Bill Text: TX HR1848 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: In memory of William Hayes Cotton of Dallas County.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-05-22 - Reported enrolled [HR1848 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-HR1848-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 1848 |
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WHEREAS, Admired educator William Hayes Cotton of Dallas | ||
County passed away on May 9, 2019, at the age of 85; and | ||
WHEREAS, Born in Hammond on January 1, 1934, William Cotton | ||
attended the Hammond Colored School until his family moved to | ||
Dallas; he graduated from Lincoln High School and went on to | ||
complete his bachelor's degree in political science, history, and | ||
elementary education at Prairie View A&M University; later he | ||
earned a master's degree from North Texas State University and | ||
entered its doctoral program; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Cotton taught science in Bryan for two years and | ||
joined the Dallas Independent School District in 1957; after | ||
teaching at Colonial Elementary School, he served as principal of | ||
L. B. Lamar School and then Benjamin Banneker High; in 1967 he | ||
became the first African American administrator assigned to a | ||
predominantly Anglo school in the district as assistant principal | ||
of South Oak Cliff High, and two years later he was named principal; | ||
he became the district's first African American operations director | ||
in 1971, and he eventually served for 25 years as associate | ||
superintendent for management services before his retirement in | ||
2000; and | ||
WHEREAS, Deeply committed to education, Mr. Cotton served as | ||
the first African American president of the Dallas School | ||
Administrators Association; he was a founding treasurer of the | ||
Dallas Regional-National Alliance of Black School Educators and | ||
secretary of the Credit Union of Texas; among the numerous | ||
accolades he received were an honorary doctor of letters degree | ||
from Texas College, the Dallas Urban League Yvonne A. Ewell | ||
Excellence in Education Award, and the Texas Legislative Black | ||
Caucus Education Award; he further contributed to his community as | ||
a member of the Dallas Urban League, the NAACP, and Cedar Crest CME | ||
Church; and | ||
WHEREAS, In all his endeavors, Mr. Cotton enjoyed the love | ||
and support of his wife, Imogene, and their children, Fleta, | ||
Moncita, Kamalia, and William, and he took great pride in his | ||
grandchildren, Regina, Courtney, Moriah, Caitlyn, and Cathryn and | ||
great-grandchildren, Kristopher, Ari, and Royal; and | ||
WHEREAS, While the death of William Cotton brings great | ||
sadness to his family and friends, he leaves behind a legacy that | ||
will long be treasured by all those who held him dear; now, | ||
therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas | ||
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of William Hayes | ||
Cotton and extend sincere condolences to his loved ones; and, be it | ||
further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of | ||
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of William | ||
Cotton. | ||
Davis of Dallas | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 1848 was unanimously adopted by a | ||
rising vote of the House on May 22, 2019. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||