I
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Mildred J. "Milly". Zysman, a prominent Chicago civic leader and philanthropist, will celebrate the joyful occasion of her Eighty-Fifth Birthday on August 30, 2011; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this event by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, Raised in the Albany Park neighborhood, Mildred J." "Milly" Zysman was the daughter of Walter Jacobson, a veteran manufacturers representative in the housewares industry and one of the first tenants of the Merchandise Mart; and
WHEREAS, Dancing and archiving figured prominently in Milly's early years and from the ages 11 to 14, each day after school and on Saturdays, Milly and her sister Gladys would take the CTA's elevated line to the Loop to study with. Muriel Abbot, whose dancers performed in the Palmer House's Empire Room during the 1930s and 1940s; and
WHEREAS, Milly's obsession with systems and archiving collections began as the choir librarian at Sullivan High School, where she catalogued all of the sheet music; and
WHEREAS, She also worked at Mrs. Roberts' Lending Library at the Sheridan Beach Hotel where she met her first husband, Robert Litvin, while they were both in high school; and
WHEREAS, Milly participated in several committees at Sullivan and represented the high school as chairman for the Midwest at a conference in Washington, D.C. in 1943; and
WHEREAS, She was awarded the American Legion Award for Outstanding Girl Graduate in 1944; and
WHEREAS, At the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Milly studied dance with Margaret H'Doubler, who considered dance an art and science. She taught avant-garde theories which" Milly still remembers to this day, such as "be objective about the subjective and subjective about the objective"; and
WHEREAS, After her marriage in 1947, Milly began an extensive career as a volunteer in the Jewish community; and
WHEREAS, At the Temple Menorah of Rogers Park and at the North Shore Congregation Israel of Glencoe,, Milly served on fundraising committees; and
WHEREAS, She was Chairman for all reform temple gift shops in the Midwest; and
WHEREAS, As a member of the American Israel Chamber of Commerce, Milly encouraged gift shops to sell goods from Israel; and
WHEREAS, At Israel Bonds, Milly was Decorations Chairman with her friend Helen Kaiser for a 3000-attendee dinner for Golda Meir, was Chairman of the Deb and Dads Gala for 6 years and was the Chairman of the Ambassadors Ball in 1967; and
WHEREAS, Milly married the head of the Israel Bonds office in Chicago in 1969, enjoying their honeymoon in Israel while Golda Meir held a tea in their honor and the Mayor of Jerusalem held a dinner in their honor; and
WHEREAS, She entertained numerous dignitaries from Israel in Chicago, including Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Shimon Peres and Moshe Dayan; and
WHEREAS, An accomplished interior designer, Milly began Mildred J. Zysman Interiors in 1971; and
WHEREAS, Milly became President of Walter Jacobson Inc., after her father passed away in 1990; and
WHEREAS, Milly also returned to her love of cataloguing book collections by volunteering at the Newberry Book Fair, working the mystery paperback room; and
WHEREAS, Milly volunteers for the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents; and
WHEREAS, Milly is a regular to the Shakespeare Theater and the Wilmette Theater Lectures by Charles Troy; now, therefore;
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members ofthe Chicago City Council, assembled this twenty-eighth day of July, do herby congratulate Mildred J. "Milly" Zysman on the occasion of her Eighty-Fifth Birthday; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable parchment copy of this resolution be presented to Mildred J. "Milly" Zysman.
Alderman - 14tn Ward