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92_HR0504
LRB9210787RHrh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are honored to recognize significant
4 milestones in the lives of the people of this State; and
5 WHEREAS, It has come to our attention that Etta Moten
6 Barnett is celebrating the 100th anniversary of her birth;
7 and
8 WHEREAS, Mrs. Barnett was born in 1901 in San Antonio,
9 Texas, the only child of the Rev. and Mrs. Freeman Franklin
10 Moten; she attended school in Waco, Texas, Los Angeles,
11 California, and Kansas City, Kansas, and received her
12 bachelor of arts degree in voice from the University of
13 Kansas in 1931; and
14 WHEREAS, Mrs. Barnett was successful in breaking down a
15 major motion picture barrier for black actresses in 1933,
16 when she appeared in an uncredited cameo role in Busby
17 Berkeley's "Gold Diggers of 1933", where she sang the chorus
18 of a torch song lamenting the pain the Depression caused the
19 veterans of World War I; her other credits include "Flying
20 Down to Rio", and Broadway's "Porgy and Bess", "Fast and
21 Furious", 'Sugar Hill", "Zombie", and "Lysistrate";and
22 WHEREAS, Soon after her first movie roles, Etta Moten
23 married Claude A. Barnett, the founder and first director of
24 the Associated Negro Press, the nation's first news-gathering
25 organization for the American black press; along with her
26 husband, Mrs. Barnett served as an Ambassador of Good Will
27 for the United States at the independence celebrations of
28 Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia, and at the 1960 inauguration of
29 the first president of Ghana and made other official visits
30 to African capitals; and
31 WHEREAS, Mrs. Barnett's performing arts career moved to
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1 the concert stage after her marriage; she has performed in
2 symphony concerts and music festivals, and on stage at
3 40-plus colleges and universities on tours in Canada,
4 Argentina, and Brazil and in West African countries, and as
5 an artist in residence at two universities; she hosted her
6 own radio show, "I Remember When with Etta Moten", on an NBC
7 affiliate station in Chicago, through which she was heard in
8 38 states; she also worked as a staff assistant to Meredith
9 Wilson with NBC Television and served as a narrator for Radio
10 City's coast-to-coast Grand Opening; and
11 WHEREAS, Mrs. Barnett has participated in many civic
12 organizations throughout her life; she is a Trustee of the
13 African American Institute in New York City, a member of the
14 National Council for Community Services to International
15 Visitors, a founding member of the Women's Board of the Field
16 Museum of Natural History, a member of the Board of Directors
17 of the National Association of Negro Musicians, a founding
18 member of the Women's Board of Lyric Opera, a member of
19 WTTW/Chicago, a member of the DuSable Museum, a former
20 trustee and laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois, and
21 a board member for other Chicago-area organizations and
22 institutions; in addition, she is a life member of the
23 National Council of Negro Women, the NAACP, and Alpha Kappa
24 Alpha Sorority, Inc.; and
25 WHEREAS, Mrs. Barnett's many honors include a Citation in
26 Fine Arts from the University of Kansas, a Distinguished
27 Citation for Services from the National Association of
28 Business and Professional Women, a Woman of the Year Award
29 from Region VI of Hadassah, and honorary degrees from Atlanta
30 University, Northeastern Illinois University, the University
31 of Illinois at Chicago, and Lincoln University; and
32 WHEREAS, Etta Moten Barnett will be celebrating her 100th
33 birthday surrounded by family and friends on November 11,
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1 2001 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago; therefore, be it
2 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
3 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
4 we congratulate Etta Moten Barnett on the occasion of her
5 100th birthday and extend to her our sincere best wishes for
6 the future; and be it further
7 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
8 presented to Etta Moten Barnett as an expression of our
9 respect and esteem.