Full Text of HR0033 099th General Assembly
HR0033 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Ella Louise Park Lawrence, known as the Mother of | 3 | | the Illinois State Flag, was born May 13, 1857, during a period | 4 | | of great upheaval preceding the Civil War; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Ella Park Lawrence's father, George Park, | 6 | | published an abolitionist newspaper in Parkville, Missouri, | 7 | | where at that time there were ongoing bloody conflicts between | 8 | | pro-slavery factions and abolitionists; her father's printing | 9 | | press was thrown into the Missouri River in 1855 by a | 10 | | pro-slavery mob, and he slept in caves for several months to | 11 | | avoid being killed; after the Civil War, Parkville's commercial | 12 | | activity and population declined and, in 1875, George Park | 13 | | established Park College (now known as Park University), which | 14 | | reinvigorated the town that he founded; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, The experiences of her childhood stayed with Ella | 16 | | Park Lawrence for the rest of her life; she was devoted to the | 17 | | flag of the United States, and she donated flags to schools and | 18 | | various organizations; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, In 1874, Ella Park Lawrence began attending Knox | 20 | | College in Galesburg, but she did not complete her studies | 21 | | there; while she was a student at Knox College, she met George | 22 | | A. Lawrence, a lawyer and author, and they married on October |
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| 1 | | 18, 1882 at the Park homestead in Putnam County; during their | 2 | | marriage, they lived in several houses in Galesburg; shortly | 3 | | after her time at Knox College, she enrolled at Vassar College; | 4 | | and | 5 | | WHEREAS, In 1890, the National Society of the Daughters of | 6 | | the American Revolution (DAR), a women's patriotic lineage | 7 | | society, was organized in Washington, D.C.; in order to become | 8 | | a member, a woman had to provide documents proving she was a | 9 | | descendant of a Revolutionary War participant; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, The Rebecca Parke Chapter of DAR was organized in | 11 | | Galesburg on January 23, 1901; Rebecca Gibson Parke was an | 12 | | 11-year-old girl living near Lexington, Massachusetts when the | 13 | | Revolutionary War began; her father, Isaac Gibson, and 5 of her | 14 | | 8 brothers responded to the alarm at Lexington in April of | 15 | | 1776; she was an ancestor to 2 members of the new DAR chapter, | 16 | | Ella Park Lawrence and Marietta Howe Ervin; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, Ella Park Lawrence became a charter member of the | 18 | | Rebecca Parke Chapter, and, in 1906, she was elected regent of | 19 | | the chapter, serving 4 years; in 1911, she was chosen as the | 20 | | State regent of the Illinois DAR; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, All of the state regents were required to attend | 22 | | the National Congress at the DAR headquarters in Washington, |
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| 1 | | D.C. each year; while attending one of these meetings, Ella | 2 | | Park Lawrence noticed that there was no flag representing | 3 | | Illinois hanging among those in Memorial Continental Hall; in | 4 | | fact, the State had no flag at all; she decided this situation | 5 | | should be remedied and felt that the 5,500 DAR members in | 6 | | Illinois were just the ones to do it; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, Ella Park Lawrence started writing letters and | 8 | | visiting chapters across the State to promote the idea of | 9 | | adopting a design for a State flag; she also contacted State | 10 | | officials and members of the General Assembly, trying to create | 11 | | interest in the adoption of a State flag; she did not succeed | 12 | | in her goal during her tenure as state regent, but she | 13 | | continued her work; and | 14 | | WHEREAS, On April 1, 1914, Ella Park Lawrence sent a letter | 15 | | to every DAR chapter in Illinois offering a prize of $25 ($500 | 16 | | in today's dollars) for the winning flag design; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, The judging was led by Secretary of State Lewis G. | 18 | | Stevenson, father of future Governor Adlai E. Stevenson; the | 19 | | prize was awarded to the Rockford chapter; the design consisted | 20 | | of the Great Seal of Illinois on a white background; and | 21 | | WHEREAS, The General Assembly passed legislation | 22 | | authorizing a State flag, and it became law on July 6, 1915; |
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| 1 | | the legislation specified that the State seal could be | 2 | | reproduced in black or color on a white background and the | 3 | | Secretary of State was required to oversee the use of the seal | 4 | | on the flags; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Ella Park Lawrence had 5 "first flags" made; she | 6 | | gave one of the flags to the National Headquarters of the DAR, | 7 | | one to the State DAR, one to Secretary of State Stevenson, one | 8 | | to Governor Edward Deneen, and one to the Illinois State | 9 | | Historical Society; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Fifty-four years after the Illinois State Flag was | 11 | | officially designated, a young Chief Petty Officer serving in | 12 | | Vietnam, Bruce McDaniel from Waverly, observed the state flags | 13 | | hanging in his mess hall; he pointed out that the Illinois flag | 14 | | was difficult to identify because the name of the State did not | 15 | | appear on it; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Representative Jack Walker of Lansing introduced | 17 | | the bill to add the word 'Illinois' below the Great Seal on the | 18 | | flag; it was passed by the State Legislature on September 17, | 19 | | 1969; Governor Richard B. Ogilvie signed the legislation and | 20 | | appointed a commission to set standards for production of the | 21 | | flag and a uniform design; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Ella Park Lawrence continued to give flags to |
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| 1 | | schools and organizations until her death on March 17, 1924; a | 2 | | week after her funeral, the Rebecca Parke Chapter of the DAR | 3 | | conducted a memorial service in her name; Myra Patch, one of | 4 | | the speakers, said of Ella Park Lawrence: "Tremendous in | 5 | | energy, fervent in patriotism, resourceful in plans, Mrs. | 6 | | Lawrence not only gave of her money, her time, her thought, and | 7 | | her physical strength, but she also had the happy faculty of | 8 | | inspiring others to do likewise - by the high standard of her | 9 | | work as State Regent of Illinois, Mrs. Lawrence added greatly | 10 | | to the honor and fame of our chapter"; therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 12 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 13 | | recognize the 100th Anniversary of the creation of the flag of | 14 | | the State of Illinois on July 6, 2015; and be it further | 15 | | RESOLVED That the State of Illinois honors all of the | 16 | | individuals and organizations who helped with the design and | 17 | | creation of the State Flag; and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 19 | | presented to the Governor, the Secretary of State, and the | 20 | | Illinois Senate.
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