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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to recognize the 100th anniversary of the
4First Division and the First Division Museum at Cantigny for
5the important work they do to archive and present the military
6history of the First Division; and
7 WHEREAS, One hundred years ago, as the United States
8entered World War I, the War Department issued orders for a
9"division" to go to France; the First Division, today's 1st
10Infantry Division, the storied Big Red One, has been on
11continuous active duty ever since; and
12 WHEREAS, The First Division Museum was founded in 1960; it
13has not undergone any major renovations since it was moved from
14its original location in the Cantigny Park Visitors Center to
15its current building in 1992; and
16 WHEREAS, First Division Museum officials announced a $7
17million redesign project that will update existing exhibits -
18which span the period from the division's beginning in 1917
19through the Vietnam War in 1970 - and create new ones
20highlighting its more recent history; and
21 WHEREAS, The First Division Museum attracts approximately

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1170,000 visitors annually; it shut its doors on Veterans Day in
2November of 2016 and will reopen in the summer of 2017,
3coinciding with the centennial of the First Division and World
4War I; therefore, be it
5 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
6HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
7recognize the 100th anniversary of the First Division and the
8First Division Museum at Cantigny for the important work they
9do to archive and present the military history of the First
10Division; and be it further
11 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12presented to First Division Museum Director Paul Herbert.