BLACK HISTORY-SUPPORT

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HR0663 - 104th General Assembly

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HR0663
LRB104 20764 MST 34268 r
1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

2

WHEREAS, February 2026 marks the historic 100th
3
anniversary of the formal establishment of Black history
4
commemorations in the United States, a milestone that honors
5
the resilience, brilliance, and enduring contributions of
6
African Americans to the fabric of our nation and the State of
7
Illinois; and

8

WHEREAS, The origins of this observance trace back to 1915
9
when historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who earned his master's
10
degree from the University of Chicago, founded the Association
11
for the Study of Negro Life and History (now the Association
12
for the Study of African American Life and History) to
13
research, promote, preserve, interpret, and disseminate
14
information about the life, history, and culture of people of
15
African descent; and

16

WHEREAS, In February 1926, Dr. Woodson launched Negro
17
History Week, strategically choosing the second week of
18
February to coincide with the birthdays of Frederick Douglass
19
and Abraham Lincoln, two monumental symbols of American
20
freedom; and

21

WHEREAS, Dr. Woodson's vision was never intended to limit
22
the study of Black history to a single week but rather to serve

HR0663
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LRB104 20764 MST 34268 r
1
as a stepping stone toward the year-round integration of Black
2
achievements into the American story, famously stating, "If a
3
race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it
4
becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it
5
stands in danger of being exterminated."; and

6

WHEREAS, This weeklong observance evolved through the
7
1960s amid the Civil Rights Movement and was expanded to
8
become Black History Month in 1976 with the support of
9
President Gerald Ford, who urged Americans to "seize the
10
opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments
11
of Black Americans"; and

12

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois has been a central stage
13
for this history as the home of several innovators and
14
pioneers, particularly in the arts, business, journalism, and
15
public service, including:
16

(1) Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, known as the "Father
17

of Chicago", for becoming the first permanent
18

non-Indigenous settler of Chicago;
19

(2) Priscilla Baltimore, who, with the assistance of
20

other families escaping slavery, founded the town of
21

Brooklyn, which became an active center in the network
22

known as the Underground Railroad, assisting other African
23

Americans escaping enslavement, and later the first
24

incorporated Black town in the United States;

HR0663
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LRB104 20764 MST 34268 r
1

(3) Annie Turnbo Malone, born in Metropolis to
2

formerly enslaved parents, who turned her interest and
3

passion for styling hair into a business that developed
4

hair products for Black women and who later founded Poro
5

College in St. Louis, which trained Madam C.J. Walker, who
6

used her education and training at Poro to manufacture
7

hair and beauty products for African Americans and become
8

the first self-made female millionaire in the United
9

States;
10

(4) John W.E. Thomas, the first Black state legislator
11

in Illinois, who served in the Illinois House of
12

Representatives;
13

(5) Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, pioneering medical
14

doctor who performed the first successful open heart
15

surgery in the United States in Chicago and who founded
16

Provident Hospital, the first Black-owned and operated
17

hospital in the United States and the first hospital in
18

the United States to racially integrate patients and
19

staff;
20

(6) Ida B. Wells, a fearless, Chicago-based
21

investigative journalist, who traveled the United States
22

to expose the horrific realties of racist terrorism and
23

lynching;
24

(7) Oscar De Priest, the first African American
25

congressman from Illinois and the first Black congressman
26

elected in the 20th century in the United States, who

HR0663
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LRB104 20764 MST 34268 r
1

ended a nearly 30 year gap from when the first African
2

Americans were elected to Congress during the
3

Reconstruction Era after the Civil War;
4

(8) Robert Sengstacke Abbott, founder of the Chicago
5

Defender, the mostly widely read and circulated
6

Black-owned newspaper in the United States, which gave
7

voice to issues of culture, life, and politics among
8

African Americans;
9

(9) Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to earn an
10

international pilot's license, who captivated audiences
11

with exhibitions and barnstorming tours;
12

(10) Muddy Waters, whose move from Mississippi to
13

Chicago and adoption of electrically amplified
14

instrumentation birthed the genre of Chicago blues music,
15

which served as the direct and most primary antecedent of
16

rock and roll music;
17

(11) Gwendolyn Brooks, a writer who became the first
18

Black poet to win the Pulitzer Prize and the first Black
19

woman to serve in the role known as the United States Poet
20

Laureate;
21

(12) Carol Mosely Braun, the first Black woman elected
22

to the United States Senate; and
23

(13) Barack and Michelle Obama, who became the
24

nation's first African American President and First Lady;
25

and

HR0663
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1

WHEREAS, Illinois has been and will continue to be shaped
2
by countless citizens who contribute to Black history in their
3
communities and help build the vibrant fabric of our State;
4
and

5

WHEREAS, The 2026 national theme for Black History Month,
6
A Century of Black History Commemorations, urges us to reflect
7
on how these 100 years of community, history, and storytelling
8
have transformed the status of Black people in the modern
9
world and have protected the historical record against
10
erasure; and

11

WHEREAS, As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the
12
United States independence, the struggle for equality,
13
liberty, and opportunity by Black Americans, driven by
14
scientists, laborers, entrepreneurs, educators, and artists,
15
remains the greatest catalyst for American progress;
16
therefore, be it

17

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
18
HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
19
we recognize the 100th anniversary of the movement started by
20
Dr. Carter G. Woodson to celebrate Black history; and be it
21
further

22

RESOLVED, That we affirm that Black history is American

HR0663
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LRB104 20764 MST 34268 r
1
history, and its preservation is essential to the strength of
2
our democracy and the freedoms we hold dear; and

3

RESOLVED, That we encourage all citizens, schools, and
4
cultural institutions in Illinois to engage with the full,
5
accurate truth of our history.

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