Bill Text: IL HR0345 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Recognizes the George Washington Carver Community Center's rich, 100-year history.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-10-24 - Resolution Adopted [HR0345 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-HR0345-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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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
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5 | WHEREAS, The George Washington Carver Community Center's | ||||||
6 | legacy is that of the Colored Women's Aid Club; and
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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
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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
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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 |
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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5 | WHEREAS, The Negro Community Center officially became the | ||||||
6 | George Washington Carver Community Center in 1944; and
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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
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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
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21 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
22 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
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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
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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.
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