WHEREAS, Harry William Porterfield, veteran reporter, news anchor and one of the best loved television personalities at CBS affiliate WBBM Channel 2, is retiring after fifty-one years; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of his retirement by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Harry William Porterfield graduated from the University of Eastern Michigan at Ypsilante with a B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1954 and served his country in Germany as a member of the U.S. Army, earning the rank of sergeant; and
WHEREAS, Harry William Porterfield began his broadcast career in 1955 as a disc jockey for jazz and gospel radio station WKNX in Saginaw, where he was a cameraman, a stagehand for the children's program "Romper Room," and continuity editor; and
WHEREAS, In 1964 Harry William Porterfield joined the staff of WBBM-TV as a news writer and worked his way up to reporter, weekend news anchor, co-anchor of the evening news; and
WHEREAS, While co-anchor, Harry William Porterfield created two Emmy Award-winning shows, Channel Two: The People and Two on Two and his most popular series Someone You Should Know which aired for the first time in 1977; and
WHEREAS, Since 1977 Harry William Porterfield has produced and aired more than 2,000 Someone You Should Know features; and
WHEREAS, In 1985 Harry William Porterfield left WBBM to join the on-air staff of WLS-TV as a feature news writer and substitute anchor; and
WHEREAS, In August 2009, after an absence of twenty-four years, Harry William Porterfield returned to WBBM-TV to co-anchor the morning news program; and
WHEREAS, Harry William Porterfield is an accomplished violinist and a member of the Chicago Federation of Musicians who has performed with small groups and symphony orchestras; and
WHEREAS, Harry William Porterfield has received numerous awards and accolades for broadcast excellence, including The Distinguished Journalism Award from the Coalition for United Community Action; the National Association of Black Journalists Lifetime Achievement Award; the Richard J. Daley Police Medal of Honor; the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Journalism Award; and 11 Emmy awards; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council assembled this thirteenth day of January, 2016, do hereby congratulate Harry William Porterfield on his retirement from Chicago broadcast journalism and wish him the very best as he begins the next phase of his life; and