H resolution
adopted by C77ie (9ttt/ QoUHcil
°f*' Qity of Qkicago, Illinois
presented by MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL on JUNE 5, 2013
^Qh&fBClS > The Members of this Chamber were deeply saddened to learn of the death on March 5, 2013, at age 86, of Dawn Clark Netsch, a longtime Illinois state senator and former Illinois comptroller, and the first woman to run for governor of Illinois as the candidate of a major political party; and
WHEREAS, Born Patricia Dawn Clark on September 16, 1926, Ms. Netsch was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father was in the construction business. Her mother was a social worker. As a young adult, Ms. Netsch moved to Evanston, Illinois, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Northwestern University in 1948 with a degree in political science; and
WHEREAS, After graduating from college, Ms. Netsch attended Northwestern University School of Law, where she led the fight on campus to integrate the University's dormitories. In 1952, Ms. Netsch graduated first in her law school class; and
WHEREAS, Recognizing early on that the law provided a means to address social inequalities, and that politics was the route to change, Ms. Netsch began her professional life as a researcher and speechwriter for Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson during his 1952 presidential campaign, before joining the Washington, D.C. law firm of Covington & Burling, where she worked for two years. In 1954, Ms. Netsch returned to Chicago, where she served as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Julius Hoffman and campaigned for Adlai Stevenson during his 1956 presidential bid. An active member of the Committee on Illinois Government, a group of independent Democrats, Ms. Netsch worked as an attorney in private practice until 1961, when she was appointed legal counsel to Illinois Governor Otto Kerner. Ms. Netsch was the first woman in Illinois history to hold that illustrious position; and
WHEREAS, In 1965, Ms. Netsch joined Northwestern University School of Law as its first...
Click here for full text