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79R4340 MMS-D
By: Dukes H.C.R. No. 47
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, James Leonard Farmer, Jr., a native Texan, played a
fundamental role in shaping and leading the modern civil rights
movement in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Born in Marshall on January 12, 1920, Mr. Farmer
lived in Austin from 1925 to 1930 while his father was serving as a
professor and as registrar at Samuel Huston College; after
graduating from Wiley College at the age of 18, he initially
followed in the footsteps of his theologian father, earning a
bachelor of divinity degree from Howard University in 1941; while
studying at Howard, he developed a great appreciation for the work
of Mahatma Gandhi; and
WHEREAS, James Farmer moved to Chicago in 1941 to join the
Fellowship of Reconciliation as a secretary of race relations; the
following year, he became the principal founder of a new civil
rights organization, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); during
his involvement with CORE, Mr. Farmer helped to pioneer the civil
rights protest tactics that gained national attention in the 1950s
and 1960s--nonviolent direct action, civil disobedience, and
noncooperation with segregation; and
WHEREAS, After serving as program director for the NAACP from
1959 to 1961, Mr. Farmer returned to CORE to become its national
director; shortly thereafter he organized the first Freedom Ride, a
protest action that ultimately led to the outlawing of segregated
seating in interstate travel; and
WHEREAS, While overseeing the formation of more than 150 new
CORE chapters, Mr. Farmer also played a key role in organizing the
1963 March on Washington; at the same time, he led CORE in
courageous efforts to register African American voters in southern
states, a campaign that climaxed in Mississippi with the Freedom
Summer project of 1964; and
WHEREAS, One of the preeminent leaders of the civil rights
movement, James Farmer saw his labor and sacrifices, together with
the efforts of thousands of other brave men and women, bear fruit in
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
moreover, he used his access to Vice President and then President
Lyndon Johnson to successfully promote the concept of affirmative
action; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Farmer left CORE in 1966; from 1969 to 1970, he
served in the administration of President Richard Nixon as an
assistant secretary in the Department of Health, Education and
Welfare; during his tenure at HEW he advocated the use of federal
funds to strengthen historically black colleges and universities;
and
WHEREAS, In his continuing quest to heal racial divisions
within the country, Mr. Farmer cofounded in 1975 the Fund for an
Open Society, an organization to promote interracial housing; the
author of two books, including an autobiography, he served as a
Distinguished Professor of History and American Studies at Mary
Washington College, now the University of Mary Washington, from
1985 to 1998; among the numerous awards conferred on him during his
lifetime were 26 honorary degrees and, in 1998, the Presidential
Medal of Freedom; and
WHEREAS, James Farmer died on July 9, 1999; in recognition of
his towering role in the civil rights movement, Governor Rick
Perry, Austin Mayor Will Wynn, and San Antonio Mayor Edward D. Garza
declared January 12, 2005, as a special day to honor James Farmer;
and
WHEREAS, Throughout his life, this notable American remained
committed to the principle of nonviolence and to the ideal of a
fully inclusive, integrated society, and in his unwavering devotion
to that shining vision, he was instrumental in advancing the cause
of social and economic justice for all the citizens of this land;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby pay tribute to the life of James Leonard Farmer, Jr., for his
immeasurable contributions to the continuing expansion of human
freedom.