Full Text of SR1091 96th General Assembly
SR1091 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of Dr. Margaret Burroughs, a longtime | 4 | | Chicago Park District commissioner who started the nationally | 5 | | recognized DuSable Museum of African American History in the | 6 | | living room of her South Side home almost 50 years ago, who | 7 | | passed away on November 21, 2010; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, She and her husband, the late Charles Burroughs, | 9 | | co-founded the DuSable Museum in 1961, and she was one of | 10 | | several artists and art supporters who 70 years ago started the | 11 | | South Side Community Art Center; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, She was born in St. Rose, Louisiana, and moved to | 13 | | Chicago as a child; she attended the Chicago Teachers College | 14 | | and received bachelor's and master's degrees from the Art | 15 | | Institute of Chicago; she later received several honorary | 16 | | degrees; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, She taught for more than 20 years at DuSable High | 18 | | School; she also taught at Kennedy-King College; in her early | 19 | | 20s, she joined several others in starting the South Side | 20 | | Community Art Center; she set up a legendary salon in | 21 | | Bronzeville, which attracted the likes of sociologist W.E.B. | 22 | | DuBois and writer James Baldwin; she was unhappy that there |
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| 1 | | were few places for black artists to showcase their work, and | 2 | | helped launch an art fair in the late 1950s at a shopping | 3 | | center at 35th Street and King Drive; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, She and her husband later planted the seeds for | 5 | | what would become a thriving museum with about 100 items in | 6 | | their living room, calling it the Ebony Museum of Negro History | 7 | | and Art; today, the DuSable Museum, boasts a collection of more | 8 | | than 100,000 pieces in its Washington Park building; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Mrs. Burroughs also helped start the National | 10 | | Conference of African-American Artists; she taught art and | 11 | | poetry to prison inmates; for the last 35 years, she and | 12 | | Reverend Jesse Jackson spent Christmas Day at the Cook County | 13 | | Jail; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, Mrs. Burroughs bowled and took up roller-skating | 15 | | in her 80s; in 1989, she was inducted into the Chicago Women's | 16 | | Hall of Fame; former President Jimmy Carter appointed her a | 17 | | member of the National Commission on African-American History | 18 | | and Culture; she won the Paul Robeson Award; most recently, | 19 | | Mrs. Burroughs received the Legacy Award from the Art Institute | 20 | | of Chicago; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Margaret Burroughs is survived by her son, | 22 | | Paul Burroughs; her grandson, Eric Toller; and three other |
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| 1 | | grandchildren; therefore, be it
| 2 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL | 3 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 4 | | her family, friends, and the many people she has inspired over | 5 | | the years, the passing of Dr. Margaret Burroughs; and be it | 6 | | further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 8 | | presented to the family of Dr. Margaret Burroughs as a symbol | 9 | | of our sincere sympathy.
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