By Tillery                                             H.R. No. 303
         76R6663 GMW-D                           
                                 R E S O L U T I O N
 1-1           WHEREAS, Every collector of United States paper money must
 1-2     surely prize Series 1977 and 1977A Federal Reserve notes bearing
 1-3     the signature of Treasurer Azie Taylor Morton, for Ms. Morton is an
 1-4     individual of great courage, perseverance, and intelligence and a
 1-5     role model to us all; and
 1-6           WHEREAS, A native Texan, Ms. Morton was born February 1,
 1-7     1936, in Dale, where she graduated from high school at the age of
 1-8     16; after earning a bachelor of science degree from
 1-9     Huston-Tillotson College in 1956 she became a teacher at the State
1-10     School for Delinquent Girls in Crockett; and
1-11           WHEREAS, In 1957 she returned to her alma mater as assistant
1-12     to the president at Huston-Tillotson College and the following year
1-13     joined the Texas American Federation of Labor and Congress of
1-14     Industrial Organizations; Ms. Morton moved to Washington, D.C., in
1-15     1961 and worked for two years as assistant to the executive
1-16     director of President John F. Kennedy's Committee on Equal
1-17     Employment Opportunity before applying her expertise to the
1-18     President's Committee on Equal Opportunity in Housing; and
1-19           WHEREAS, The next 11 years of her distinguished public
1-20     service included positions as a complaint investigator for the
1-21     United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Austin
1-22     from 1966 to 1968; as director of social services for the Model
1-23     Cities Program in Wichita, Kansas, from 1968 to 1971; with the
1-24     Democratic National Committee from 1971 to 1977 in such varied
 2-1     capacities as assistant director of the Office of Minority Affairs,
 2-2     member of the Compliance Commission, and vice chair of the
 2-3     Arrangements Committee; as deputy conference manager for the
 2-4     Democratic Conference on Party Organization and Policy in 1974; and
 2-5     as deputy convention manager for the Democratic National Convention
 2-6     in 1976; and
 2-7           WHEREAS, Ms. Morton was appointed as a consultant to the
 2-8     United States House of Representatives Committee on the District of
 2-9     Columbia in 1977; President Jimmy Carter then named her as the
2-10     United States treasurer, and when she was sworn in on September 12,
2-11     1977, she became the 36th person and the first African-American
2-12     woman to be appointed to that prestigious post; and
2-13           WHEREAS, Other positions that she has held throughout her
2-14     career include commissioner of the Virginia Department of Labor and
2-15     Industry, owner and operator of Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers
2-16     franchises, director and resource coordinator for Reading is
2-17     Fundamental, and director of marketing for GRW Capital Corporation;
2-18     and
2-19           WHEREAS, In addition to sitting on the corporate boards of
2-20     Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers from 1981 to 1984, Citizens Trust
2-21     from 1992 to present, and Schlotzsky's Deli from 1995 to present,
2-22     she has served on the public interest boards of Friends of the
2-23     Colorado River Foundation, Earl Campbell Foundation, St. Edwards
2-24     University, National Democratic Institute, and Africare; and
2-25           WHEREAS, Ms. Morton is a deeply respected woman of immense
2-26     talent, compassion, and integrity and it is indeed fitting to pay
2-27     tribute to her at this time; now, therefore, be it
 3-1           RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 76th Texas
 3-2     Legislature hereby honor Azie Taylor Morton for her many years of
 3-3     dedicated public service and extend to her sincere best wishes for
 3-4     continued success and happiness; and, be it further
 3-5           RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
 3-6     prepared for Ms. Morton as an expression of high regard by the
 3-7     Texas House of Representatives.