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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
COMMEMORATING THE EXCEPTIONAL LIFE AND MANY TRAILBLAZING ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF EVANSTON MAYOR LORRAINE HAIRSTON MORTON
WHEREAS, Lorraine Hairston Morton, dedicated community advocate, lifelong educator, groundbreaking teacher and principal and much beloved mayor of the City of Evanston died at the age of 99 leaving behind a devoted family, countless friends and a community profoundly enriched for having known her; and
WHEREAS, Lorraine H. Morton was the beloved mayor of Evanston, who served from 1993 to 2009, she was also the city's first African-American mayor, she was the city's first Democratic mayor and was the longest-serving mayor; and
WHEREAS, Lorraine H. Morton was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the youngest child of Keziah Hairston, a schoolteacher, and William Patrick Hairston, a prosperous businessman who helped found the Winston Mutual Life Insurance Company, which is still operated as the Golden Gate Insurance Company; and
WHEREAS, Lorraine H. Morton received a bachelor degree in education from Winston-Salem State University and a master's degree in education from Northwestern University. She met her husband, Dr. James T. Morton, Jr., as a graduate student at Northwestern University. After she was married, she and her husband moved to Tuskegee, Alabama, where he worked with the Tuskegee Airmen; and
WHEREAS, she moved back to Evanston in 1953, when her husband began working as a clinical psychologist with the Veteran's Administration and at Evanston Hospital; and
WHEREAS, Lorraine H. Morton will long be remembered for spearheading the desegregation of Evanston's public schools as a teacher and school principal. She was one of the first teachers to break the color barrier at Nichols Middle School, at a time when Evanston was integrated statistically, but not geographically. She championed desegregation efforts and demanded equity in all Evanston's schools. She was the first African-American principal at Haven M...
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