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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION |
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| INTRODUCED BY WHEATLEY, PRESTON, KORTZ, BEYER, BISHOP, CALTAGIRONE, COHEN, D. COSTA, DERMODY, DeWEESE, DONATUCCI, FABRIZIO, FRANKEL, GEIST, GEORGE, GINGRICH, KIRKLAND, KOTIK, KULA, LEVDANSKY, MAHER, MARKOSEK, McCALL, MILLARD, PARKER, READSHAW, SAINATO, SANTONI, SIPTROTH, SONNEY, STABACK, THOMAS, VULAKOVICH, WAGNER, WALKO, MAJOR AND WATERS, SEPTEMBER 17, 2009 |
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| INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, SEPTEMBER 17, 2009 |
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| A RESOLUTION |
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1 | Memorializing Harvey Adams, Jr., civil rights leader, retired |
2 | director of the Pittsburgh Housing Authority Police |
3 | Department and former president of the Pittsburgh branch of |
4 | the National Association for the Advancement of Colored |
5 | People. |
6 | WHEREAS, Harvey Adams, Jr., graduated from South Hills High |
7 | School and West Virginia State College, where he earned a |
8 | bachelor's degree in political science and education before |
9 | attending Duquesne University School of Law; and |
10 | WHEREAS, Mr. Adams began his career in 1953 as a social |
11 | worker in McKeesport before joining the Pittsburgh Police |
12 | Department in 1955; and |
13 | WHEREAS, During his time on the police force Mr. Adams |
14 | implemented a minority police recruitment program and youth |
15 | athletic and educational programs and organized police and |
16 | community councils for the city, including the Guardians of |
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1 | Greater Pittsburgh, an organization for African-American police |
2 | officers that successfully sued the city in 1970 over |
3 | discriminatory hiring policies; and |
4 | WHEREAS, Mr. Adams retired from the force in 1975, the same |
5 | year the police department initiated an affirmative action |
6 | program that more than doubled the number of African-American |
7 | officers during the next decade and led to the first female |
8 | officers being hired; and |
9 | WHEREAS, Mr. Adams served at the helm of the Pittsburgh |
10 | branch of the National Association for the Advancement of |
11 | Colored People from 1976 until 1992 and also headed the |
12 | association's police affairs committee; and |
13 | WHEREAS, From 1980 to 1990, Mr. Adams was chief executive |
14 | officer and principal owner of A&S Security, the city's first |
15 | minority-owned security firm; and |
16 | WHEREAS, Mr. Adams also served as director of the Pittsburgh |
17 | Housing Authority Police Department from 1982 to 1994 and as |
18 | police chief in Wilkinsburg for three months in 2004; and |
19 | WHEREAS, Mr. Adams is also remembered for his actions |
20 | following the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968 when he |
21 | was a Pittsburgh police sergeant; and |
22 | WHEREAS, Violent protests broke out across the city, |
23 | particularly in the Hill District, and Mr. Adams worked |
24 | diligently to keep the peace during those riots; and |
25 | WHEREAS, In addition, during the years of the civil rights |
26 | movement, Mr. Adams publicly, along with William H. "Mugsy" |
27 | Moore, who later became Pittsburgh's first African-American |
28 | police chief, questioned how the city treated its black police |
29 | officers and traveled the country raising awareness of this |
30 | issue; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, After suffering two strokes in the past four years, |
2 | Mr. Adams passed away on September 7, 2009, at 80 years of age; |
3 | and |
4 | WHEREAS, Mr. Adams is survived by his wife of 35 years, |
5 | Shirley Adams of Stanton Heights; a son, Harvey Adams III of |
6 | Wilkinsburg; daughters, Carol Adams of Wilkinsburg and Nikki |
7 | Wright of Stanton Heights; three granddaughters, Tracee, |
8 | Ashleigh and Alexa; and a goddaughter, Michelle Gainey; |
9 | therefore be it |
10 | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives memorialize |
11 | Harvey Adams, Jr., civil rights leader, retired director of the |
12 | Pittsburgh Housing Authority Police Department and former |
13 | president of the Pittsburgh branch of the National Association |
14 | for the Advancement of Colored People; and be it further |
15 | RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to |
16 | Shirley Adams, 5087 Rosecrest Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15201. |
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