title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING JOSEPHINE WADE: A CHICAGO ICON
WHEREAS, Josephine Wade was born in Forrest City, Arkansas to a family experiencing poverty, but were rich in spirit and initiative. Josephine and her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona where she graduated from high school. After high school, Josephine attended and graduated from Arizona State University where she became a wife and mother; and
WHEREAS, Josephine Wade entered the business world at the age of 21, and moved her young family to Chicago. She quickly became known for her hard work and prowess in cooking, meal preparation, and party planning. After owning and operating several restaurants and food establishments, she invested her time and energy into bringing the downtown dining experience to the south side of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, in 1986, Josephine Wade founded and opened the Captain Hard Times restaurant in the Chatham neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Josephine Wade would later rename the restaurant to Josephine’s Southern Cooking. Josephine’s Southern Cooking continues to feed the community to this day; and
WHEREAS, Josephine Wade took the media by storm in 2005, with Josephine's Cooking, a 30-minute show where she shared culinary secrets and recipes with Chicago celebrities, politicians, ministers, media personalities, sports figures, and business leaders. The show achieved great success reaching over 250,000 households weekly and received a Chicago Emmy Award nomination; and
WHEREAS, Josephine Wade also works closely with troubled youth, encouraging them to leave behind their troubled lives, believe in themselves, and reach for a brighter future. Josephine founded We Women Empowered, an organization dedicated to mentoring children in foster care, children considered too old for adoption, and children leaving the system with no family support; and
WHEREAS, Josephine Wade also serves with the following organizations: Rainbow Push Coalition, the National Council of Negro Women, the NAACP, Clergy United, Women Empowered, Chicago Urban League and the City of Chicago with the current mayor. In 2008, Josephine received the Distinguished Medal of Honor for Outstanding Service in the Community given by President George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, in January 2022, Josephine Wade received another honor, in a long list of honors, when the “Savor Our World” cookbook featured two of Josephine Wade’s recipes. The “Savor Our World” cookbook features recipes from chefs around the world. Savor, the company handling food operations at McCormick Place, will use this cookbook in its food preparation. Savor’s Vice President of Culinary, Doug Bradley stated Savor looked for the, “best chefs, the ones that are really doing great food in their areas,” when compiling the recipes for the book. Josephine Wade is one of those, “best chefs”; and
WHEREAS, Josephine Wade is known nationally for her dedication to the community-at-large. Josephine Wade demonstrates her loyalty to public service and her unending dedication to humanity daily in her relationships with community/civic organizations, elected officials, the church, and the business community. For all the reasons stated above, we honor Josephine Wade.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BILL LOWRY, COOK COUNTY COMMISSIONER of the
3rd DISTRICT, do hereby stand, and salute the life changing work of Josephine Wade; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, a suitable copy of this Resolution will be presented to Josephine Wade and her family; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED: a copy of this Resolution will be filed within the Office of Cook County Commissioner Bill Lowry 3rd District.
end