OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
CITY OF CHICAGO
RAHM EMANUEL MAYOR
PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, widely heralded by scholars and residents as one of the top three U.S. Presidents of all time, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States is one of Illinois' favorite and most venerated sons; and
WHEREAS, since the onset of his successful legal and political career and the start of his family in the "Prairie State," the State of Illinois has long been referred to as the "Land of Lincoln;" and
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago stands as the heart - a world-renown hub for art, culture and industry - ofthe State of Illinois; and
WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln, won the nomination for the U.S. presidency at the Republican National Convention held at the 'Wigwam' (Lake Street near the River) in Chicago in 1860; and
WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln successfully led the United States through the American Civil War thereby maintaining the Union, and also shepherded a "new birth of freedom" for the United States of America with the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the passage of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution; and
WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln was a visionary, whose remarkable work resulted in the creation of the Medal of Honor, our system of land grant universities across the United States which eventually established the University of Illinois and the Homestead Act which settled the United States' western frontier as well as the Pacific Railway Act linking the eastern and western United States via railroad, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Academy of Sciences and complete nationalization of the U.S. monetary system; and
WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln was shot down by an assassin's bullet on April 14, 1865 and died a national hero at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865 - the first American president to be assassinated -sacrificing his life that the nation might live; and
WHEREAS, Chicago Mayor F. C. Sherman and the Chicago City Council, then the Common Council, passed a resolution memorializing Abraham Lincoln on April 17, 1865 wherein they stated in-part:
Whereas ABRAHAM LINCOLN, a citizen of Illinois, a man eminent for the purity of his life and his unselfish devotion to his country, and for four years President of the United States, while still performing the duties of that office to which he had been re-elected by a confiding people, has been stricken down by the hand of a murderer;
and whereas his honored remains are now lying in stale at Washington, and the funeral ceremonies will take place on Wednesday next: Therefore,
Be it resolved by the mayor and alderman ofthe city of Chicago, That we have received the news of this terrible calamity with the deepest emotions of horror and of grief.
Resolved, That the deceased will stand among the foremost of the brightest names of history, and will be forever remembered with admiration and honor, not only by his countrymen, but by the good and true of all countries and of all times; and
WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln's funeral train made its way to Chicago on May 1, 1865 and traveling on the train were several Chicagoans including Congressman Isaac Arnold and reporters Dr. Adonis and Mr. Upton of The Chicago Tribune; and
WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln lay in state at the Old Chicago Court House from 5 p.m. on May 1, 1865 until 8 p.m. on May 2, 1865 departing for his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois on May 3, 1865; and
WHEREAS, Abraham Lincoln was laid to rest in Springfield, the capital of the State of Illinois; and
WHEREAS, April 15, 2015 marks the 150th Anniversary ofthe death of Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, who shall forever belong to the ages and live on in the annals of local, national, and global history as an example of leadership and a beacon of progress:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, RAHM EMANUEL, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, do hereby proclaim April 15, 2015 to be ABRAHAM LINCOLN DAY IN CHICAGO in remembrance and recognition of one of the most venerable leaders ofthe State of Illinois and the United States of America.
Mayor
Dated this 14th day of April, 2015.