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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Dr. Edith Irby Jones has devoted her life to serving |
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others, and the achievements of this trailblazing physician, civil |
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rights advocate, and humanitarian are truly deserving of |
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recognition; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in 1927 to an Arkansas sharecropper and a |
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domestic worker, Dr. Jones was inspired to become a physician after |
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her older sister died during a typhoid epidemic in the 1930s; she |
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realized then that medical care was essential to the survival of |
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sick children and that poverty adversely affected the ability of |
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many families, including her own, to pay for lifesaving treatment; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Dr. Jones's overwhelming desire to prevent similar |
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tragedies eventually led her to the University of Arkansas College |
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of Medicine, where she became the first African American woman to be |
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admitted; she later became the first African American woman |
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resident at Baylor College of Medicine and the first female elected |
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president of the National Medical Association; and |
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WHEREAS, After earning her degree in 1952, Dr. Jones |
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established a successful career in Arkansas; she also took up the |
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cause of civil rights and worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., |
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and other leaders of the movement; as a member of the "Freedom |
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Four," she traveled the Deep South, speaking at homes and churches, |
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urging people to join the struggle for justice and equality; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1962, Dr. Jones set up a private practice in |
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Houston's Third Ward, a practice she maintained for six decades; |
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later in the 1960s, she joined other African American physicians in |
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founding Mercy Hospital, which served impoverished patients in the |
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southeast part of the city; during the course of her career, |
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Dr. Jones held privileges at a number of Houston hospitals, served |
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as chief of staff at Riverside General Hospital, and served as a |
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clinical assistant professor of medicine at Baylor College of |
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Medicine and at The University of Texas Health Science Center at |
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Houston; she has also established medical clinics in Haiti and |
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Mexico and consulted on health care in numerous other countries; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Admired and respected by her peers, Dr. Jones has |
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received many prestigious accolades; the American Society of |
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Internal Medicine named her Internist of the Year in 1988, and in |
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2001, she was presented with the Oscar E. Edwards Memorial Award for |
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Volunteerism and Community Service by the ASIM and the American |
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College of Physicians; she has been inducted into the Hall of Fame |
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at the University of Arkansas College of Medicine, and she is the |
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recipient of honorary doctoral degrees from Missouri Valley |
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College, Mary Holmes College, Lindenwood University, and Knoxville |
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College; the City of Houston honored her in 1986 with Edith Irby |
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Jones Day, and the former Southeast Memorial Hospital named its |
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ambulatory center in her honor; a charter member of Physicians for |
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Human Rights, Dr. Jones was nominated as a Local Legend by U.S. |
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Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, in conjunction with a National |
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Library of Medicine program highlighting women who have made |
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enduring contributions to the medical profession; and |
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WHEREAS, Dr. Edith Jones is a skilled and compassionate |
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healer who demonstrated exemplary courage in breaking through |
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racial and gender barriers, and her unwavering commitment to |
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providing health care to those in need has had a positive impact on |
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the lives of countless individuals; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas |
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Legislature hereby commend Dr. Edith Irby Jones for her exceptional |
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contributions to medicine and the advancement of racial equality |
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and extend to her sincere best wishes for the future; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Dr. Jones as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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House of Representatives. |