 1898, Benjamin Davis Sr. enlisted as a volunteer soldier in the 8th United States Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War; and

WHEREAS, On February 2, 1901, Benjamin Davis Sr. received a regular commission and was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant, serving with Troop M, 9th Calvary in the Philippines; and

WHEREAS, In 1902, Benjamin Davis Sr. had two children, Olive and Benjamin Jr., with his wife, Elnora Dickerson, who passed away shortly after giving birth to their second child; and

WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. was assigned to the Philippines as a supply officer of the 9th Calvary Camp Stotsenburg; shortly thereafter, he married Sadie Overton, an English teacher at Wilberforce University; and

WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. became a professor of military science and tactics at Wilberforce University, and later a professor of military science and tactics at the Tuskegee Institute; and

WHEREAS, In 1924, Benjamin Davis Sr. became an instructor of the 372nd Infantry of the Ohio National Guard in Cleveland; during the summers of 1930 to 1933, he traveled to Europe as the official Army representative for the Pilgrimage of War Mothers and Widows; and

WHEREAS, In 1938, Benjamin Davis Sr. was given his first independent command, the 369th National Guard Infantry Regiment; and

WHEREAS, On October 25, 1940, after 42 years of service in the Army, Benjamin Davis Sr. became the first black American General in the U.S. Army with a promotion to Brigadier General, where he served as Brigade Commander at Fort Riley, Kansas with the 2nd Cavalry Division; and

WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. was appointed to the Committee on Negro Troop Policies, where he helped solve racial problems within the military; and

WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for combating segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces; and

WHEREAS, Benjamin Davis Sr. served his country for 50 years, retiring in 1948; he passed away on November 26, 1970 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery; and

WHEREAS, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 311 in Richton Park was incorporated on August 2, 2002 and named in honor of General Davis; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we honor the life and legacy of General Benjamin O. Davis Sr. and declare August 2, 2017 as General Benjamin O. Davis Sr. Day in the State of Illinois.