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The William L. Dawson
Technical Institute is a memorial in honor of William Levi Dawson, the
late United States Representative from the First Congressional
District in Illinois.
During 28 years as a Congressman, his first duty was to Chicago and to
the people who consistently chose him to represent their views in
Washington, D.C. He was, however, a humanitarian who worked for
progressive legislation to benefit the needy throughout the United
States.
He was born on April 26, 1886, in Albany, Georgia. When he died at the
age of 84, he was the oldest member of Congress. He was described by a
colleague as a man of "quiet dignity and granite integrity."
He worked his way through the Normal School in Albany, Georgia, and
Fisk University, which in 1909 awarded him a Bachelor of Arts degree,
Magna Cum Laude. He arrived in Chicago in 1912 with 50 cents in his
pocket Three years later, at the age of 29, he entered the Kent
College of Law.
At the outbreak of World War I, be volunteered for military service,
was commissioned a First Lieutenant yr the 365th Infantry, and was
wounded in France. After the war, he resumed law studies at
Northwestern University and was admitted to the Illinois Bar while
still a student, in 1920.
He married Nellie Wilder Brown of Washington, D.C., and the couple had
two children, William L_ Dawson, Jr., and Barbara Dawson.
After several years of successful law practice, be entered politics in
1928_ He became a Republican State Central Committeeman for the First
Congressional District of Illinois the district he represented in the
House of Representatives. In 1933, he was elected Alderman from
Chicago's Second Ward and held this position for six years
He changed political parties, and in 1959 was named Democratic
Committeeman from the Second Ward, a post which he held for the
remainder of his life:
"DON'T GET MAD. GET SMART!"
This pragmatism marked his low profile, but effective leadership in
civil rights legislation and his support of the civil rights movements
which were only beginning to awaken. One of his first legislative
actions as a Congressman was to testify before the Senate Judiciary
Committee in support of a bill which would have eliminated the poll
tax.
He was an example for the many black legislators who were to follow
him. He was tire first African American to hold several major
political positions. In 1948, he was elected Vice Chairman of the
Democratic National Committee, and in 1949 be was chosen Chairman of
the powerful House Committee on Government Operations, a position he
held for almost 20 years. In 1960, he declined an offer to become tire
first African American Cabinet member when President elect John F.
Kennedy asked him to serve as Postmaster General.
He also was a member of the U.S. House District Committee, and served
as Vice Chairman of the Democratic Cook County Central Committee.
In a memorial to the Honorable William Levi Dawson, one of his
Congressional colleagues spoke for many when he said of the veteran
legislator:
"By his example, he gave new dignity and fresh hope to millions of
fellow Americans, black and whites alike." |
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William L. Dawson
(1886 1970)
Dawson Technical Institute
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