08 LC 95
0213
Senate
Resolution 808
By:
Senator Tarver of the 22nd
A
RESOLUTION
Recognizing
the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History; and for other
purposes.
WHEREAS,
the mission of the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History is to promote the
legacy of Ms. Lucy Craft Laney through visual art, local and regional history,
and
the preservation of her early 20th century home; and
the preservation of her early 20th century home; and
WHEREAS,
from the era of slavery and America´s Civil War through Jim Crow´s
Reconstruction, World War One and the Great Depression, Lucy Craft Laney built a
legacy of visionary leadership through community service and academic work
throughout the state of Georgia; and
WHEREAS,
Ms. Lucy Craft Laney was born in Macon, Georgia on April 13, 1854, 11 years
before slavery ended, and she was the seventh of ten children born to Reverend
and Mrs. David Laney; and
WHEREAS,
during this period laws prohibited blacks from reading, but with the help of
Ms. Campbell, a slave owner´s sister, Ms. Craft was able to read by
the time she was four years old and could translate Latin fluently by the time
she was 12; and
WHEREAS,
in 1869 at the age of 15, she entered the first class of Atlanta University, and
in 1873, she graduated with three other students and went on to start a teaching
career that would change the lives of an entire community of people and
influence the nation; and
WHEREAS,
she started the first private boarding school for Black students in Augusta,
January 6, 1883; the first black kindergarten in Augusta; the first black
nursing school in the city, the Lamar School of Nursing; she was the first to
uniform the players on the football team; and she was the football coach;
and
WHEREAS,
throughout her life Ms. Laney was an activist for the causes that affected the
community such as the Interracial Commission which was a testament to her
inclusive social agenda; the National Association of Colored Women founded in
1896; and the Niagara Movement, begun in 1905 to combat the
accommodationist´s policies set forth by Booker T. Washington in his
controversial Atlanta Compromise; and
WHEREAS,
she was well regarded throughout the black college and university community and
received honorary doctorate degrees from Atlanta and Howard Universities, and
she was instrumental in the establishment of the Haines Normal and Industrial
Institute, which was later rebuilt as a high school bearing her name;
and
WHEREAS,
other accolades she received include Gwinnett Street being renamed in her honor;
a portrait commissioned and presented to her by Governor Jimmy Carter, which
hangs in the state capitol; an eternal flame; and in 1992 being one of the first
women inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement; and
WHEREAS,
for 60 years she maintained a fierce, compelling vision of the precious worth of
each individual and she lived with moral urgency to elicit from each child the
personal excellence she believed innate in all people.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body recognize
and honor the Lucy Craft Laney Museum of Black History and commend her for the
contributions she made to her community, this state, and our
nation.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the Lucy Craft Laney
Museum of Black History.