HR1369 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1369 LRB096 23025 GRL 42362 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate William Garth, Sr. for awarding college scholarships to black youth for 18 years and congratulate the staff of the Citizen newspaper for serving the black community for 45 years; and

WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. currently serves as publisher and CEO of the Chicago Citizen Newspaper Group and Garthco, Inc.; he is also the Founder/Chairman of the QBG Foundation; and

WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. began his career with the Citizen Newspaper in 1969 as an advertising sales representative under the leadership of former Congressman Gus Savage; in 1980, he purchased the Chatham Citizen, South End Citizen, and Chicago Weekend; he later added the South Suburban and the Hyde Park editions and founded Garthco Publications, which published PUSH Magazine, a bi-monthly national publication; and

WHEREAS, Under the direction of William Garth, Sr., Citizen Newspapers has a total circulation of 121,000 and a weekly readership of over 400,000; the newspapers' circulation areas cover Chicago's South and West sides, as well as the South Suburbs; and

WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. is the first black person to be elected President of the Illinois Press Association, the state's largest newspaper association and the office trade organization for Illinois' weekly and daily newspapers, and the second black person in the nation to be elected president of a statewide press association; he currently sits on the Board of Government Affairs Committee of the Illinois Press Association and has served as a board member for 15 years; he was elected a stockholder in the Cook County South Suburban Publishers Association; his business savvy and knowledge in the publishing industry allowed him to also serve as Chairman of the Midwest Black Publisher Association; and

WHEREAS, In December of 1998, William Garth, Sr. received the honor of being appointed to Governor-elect George Ryan's Transition Team; in appreciation of his role and the support shown during the election, Governor-elect Ryan appointed him to the Board of Directors for the Illinois Inauguration 1998, Inc.; and

WHEREAS, In 1995, William Garth, Sr. founded the Quentis Bernard Garth (QBG) Foundation in memory of his youngest son, Quentis B. Garth, to provide scholarships to the disenfranchised, college-bound youths of the Chicagoland area; to date, the Foundation has helped 36 students realize their dream of becoming college graduates and has underwritten the education of 49 students, with 11 scholars currently enrolled in colleges and universities across the country; the QBG Foundation has disbursed close to $1 million in scholarship awards; and

WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. is well known among his peers as a dedicated activist and leader in the business community; he serves in numerous positions within several business organizations, including Chairman of the Chatham Business Association, President of Midwest Region III of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, Vice-Chairman of Advertising with the National Newspaper Publishers Association, member of the Transition Team for IDOT's Dan Ryan Project, board member of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, member of the Far Southside Business Association, and member of the NAACP, the Chatham Lions Club of Chicago, and the Association of Black Journalists; and

WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. has received numerous awards and honors from both local and national organizations; he also served as a carrier of the Olympic Torch in Chicago during the 2002 Torch Relay; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate William Garth, Sr. for awarding college scholarships to black youth and congratulate the staff of the Citizen newspaper for serving the black community for over 45 years; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to William Garth, Sr. as a symbol of our esteem and respect.