Bill Text: IL HR0809 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Designates February 27, 2012, as "Alexander Lane Day" in the State of Illinois.

Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)

Status: (Passed) 2012-03-30 - Resolution Adopted [HR0809 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HR0809-Introduced.html

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HOUSE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute is honoring
Alexander Lane, the first African-American male student at
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, who enrolled in 1876;
and
WHEREAS, Historian Pamela Smoot's research on Lane's life
began at SIU-Carbondale's Morris Library and included trips to
Chicago, Springfield, and Mississippi; the research shows that
Lane was born into slavery in pre-Civil War Mississippi and
later migrated to Illinois as a young boy, where he was taken
in by a southern Illinois farming family who helped assure he
had the opportunity to gain an education at what was then
Southern Illinois Normal University; and
WHEREAS, Alexander Lane served as the first principal of
Carbondale's East Side School for Negroes, which later became
Attucks School; and
WHEREAS, Alexander Lane married the former Isabelle
Holland, who also attended SIU-Carbondale, and together they
had one son before moving to Chicago in the early 1890s in
order to attend Rush Medical College, from which he graduated
in 1895; and

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WHEREAS, Alexander Lane was appointed assistant physician
of Cook County and had a private practice at 1937 S. Archer
Avenue in Chicago; he entered politics in 1906 by running for
and winning a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives as
a Republican, where he became the ninth African-American
elected to the Illinois General Assembly; he was reelected in
1908 and served until his death in November 1911; and
WHEREAS, To honor his legacy, the Paul Simon Public Policy
Institute has established the Alexander Lane Internship
Program to foster civic engagement opportunities for students
at Southern Illinois University to work with members of the
Illinois General Assembly and the Legislative Black Caucus; and
WHEREAS, Alexander Lane was a trailblazer for first
generation college students, the disadvantaged,
African-Americans in education, medicine, public health,
public service, and elected politics, and African-American
State legislators; and
WHEREAS, The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute is hosting
a Black History Month event at Rush University Medical Center
in Chicago on Monday, February 27, 2012 to honor Alexander Lane
and his many accomplishments; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE

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NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
we designate February 27, 2012 as "Alexander Lane Day" in the
State of Illinois in honor of the Honorable Dr. Alexander M.
Lane and his legacy of high achievement against significant
challenges; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to the family of Alexander Lane as a symbol of our
esteem and respect of their revered ancestor and to the Paul
Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University
Carbondale in tribute to its dedication to the telling of the
Alexander Lane story.