Full Text of HR0345 103rd General Assembly
HR0345 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HR0345 | | LRB103 32773 MST 62576 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to recognize the George Washington Carver | 4 | | Community Center's rich, 100-year history; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The George Washington Carver Community Center's | 6 | | legacy is that of the Colored Women's Aid Club; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The Colored Women's Aid Club, founded in 1899, | 8 | | was an early and active member of a state and national network | 9 | | of African American women's organizations known as the Black | 10 | | Women's Club Movement; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, The organization was part of the National | 12 | | Association of Colored Women's Clubs, founded in 1896, whose | 13 | | motto is "Lifting As We Climb", as well as its state affiliate, | 14 | | the Illinois Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, founded in | 15 | | 1899, whose motto was "Loyalty to Women and Justice to | 16 | | Children"; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, With like-minded women reformers throughout the | 18 | | State, Peoria's club women lobbied for measures such as | 19 | | women's suffrage, anti-lynching laws, and, especially, | 20 | | kindergartens, which would benefit young children and working | 21 | | mothers; they promoted citizenship classes to educate new |
| | | HR0345 | - 2 - | LRB103 32773 MST 62576 r |
|
| 1 | | voters, investigated conditions in jails and poor houses, | 2 | | provided scholarships, and continuously raised money to help | 3 | | the poor and comfort the sick; as original partners of what is | 4 | | now the Heart of Illinois United Way and as early members of | 5 | | the Peoria Women's Civic Federation, the club fostered | 6 | | interracial collaboration; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, By the 1920s, the Illinois Federation of Colored | 8 | | Women's Clubs was the largest organization in the State to | 9 | | champion the rights of Black people and the most comprehensive | 10 | | welfare agency meeting their needs, according to historian | 11 | | Wanda Hendricks; and | 12 | | WHEREAS, In cities throughout the State, including | 13 | | Chicago, Evanston, Rockford, Canton, Danville, Bloomington, | 14 | | Springfield, East St. Louis, and Cairo, Black women involved | 15 | | in the club movement founded settlement houses, schools, | 16 | | orphanages, old folks' homes, and community centers; and | 17 | | WHEREAS, In Peoria, the Colored Women's Aid Club opened | 18 | | the Negro Community Center on October 9, 1922, after raising | 19 | | $2,000 to buy a house at 108 S. Globe; the center grew as | 20 | | Peoria's Black population swelled with the Great Migration | 21 | | from the south; by 1937, the club had paid $4,500 in cash to | 22 | | move the center to a larger house at 1010 N. Sanford; and |
| | | HR0345 | - 3 - | LRB103 32773 MST 62576 r |
|
| 1 | | WHEREAS, A few years later, the Colored Women's Aid Club | 2 | | gave control to an interracial, community-wide board, which | 3 | | embarked on a $40,000 fundraising campaign to establish a new | 4 | | community center; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The Negro Community Center officially became the | 6 | | George Washington Carver Community Center in 1944; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, The George Washington Carver Community Center is | 8 | | a cultural landmark, a site of memory, for the joys, | 9 | | struggles, and achievements of generations, many of whom | 10 | | became local legends in education, sports, politics, social | 11 | | justice, law enforcement, and the arts; the center has either | 12 | | influenced or been influenced by nationally recognized | 13 | | pioneers such as comedian Richard Pryor, Civil Rights | 14 | | activists C.T. Vivian and Valeska Hinton, basketball Olympians | 15 | | Charla Lewis and Carla McGee, and, notably, Elizabeth Lindsay | 16 | | Davis, a national leader and historian of the early Black | 17 | | Women's Club Movement; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, The George Washington Carver Community Center is | 19 | | one of the last institutions in Illinois with direct links to | 20 | | the early Black Women's Club Movement; therefore, be it
| 21 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 22 | | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
| | | HR0345 | - 4 - | LRB103 32773 MST 62576 r |
|
| 1 | | we recognize the George Washington Carver Community Center for | 2 | | its commitment to "Lifting As We Climb" on the 100th | 3 | | anniversary of its roots; and be it further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 5 | | presented to the George Washington Carver Community Center as | 6 | | a symbol of our respect and esteem.
|
|