HLS 19RS-1834 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 107
BY REPRESENTATIVE COX
SPECIAL DAY/WEEK/MONTH: Designates October first annually as Dr. Clementine
Hunter Day in Louisiana
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To designate October first annually as Clementine Hunter Day in Louisiana.
3 WHEREAS, Clementine Hunter was born in either late December 1886 or early
4January 1887 to a Creole family at Hidden Hill Plantation, near Cloutierville; and
5 WHEREAS, Clementine was the eldest of seven children born to Mary Antoinette
6Adams and Janvier "John" Reuben; and
7 WHEREAS, although there is some doubt about her actual date of birth, it is
8generally believed that Clementine Hunter was at least one hundred years old when she died
9on January 1, 1988; and
10 WHEREAS, Clementine worked as a farm laborer at Melrose Plantation during her
11youth, where she picked and chopped cotton, harvested pecans, planted vegetables, and
12occasionally attended school, although she never learned to read or write; and
13 WHEREAS, in 1924, she married Emmanuel Hunter, who was a woodchopper at
14Melrose Plantation; she had seven children; and
15 WHEREAS, in her fifties, Clementine began painting with materials left behind by
16a visitor; she became a self-taught artist who produced artwork depicting plantation life in
17the early twentieth century; and
18 WHEREAS, although Clementine Hunter's works sold for as little as twenty five
19cents, at present, her paintings and quilts are considered to be of priceless value; and
20 WHEREAS, over time, Clementine Hunter's paintings have gained international
21acclaim, and her art has been celebrated in film documentaries, on stage, and in art galleries
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HCR NO. 107
1across the United States and the world, including the National Gallery of Art and the
2National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.; and
3 WHEREAS, she received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from
4Northwestern State University in 1986; and
5 WHEREAS, Clementine Hunter is retrospectively viewed as an early feminist
6because her paintings consistently depict women in a more prominent posture than men, thus
7evincing her view that women contributed more to stabilizing home and society; and
8 WHEREAS, as the only black folk artist to create a significant body of work giving
9voice to her people's experience in the rural and agrarian south, Clementine Hunter occupies
10a unique position in the history of American art; and
11 WHEREAS, her creations documented a period of history that other artists failed to
12consider, and in so doing, gave others a taste of the rhythms and rituals of the Cane River
13coast; and
14 WHEREAS, a resilient lady of small physical stature, through her paintings and
15quilts, Clementine Hunter occupies a place at the pinnacle of American culture.
16 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
17designate October first annually as Clementine Hunter Day in Louisiana and does hereby
18celebrate the legacy of Clementine Hunter, whose life and artistic achievements have
19immeasurably benefitted the citizens of the great state of Louisiana.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 107 Original 2019 Regular Session Cox
Designates October 1st annually as Clementine Hunter Day in La.
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