WHEREAS, Recognizing the necessity for a symbolic representation of the City of Chicago in the form of a municipal flag, Alderman James A. Kearns of the 31sl Ward introduced a resolution in 1915 to the City Council to appoint a Municipal Flag Commission to conceive and submit an appropriate design for review and approval by the Mayor and members ofthe Council; and
WHEREAS, For several years prior to 1915, Alderman James A. Kearns had studied and monitored the development, progress, and formal introduction of flags bearing municipal emblems in other domestic and international cities; and
WHEREAS, Working closely with Frederic Rex of the Chicago Municipal Library in City Hall, Alderman James A. Kearns and Frederic Rex entered into a correspondence with officials in Boston, New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Richmond, Virginia and Baltimore to ascertain the procedural steps they had taken to design and unveil their local flag; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council approved the resolution to establish the Municipal Flag Commission on July 12, 1915; and
WHEREAS, Upon passage of the resolution, Mayor William Hale Thompson appointed Alderman James A. Kearns to serve as Chairman ofthe Municipal Flag Commission; and
WHEREAS, Other distinguished Chicagoans named to the Commission by Mayor Thompson included Frederic Rex appointed as secretary, Alderman John A. Richert ofthe 4th Ward, Alderman Herman E. Miller of the 20th Ward, Mary E. McDowell of the Chicago Women's Club, Lawton Parker of the Chicago Art Commission, author-lecturer Wallace Rice, Charles L. Dering and William H. Harper of the Chicago Association of Commerce, landscape artist Charles Francis Browne, architect Henry K. Holsman, Clarence A. Burley of the Chicago Historical Society, John Fitzpatrick of the Chicago Federation of Labor, and Mrs. Lewis K. Torbet of the Daughters of the American Revolution; and
WHEREAS, In November 1915, Alderman James A. Kearns authorized Frederic Rex to prepare and distribute Municipal Reference Bulletin Number 5 to the membership ofthe City Council in order to apprise and inform them of actions taken by civic agencies in forty other cities to design and enact flag heraldry; and
WHEREAS, Alderman James A. Kearns and Lawton Parker prevailed upon Wallace Rice, whose many public lectures at the Art Institute concerned the history of flag heraldry, to draw up a set of twenty rules and regulations governing a design competition open to the public; and
WHEREAS, Chicago residents, local artists, historians and individuals from all walks of life submitted over a thousand conceptual designs to Frederic Rex; and
WHEREAS, Ofthe many designs under review, only a small percentage warranted further consideration; and
WHEREAS, Common depictions of the Fort Dearborn blockhouse positioned at the center of the flag were rejected because other cities had already adapted similar images of military fortifications in their own designs; and
WHEREAS, Wallace Rice spent six weeks preparing 300 different renderings utilizing various shapes and colors submitted by contestants before designing his own version representing a hybrid of ideas for consideration; and
WHEREAS, The new municipal flag design by Wallace Rice features a white stripe, eight inches broad across the top of the flag, symbolizing the North Side of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, The upper blue band, nine inches broad, represents Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River; and
WHEREAS, The eighteen-inch white center band symbolizes the West Side of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, The lower blue band represents the South Branch ofthe Chicago River and the Drainage Canal; and
WHEREAS, The bottom white band symbolizes the South Side of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, The first two stars represent the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893; and
WHEREAS, Wallace Rice positioned the first two stars to the left ofthe banner intentionally so that additional six-pointed stars could be added to mark future notable and epic events at the discretion of the City Council; and
WHEREAS, A third star symbolizing the 1933 Century of Progress World's Fair was added in 1933, with a fourth star representing Fort Dearborn was added in 1939; and
WHEREAS, With nearly unanimous consensus of opinion, this design was accepted by the Municipal Flag Commission and submitted to the full Chicago City Council on March 28, 1917 for review and approval; and
WHEREAS, On April 4, 1917, the day that the United States Senate voted support for America's entry into World War I, the Chicago City Council, meeting in session, accepted the report ofthe Municipal Flag Commission and adapted the Wallace Rice design to serve as the official Flag of Chicago; and
WHEREAS, The City of Chicago flag is displayed on all municipal buildings where the American flag is positioned, and on police and fire stations, public schools and libraries; and
WHEREAS, The inspired design is honored and recognized as the symbol of Chicago across the United States and around the world; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of the milestone 100th anniversary of the formation ofthe Municipal Flag Commission by Alderman Edward M. Burke; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members ofthe Chicago City Council assembled this twenty-ninth day of July, 2015, recognize and thank the late Alderman James A. Kearns for his dedication and commitment to championing the creation ofthe municipal flag; and
Alderman Edward M. Burke Alderman, 14th Ward
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Ms. Mary Patricia Michel, great-grand-niece of Alderman James A. Kearns.