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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, A life dedicated to community leadership and social |
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justice drew to a close with the death of Bertha Sadler Means of |
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Austin on March 16, 2021, at the age of 100; and |
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WHEREAS, The former Bertha Elizabeth Sadler was born in May |
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1920 in Valley Mills, a long-established Black community in |
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McLennan and Bosque counties founded by her grandfather, the |
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Reverend James Sadler; she was an intelligent and athletic young |
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woman, and she graduated from A. J. Moore High School in Waco; and |
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WHEREAS, After moving to Austin to attend what is now |
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Huston-Tillotson University, she met James H. Means, and they |
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married in December 1941, going on to share 66 years together until |
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his death in 2008; the same year they were wed, the couple helped |
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establish St. James' Episcopal Church in East Austin, and they |
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started a successful business, Harlem Cab, which later became the |
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Austin Cab Company; Mrs. Means was also one of the first Black |
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teachers to work in Austin's White-majority schools, and the Austin |
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school district later named Bertha Sadler Means Young Women's |
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Leadership Academy in her honor; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1962, Mrs. Means organized protests against |
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discrimination at the Ice Palace skating rink, and she became a |
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leading civil rights activist in the city, serving as a member of |
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the NAACP, the Austin Human Relations Commission, and the Urban |
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League, as well as the Austin Parks Commission, the Town Lake |
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Beautification Committee, and the city's bicentennial commission; |
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she was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha and a founder of the Austin |
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chapter of Jack and Jill of America, and she helped bring the Ebony |
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Fashion Fair to the city; moreover, she proudly attended the 2008 |
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Democratic National Convention in support of Barack Obama; and |
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WHEREAS, Above all else, Mrs. Means took great pride in her |
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five children, James, Ronald, Joan, Janet, and Patricia, and she |
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was blessed with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and |
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WHEREAS, A woman who gave freely of her time, energy, and |
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talent to make Austin a better place for all, Bertha Means was a |
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true champion for justice, and she leaves behind a record of good |
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works that will long resonate in the community she loved; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Bertha Sadler Means |
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and extend heartfelt sympathy to her family and many friends; and, |
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be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Bertha |
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Sadler Means. |