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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION CELEBRATING THE LEAGUERS 70TH ANNIVERSARY AND DECLARING MAY 30, 2025, THROUGH JUNE 2, 2025, “LEAGUERS’ WEEKEND”
WHEREAS, the Chicago Urban League was founded in 1916 and is an affiliate of one of the largest civil rights organizations in the country; and
WHEREAS, for seven decades, the Leaguers, an auxiliary organization of the Chicago Urban League, centered community voices in cultural consciousness; and
WHEREAS, upon Muriel Ibom receiving her master’s degree from Atlanta University (no Clark-Atlanta University), the legendary Whitney M. Young, Jr. recommended Muriel Ibom for a position with the Chicago Urban League (CUL). The Chicago Urban League hired Muriel Ibom as a community representative, responsible for attending various community meetings to raise awareness about the League and to communicate the organization’s positions to people in the community; and
WHEREAS, Muriel Ibom quickly realized the League also needed fundraising support which prompted her to pull together about thirty (30) of their women friends in their twenties (20s) to support the League’s efforts. Muriel Ibom gathered women of different backgrounds who never previously worked together on any project. These women created the name for their new group: Leaguers. Three of our original members were still active until the mid-2000s - Grace Allen, Alice Griffin, and Mary Lou McDowell. Muriel Ibom once stated, “we wanted to do something positive for the Chicago Urban League,” remembers Ibom of the women she gathered; and
WHEREAS, the Leaguers’ first fundraising effort was selling chicken dinners for $1.00 to men working at area service stations. This effort in 1955 laid the groundwork for The Leaguers auxiliary, currently one of three CUL auxiliaries.
WHEREAS, the Leaguers serve as an auxiliary to the Chicago Urban League to advance the organization’s mission and achieve the group’s civic, social, and financial objectives. The Leaguers’ members are also dedicated to the principles of the League to improve race relations and the achievement of equality and opportunity for all Chicagoans; and
WHEREAS, the Leaguers’ aims are:
1) to assist with CUL fundraising;
2) perpetuate CUL policies /programs;
3) interest the community in CUL’s work; and
4) acquaint Chicagoans with the challenges that CUL addresses; and
WHEREAS, the Leaguers previously hosted several notable events such as:
1) The Annual Dinner Dances Support for all CUL undertakings;
5) Fashion Extravaganzas. Trips to Las Vegas and Jamaica;
6) Masquerade Balls Membership Retreats;
7) Assist in CUL Membership Campaigns Theatre Parties; and
8) The 50th Anniversary “Golden Reflections” Gala (2005); and
WHEREAS, the main benefit of being a Leaguer is the satisfaction Leaguers experience as full partners with the League in the quest for economic and social equality as the League works to bring people into the economic mainstream; and
NOW, THEREFORE, WE, BILL LOWRY, COOK COUNTY COMMISSIONER OF THE 3rd DISTRICT, AND TONI PRECKWINKLE, PRESIDENT OF THE COOK COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONER, on behalf of the residents of Cook County, does hereby celebrate the Leaguers 70th anniversary and do declare May 30, 2025, through June 2, 2025, “Leaguers’ Weekend”; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, a suitable copy of this Resolution be presented to the Leaguers as a lasting tribute to their remarkable legacy and in grateful acknowledgment of their exceptional service by the Office of Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry 3rd.