Committee on Transportation and Public Way
ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, Born Mary Ann Grohwin in Chicago, Justice McMorrow grew up during the Great Depression in a house near Addison Street and Central Park Avenue; and
WHEREAS, Justice McMorrow graduated from Immaculata High School in Uptown, followed by Rosary College (now Dominican University) in River Forest, and then Loyola University School of Law, where she was the only woman in her graduating class, and served as Class President and Associate Editor of the Law Review; and
WHEREAS, After a short stint in private practice. Justice McMorrow made her first foray into the public sector in 1954 with her appointment as an Assistant State's Attorney, becoming the first women to prosecute felony cases in Cook County; and
WHEREAS, In 1963, Justice McMorrow and her husband Emmett, a Chicago Police officer, celebrated the birth of their daughter, Mary Ann; and
WHEREAS, After more than ten years of private practice out of her home.
Justice McMorrow was elected a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County in 1976; and
WHEREAS, Recognizing her tireless and distinguished service as a trial judge, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed Justice McMorrow to the Appellate Court in 1985; and
WHEREAS, In 1992, after seven years on the Appellate Court, Justice McMorrow became the first woman to serve on the Illinois Supreme Court in its 173-year history, and, with her ascension to the position of Chief Justice in 2002, became the first woman to head any branch of the Illinois government; and
WHEREAS, Justice McMorrow retired from the bench in 2006 a revered and highly decorated figure, whose myriad well-deserved honors included the Medal of Excellence Award from the Loyola University School of Law Alumni Association, the Fellows of the Illinois Bar Foundation Award for Distinguished Service to Law and Society, Chicago Lawyer Magazine's Person of the Year, the American Bar Association's Margaret Brent Award, and, perhaps most fittingly, the Women's Bar Association of llllnois's Myra Bradwell Woman of Achievement Award, which is named after the first woman admitted to the Illinois Bar; and
WHEREAS, The Honorable Justice McMorrow was called to eternal life by the wisdom of God on February 23, 2013; NOW THEREFORE
Committee on Transportation and Public Way
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO:
SECTION 1. East Congress Plaza Drive is hereby renamed as "Chief Justice Mary Ann Grohwin McMorrow Plaza Drive."
SECTION 2. The Commissioner of the Department of Transportation is authorized and directed to do all such acts and things he deems necessary, advisable or appropriate to effectuate this ordinance, including without limitation, the placement of street name signs with the new street name, and to furnish and install a commemorative marker near the intersection of Chief Justice Mary Ann Grohwin McMorrow Plaza Drive and East Congress Parkway honoring Chief Justice Mary Ann Grohwin McMorrow.
SECTION 3. This ordinance shall take effect upon its passage and publication.
Alderman Edward M. Burke, 14m Ward