Bill Text: IL SR0252 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Mourns the passing of Josie (Brown) Childs of Chicago.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-05-05 - Resolution Adopted [SR0252 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SR0252-Introduced.html

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SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
to learn of the death of Josie (Brown) Childs of Chicago, who
passed away on February 13, 2023; and
WHEREAS, Josie Childs was born to Julia Brown and Charles
Washington in Clarksdale, Mississippi on October 13, 1926; she
graduated high school and attended LeMoyne-Owen College in
Memphis, Tennessee before moving to Chicago in the late 1940s;
she married James "Jack" Childs Sr. in 1968; and
WHEREAS, Josie Childs was a civic leader, an activist, and
a community organizer; she worked for the congressional
campaigns of Abner Mikva, Ralph Metcalfe, Rod Blagojevich, and
Harold Washington; she served as an Illinois organizer for the
presidential campaigns of Adlai Stevenson Sr., John F.
Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter; she also served
as a delegate of the Illinois Democratic Party at the 1980
Democratic National Convention (DNC) in New York City; she
additionally worked with the late Harold Washington on his
successful mayoral campaigns in 1977 and 1983; and
WHEREAS, Josie Childs was committed to the arts and
cultural excellence of the City of Chicago; after leaving her
administrative position with the City of Chicago's Special

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Events and Cultural Affairs Departments, she created and
promoted various events, including an acknowledgment event for
Great Lakes African American naval musicians entitled "The
Great Lakes Experience" and the Ellington International
Conference; she also guided many young people into becoming
civic minded and was involved in supporting programs at such
institutions as Columbia College Chicago, Goodman Theater, and
Harold Washington College; and
WHEREAS, Josie Childs founded The Mayor Harold Washington
Legacy Committee (MHWLC) in 2013, where she served as
president until her passing, remaining passionate on ensuring
the legacy of Mayor Harold Washington; she was a member of
several organizations, including The Chicago Urban League, the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), the Friends of the Chicago Public Library Board,
Planned Parenthood, T.R.U.S.T. Inc., the Know Your Chicago
Board, the Joint Negro Appeal, the National Board of Council
on Lay Life and Work, the Duke Ellington Society, the
Executive Service Corps, and the Christ Hospital Nursing
School; she was also the former president of her condominium
board; and
WHEREAS, Josie Childs was a founding member of the
Congregational Church of Park Manor, United Church of Christ
(UCC), where both she and her husband served as lifelong

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members; together, they were national and international
travelers, partners in church, social, and civic activities,
and lovers of fine dining, the theater, the arts, a good card
game, and jazz music; and
WHEREAS, Josie Childs received a number of accolades for
her work, including being honored with the Georgia Palmer
Award by Congressman Danny K. Davis in 2013 and being named one
of the Voices of the Civil Rights Movement by the DuSable
Museum and Comcast in February 2019; and
WHEREAS, Josie Childs' legacy will live on through her
donation to the Chicago Public Library of the Josie Brown
Childs Papers, a collection of documents consisting of her
family history, her political work, and her efforts to promote
African American cultural and historical awareness; she will
be remembered as deserving of the title "Matriarch of the
Movement"; and
WHEREAS, Josie Childs was preceded in death by her
husband; and
WHEREAS, Josie Childs is survived by her son, James M.
(Bonnie Collins) Childs Jr.; her grandchildren, James A.
Childs, Claudia L. (Adrien) Houndje, and Elysia R. (L.
Almestica) Childs; and her great-grandchildren, Semenou,

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Mense, Fifa, and Hontongou Houndje; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
Josie (Brown) Childs and extend our sincere condolences to her
family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
presented to the family of Josie Childs as an expression of our
deepest sympathy.