Full Text of HR0468 102nd General Assembly
HR0468 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Vernon | 4 | | Eulion Jordan Jr. of Washington, D.C., who passed away on | 5 | | March 1, 2021; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Vernon Jordan was born in Atlanta, Georgia to | 7 | | Vernon Jordan Sr. and Mary Belle Jordan on August 15, 1935; he | 8 | | graduated from an all-Black high school in Atlanta; he | 9 | | enrolled at DePauw University in Indiana, where he took part | 10 | | in college oratory contests; he graduated from Howard | 11 | | University School of Law in 1960; he married Shirley | 12 | | Yarbrough, and she preceded him in death in December 1985; he | 13 | | married Ann Dibble Cook in November 1986; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Vernon Jordan became a law clerk to Donald Lee | 15 | | Hollowell, a prominent Black lawyer who led a one-man civil | 16 | | rights practice in Atlanta; during this time, he worked | 17 | | closely on the case that desegregated the University of | 18 | | Georgia; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Vernon Jordan became director of the Voter | 20 | | Education Project of the Southern Regional Council and was | 21 | | named executive director of the United Negro College Fund in | 22 | | 1970; a year later, he was recruited to be the head of the |
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| 1 | | National Urban League, which brought him to New York; during | 2 | | his tenure, the group began issuing a widely read annual | 3 | | report titled The State of Black America; he began pivoting | 4 | | away from active leadership of the group to take on the roles | 5 | | of lawyer and counselor for banks and corporations; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Vernon Jordan was recruited to join the Texas and | 7 | | Washington-based law firm Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld by | 8 | | Robert Strauss in 1982, where he served as a lawyer-lobbyist; | 9 | | he was named co-chairman of the Clinton transition effort and | 10 | | became a confidant of President Bill Clinton; he was recruited | 11 | | to handle sensitive issues for the White House; he joined the | 12 | | Wall Street investment firm Lazard while remaining associated | 13 | | with Akin, Gump in 1999; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Vernon Jordan served on more than a dozen | 15 | | corporate and nonprofit boards, including the Celanese | 16 | | Corporation, Bankers Trust, American Express, and Xerox; he | 17 | | co-wrote his memoir Vernon Can Read! with Annette Gordon-Reed, | 18 | | which was published in 2001; he was the subject of an hour-long | 19 | | PBS documentary, Vernon Jordan: Make It Plain in 2020; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Vernon Jordan was a man who saw it as his duty to | 21 | | advance the next generation of African Americans in the United | 22 | | States and used his decades of amassed influence to cultivate | 23 | | the next generation of Black leaders in business, politics, |
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| 1 | | and the nonprofit world; his legacy will not be forgotten; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, At the time of his death, Vernon Jordan was | 3 | | survived by his wife, Ann Dibble Jordan; his daughter, Vickee | 4 | | Jordan Adams; two grandsons; and three stepchildren; | 5 | | therefore, be it
| 6 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 7 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 8 | | we mourn the passing of Vernon Eulion Jordan Jr. and extend our | 9 | | sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew | 10 | | and loved him; and be it further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 12 | | presented to the family of Vernon Jordan as an expression of | 13 | | our deepest sympathy.
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