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Honoring and celebrating Philadelphia's Living Legends, Henry Nicholas, Nellie Reynolds, Madeline Dunn, John F. White, Jr., the Rev. Albert F. Campbell, Acel Moore, Audrey Johnson-Thornton, Will Daniels, Dr. Bernard E. Anderson and Emma Chappell in the areas of government, business, labor, journalism, religion, academia, athletics, and activism, as part of the commemoration of Black History Month.
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WHEREAS, Henry Nicholas, while employed as a health care worker at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, led the campaign in 1959 to organize his co-workers into what was then Local 1199 of the Drug and Hospital Employees Union and played a key role in the big 1199 strike which eventually led to union contracts for thousands of New York City hospital employees. In 1973, Mr. Nicholas arrived in Philadelphia to organize hospital workers and eventually won contracts for over 5000 employees of the City's major health care institutions. He was also a major force in the struggle to enact Act 195, the Pennsylvania Public Employee Relations Act, which for the first time gave the right to union representation to Pennsylvania hospital workers. By April of 1974, Mr. Nicholas was elected first President of the newly chartered District 1199C, the Philadelphia local of the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees; and
WHEREAS, Nellie Reynolds, Commissioner for the Philadelphia Housing Authority, served as a leader for almost 40 years in advocacy for public housing residents' rights and responsibilities. In 1969, Ms. Reynolds created the nation's first resident advisory board, made up of elected tenant leaders from sites across the City. She has been a member of the PHA board since 1984 and worked closely with former Mayor John Street on low-income housing issues; and
WHEREAS, Madeline Dunn has been a resident of West Philadelphia all of her life, as well as an outspoken community activist for over 50 years. Ms. Dunn also served as Chair of the Legislative Committee for the Philadelphia Congress of the National Congress of Black Women. In 1988, Dunn led the protest against the closing of the 54th Street Firehouse, and recently spoke out against former Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney's visit to West Philadelphia in May 2012. Ms. Dunn has devoted her life to organizing members of her community and fighting for justice and equal opportunities for people of color in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, John F. White, Jr., is President and CEO of The Consortium in West Philadelphia where he advocates for the health and well-being of mentally disabled consumers. Elected to office at age 27, Mr. White served as a member of Pennsylvania's House of Representatives for a five-year term, and as a member of Philadelphia's City Council from 1981 - 1987, where he served as Chairman of Council's Health and Human Services Committee. Mr. White also formerly served as Pennsylvania's Secretary of the Department of Public Welfare and completed a four-year term as the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) from 1993-1997, which, prior to his arrival, was one of the most troubled housing authorities in the country. Under his leadership, PHA was removed from the federal list of troubled housing authorities by the Office of Housing and Urban Development and became a model that has been hailed as one of the nation's best; and
WHEREAS, the Rev. Albert F. Campbell, has been pastor of the Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in West Philadelphia for 46 years, he has led the congregation under his two-pronged vision to bring souls to Christ by preaching the Word and to provide the leadership to further advance Mount Carmel as a guiding force for the people of the congregation and the community. From the beginning of his tenure, Rev. Campbell established the important process of analyses and planning that has been a hallmark of the Campbell Pastorate, and he remains a strong advocate for education, particularly of pastors attending college and seminary; and
WHEREAS, Acel Moore is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, having began his career as a copy boy with The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1962, and having worked his way up through the ranks to be an editorial page editor and columnist over his 43-year career with the newspaper. Mr. Moore founded the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists (PABJ) in 1973 with Chuck Stone and Claude Lewis. The PABJ was the forerunner to the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), founded by 44 journalists in 1975; and
WHEREAS, Audrey Johnson-Thornton is the founder and president of the American Women's Heritage Society (AWHS) founded in 1986, and leads efforts to restore and maintain Belmont Mansion, one of the most historic buildings in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. Ms. Johnson-Thornton also led renovations for the Underground Railroad Museum, which was opened to the public in 2007. The AWHS is the only African-American Women's organization to administer an historic mansion in Fairmount Park; and
WHEREAS, Will Daniels, founder of Wilco Cable Systems, is the President and Founder of one of the nation's few remaining African-American-owned cable and telecommunications companies. In 1990, Wilco Electronic Systems, Inc. was granted a franchise by Home Box Office, the first franchise awarded to a minority-owned firm in the Eastern United States. Mr. Daniel negotiated an affiliation agreement with Rollins Cablevision of Philadelphia. He then became a 5% owner of the Rollins system and was appointed Vice-President in charge of installations and service. Wilco Electronic Systems has been the primary cable and internet provider for Philadelphia Housing Authority projects, and continues to offer mainstream offerings at more affordable costs for low income Philadelphians in other ways; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Bernard E. Anderson has been the Whitney M. Young, Jr., Professor of Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania since 2001, after returning to Philadelphia from serving in the Clinton Administration. In 1994, the U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Anderson as Assistant Secretary for the Employment Standards Administration, the Department of Labor agency that leads the campaign against sweatshops, child labor violations, migrant worker abuse, and employment discrimination. Dr. Anderson has authored six books and numerous articles on economic and employment policy, and was a member of the Black Enterprise Magazine Board of Economists. He currently is Senior Advisor of Econsult Corporation; and
WHEREAS, Emma Carolyn Chappell founded United Bank of Philadelphia in 1992 by $3 million in start-up capital through shares sold to the black community. Ms. Chappell is the first African-American woman in the United States to start a commercial bank from scratch. Under her leadership, the United Bank of Philadelphia grew in eight years to assets more than $140 million with eight (8) branches, 24 automated teller machines (ATM's) and one hundred employees. Prior to starting United Bank, Ms. Chappell was tapped by Reverend Jesse Jackson to become treasurer of his Presidential campaign in 1984. She was also instrumental in helping to found Operation PUSH, a nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving financial equality for minorities; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That it hereby honors and celebrates Philadelphia's Living Legends, Henry Nicholas, Nellie Reynolds, Madeline Dunn, John F. White, Jr., the Rev. Albert F. Campbell, Acel Moore, Audrey Johnson-Thornton, Will Daniels, Dr. Bernard E. Anderson and Emma Chappell in the areas of government, business, labor, journalism, religion, academia, athletics, and activism, as part of the commemoration of Black History Month.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Philadelphia's Living Legends as evidence of the sincere admiration of this legislative body.
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