Illinois 2023-2024 Regular Session

Illinois House Bill HR0134 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
4	4	2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
5	5	3 Representatives wish to recognize David A. Strother's legacy
6	6	4 on voting rights in the State of Illinois and the United
7	7	5 States; and
8	8	6 WHEREAS, David A. Strother, once widely believed to have
9	9	7 been the first Black man to vote in the United States as a
10	10	8 result of the addition of the Fifteenth Amendment to the
11	11	9 Constitution, was certainly the first to vote in Illinois on
12	12	10 April 4, 1870; and
13	13	11 WHEREAS, David Strother was born to Henry and Leah in
14	14	12 Lexington, Missouri on August 18, 1843, the son of slaves who
15	15	13 bought their freedom; he worked as a cook's assistant on a
16	16	14 Mississippi steamer; he served as a civilian cook with Company
17	17	15 G, 17th Illinois Infantry, of the Union Army during the Civil
18	18	16 War; at the urging of 44 local area men of Troop G, he settled
19	19	17 in El Paso; he became a barber and set up a chair in the corner
20	20	18 of an insurance and justice of the peace's office in January
21	21	19 1864; he was soon reunited with his mother and his brother,
22	22	20 Charles, who joined him at his new barber shop; and
23	23	21 WHEREAS, El Paso then operated under a special charter
24	24	22 approved by Governor Richard Oglesby in 1867; Article XV of
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33	33	1 the U.S. Constitution was declared in effect on March 30,
34	34	2 1870, stating that the right of citizens to vote shall not be
35	35	3 denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of
36	36	4 servitude; the following Monday, April 4, was El Paso's city
37	37	5 election, held one day prior to almost all others; and
38	38	6 WHEREAS, David Strother, accompanied to the polls by Mayor
39	39	7 James Wathen, was initially rebuffed by election officials
40	40	8 unaware of the new law; after election judges were shown a copy
41	41	9 of the amendment, he returned to the polls at the judges'
42	42	10 behest, where apologies were made; he proceeded to cast his
43	43	11 vote, and his brother voted soon after; and
44	44	12 WHEREAS, News of David Strother's historic vote was spread
45	45	13 by Gersh Martin, El Paso's newspaper editor, who telegraphed
46	46	14 the news to the Associated Press, and soon people all over the
47	47	15 United States were reading about the barber who had cast the
48	48	16 then believed first Black vote; and
49	49	17 WHEREAS, David Strother continued to live in El Paso for
50	50	18 the remainder of his life, passing shortly after suffering a
51	51	19 heart attack on March 12, 1905; his loss was keenly felt by the
52	52	20 El Paso community, who remembered him for his generosity and
53	53	21 gentlemanly conduct; and
54	54	22 WHEREAS, David Strother's vote on April 4, 1870 marked him
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65	65	1 as not only one of the first Black men to vote in the United
66	66	2 States but also marked a milestone on the path to equality for
67	67	3 our State and the country; therefore, be it
68	68	4 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
69	69	5 HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
70	70	6 we recognize David Strother's legacy on voting rights in the
71	71	7 State of Illinois and the United States.
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