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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate William Garth, Sr.
4for awarding college scholarships to black youth for 18 years
5and congratulate the staff of the Citizen newspaper for serving
6the black community for 45 years; and
 
7    WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. currently serves as publisher
8and CEO of the Chicago Citizen Newspaper Group and Garthco,
9Inc.; he is also the Founder/Chairman of the QBG Foundation;
10and
 
11    WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. began his career with the
12Citizen Newspaper in 1969 as an advertising sales
13representative under the leadership of former Congressman Gus
14Savage; in 1980, he purchased the Chatham Citizen, South End
15Citizen, and Chicago Weekend; he later added the South Suburban
16and the Hyde Park editions and founded Garthco Publications,
17which published PUSH Magazine, a bi-monthly national
18publication; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Under the direction of William Garth, Sr., Citizen
20Newspapers has a total circulation of 121,000 and a weekly
21readership of over 400,000; the newspapers' circulation areas
22cover Chicago's South and West sides, as well as the South

 

 

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1Suburbs; and
 
2    WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. is the first black person to be
3elected President of the Illinois Press Association, the
4state's largest newspaper association and the office trade
5organization for Illinois' weekly and daily newspapers, and the
6second black person in the nation to be elected president of a
7statewide press association; he currently sits on the Board of
8Government Affairs Committee of the Illinois Press Association
9and has served as a board member for 15 years; he was elected a
10stockholder in the Cook County South Suburban Publishers
11Association; his business savvy and knowledge in the publishing
12industry allowed him to also serve as Chairman of the Midwest
13Black Publisher Association; and
 
14    WHEREAS, In December of 1998, William Garth, Sr. received
15the honor of being appointed to Governor-elect George Ryan's
16Transition Team; in appreciation of his role and the support
17shown during the election, Governor-elect Ryan appointed him to
18the Board of Directors for the Illinois Inauguration 1998,
19Inc.; and
 
20    WHEREAS, In 1995, William Garth, Sr. founded the Quentis
21Bernard Garth (QBG) Foundation in memory of his youngest son,
22Quentis B. Garth, to provide scholarships to the
23disenfranchised, college-bound youths of the Chicagoland area;

 

 

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1to date, the Foundation has helped 36 students realize their
2dream of becoming college graduates and has underwritten the
3education of 49 students, with 11 scholars currently enrolled
4in colleges and universities across the country; the QBG
5Foundation has disbursed close to $1 million in scholarship
6awards; and
 
7    WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. is well known among his peers
8as a dedicated activist and leader in the business community;
9he serves in numerous positions within several business
10organizations, including Chairman of the Chatham Business
11Association, President of Midwest Region III of the National
12Newspaper Publishers Association, Vice-Chairman of Advertising
13with the National Newspaper Publishers Association, member of
14the Transition Team for IDOT's Dan Ryan Project, board member
15of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, member of the Far Southside
16Business Association, and member of the NAACP, the Chatham
17Lions Club of Chicago, and the Association of Black
18Journalists; and
 
19    WHEREAS, William Garth, Sr. has received numerous awards
20and honors from both local and national organizations; he also
21served as a carrier of the Olympic Torch in Chicago during the
222002 Torch Relay; therefore, be it
 
23    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE

 

 

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1NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
2congratulate William Garth, Sr. for awarding college
3scholarships to black youth and congratulate the staff of the
4Citizen newspaper for serving the black community for over 45
5years; and be it further
 
6    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
7presented to William Garth, Sr. as a symbol of our esteem and
8respect.