MARQUETTE PARK MARCH 60TH

Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR0679

Select Language

×

The Illinois General Assembly offers the Google Translate™ service for visitor convenience. In no way should it be considered accurate as to the translation of any content herein.

Visitors of the Illinois General Assembly website are encouraged to use other translation services available on the internet.

The English language version is always the official and authoritative version of this website.

NOTE: To return to the original English language version, select the "Show Original" button on the Google Translate™ menu bar at the top of the window.

Choose Language

English

Afrikaans

Albanian

Arabic

Armenian

Azerbaijani

Basque

Bengali

Bosnian

Catalan

Croatian

Czech

Danish

Dutch

Esperanto

Estonian

Filipino

Finnish

French

Galician

Georgian

German

Greek

Gujarati

Haitian Creole

Hausa

Hawaiian

Hebrew

Hindi

Hungarian

Icelandic

Indonesian

Interlingua

Interlingue

Inuktitut

Irish

Italian

Japanese

Javanese

Kannada

Khmer

Korean

Latin

Latvian

Lithuanian

Luxembourgish

Macedonian

Malagasy

Malayalam

Maltese

Maori

Marathi

Myanmar

Nepali

Norwegian

Odia

Pashto

Punjabi

Romanian

Russian

Samoan

Sango

Sanskrit

Sardinian

Sindhi

Sinhala

Slovak

Slovenian

Somali

Southern Sotho

Spanish

Sundanese

Swahili

Swedish

Tamil

Telugu

Thai

Tigrinya

Tonga

Turkish

Ukrainian

Urdu

Vietnamese

Welsh

Xhosa

Yiddish

Yoruba

Zulu

Powered by
Translate

Close

Illinois General Assembly

Top Navigation Bar

Translate

Learn

Select General Assembly

Search the 104th General Assembly

Enter search terms for legislation, members, committees, or schedules.

ILGA.GOV

LEGISLATION & LAWS

Bills & Resolutions

Public Acts

Illinois Compiled Statutes

Illinois Constitution

Search Legislation

Glossary

Guide

Reports & Inquiry

Legislative Reports

Special Reports

FTP Site

Legislator Lookup

Capitol Complex Phone Numbers

Rules & Regulations

Illinois Register

Administrative Rules

Senate

Members

Schedules

Committees

Request for Remote Testimony

Journals

Transcripts

Rules

Audio/Video

FOIA Information

Senate Employment Opportunities

Media Guidelines

House

Members

Schedules

Committees

Submit testimony for House Committees

Journals

Transcripts

Rules

Audio/Video

FOIA Information

House Employment Opportunities

Log In

Mobile Top Bar

Search the 104th General Assembly

Enter keywords to search the Illinois General Assembly website.

Full Text of HR0679

Home

Legislation

Full Text

HR0679 - 104th General Assembly

Bill Status

Full Text

Votes

Witness Slips

Select Menu

Bill Status

Full Text

Votes

Witness Slips

Printer Friendly Version

Introduced

Printer Friendly Version

Introduced

Open PDF

HR0679
LRB104 20769 ECR 34275 r
1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

2

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3
Representatives wish to commemorate the 60th anniversary of
4
the Marquette Park March in Chicago; and

5

WHEREAS, August 5, 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of the
6
historic 1966 march through Marquette Park, a pivotal chapter
7
in the civil rights movement and the Chicago Freedom Movement
8
led by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Raby; and

9

WHEREAS, Working with a coalition of civil rights
10
organizations known as the Coordinating Council of Community
11
Organizations (CCCO), educator and activist Albert Raby
12
invited Dr. King to move to Chicago to help launch the Chicago
13
Freedom Movement, a campaign to expand the Southern Christian
14
Leadership Conference's (SCLC) civil rights activities from
15
the South to northern cities; and

16

WHEREAS, Groundwork for the Chicago Freedom Movement began
17
in the summer of 1965 when Dr. King was invited by civil rights
18
activists to Chicago to help lead a demonstration against de
19
facto segregation in education, housing, and employment; and

20

WHEREAS, In consultation with the SCLC, the CCCO decided
21
this campaign should be geared specifically at achieving fair

HR0679
- 2 -
LRB104 20769 ECR 34275 r
1
housing practices; and

2

WHEREAS, In January 1966, Dr. King moved into a
3
third-floor apartment in the North Lawndale neighborhood of
4
Chicago's West Side to draw international attention to the
5
systemic disinvestment facing Northern urban centers,
6
including shabby and dilapidated housing; and

7

WHEREAS, Throughout the spring and summer of 1966, Dr.
8
King helped the campaign gain momentum through demonstrations
9
and marches, even as he faced the organizational challenges of
10
mobilizing Chicago's diverse African American community; and

11

WHEREAS, On July 10, 1966, over 30,000 people braved a
12
98-degree heat wave at Soldier Field to hear Dr. King declare
13
that the movement was "tired of being lynched spiritually and
14
economically in the North"; and

15

WHEREAS, On August 5, 1966, Dr. King led hundreds of
16
demonstrators into the Marquette Park area to protest
17
discriminatory real estate practices and to demand the right
18
for African Americans to rent, own, and sell property on a
19
nondiscriminatory basis; and

20

WHEREAS, The marchers were met by a mob of approximately
21
700 counter-protesters, who shouted racist slurs and hateful

HR0679
- 3 -
LRB104 20769 ECR 34275 r
1
slogans while attacking marchers, legal observers, and police
2
officers with a torrent of bricks, bottles, and rocks,
3
including one of which that struck Dr. King and knocked him to
4
one knee; and

5

WHEREAS, Dr. King stated after the attack, "I have never
6
seen, even in Mississippi and Alabama, mobs as hostile and as
7
hate-filled as I've seen here in Chicago"; and

8

WHEREAS, The courage displayed by these marchers led to a
9
summit agreement with Mayor Richard J. Daley and real estate
10
leaders, which Dr. King called "the most significant program
11
ever conceived to make open housing a reality", eventually
12
paving the way for the passage and enactment of the federal
13
Fair Housing Act of 1968; and

14

WHEREAS, The seeds sown in Marquette Park contributed to
15
the eventual election of Chicago's first Black mayor, Harold
16
Washington, whose campaign was managed by Al Raby, in 1983 and
17
to the election of Barack Obama as the first Black president of
18
the United States in 2008 after he was inspired to move to
19
Chicago by Harold Washington's election; and

20

WHEREAS, The legacy of the Chicago Freedom Movement lives
21
on through the Martin Luther King, Jr. Living Memorial in
22
Marquette Park; therefore, be it

HR0679
- 4 -
LRB104 20769 ECR 34275 r
1

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
2
HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
3
we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Marquette Park
4
March, and we honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
5
and Albert Raby; and be it further

6

RESOLVED, That we reaffirm our commitment to continuing
7
the fight for fair housing and economic justice for all
8
Illinoisans.

Footer

Disclaimer

This site is maintained for the Illinois General Assembly by the
Legislative Information System, 705 Stratton Building, Springfield, Illinois 62706.

Contact ILGA Webmaster

ILGA.gov uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to browse ILGA.gov you consent to our use of cookies.
Read About Cookies

ILGA.GOV

2026 ILGA.gov | All Rights Reserved |
ADA

|
Disclaimers
|
Learn

This site is maintained for the Illinois General Assembly by the
Legislative Information System, 705 Stratton Building, Springfield, Illinois 62706.
Contact ILGA Webmaster

ILGA.gov uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to browse ILGA.gov you consent to our use of cookies.
Read About Cookies

ILGA.GOV

2026 ILGA.gov | All Rights Reserved |
ADA

|
Disclaimers
|
Learn