A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, Celebrating Black History Month and the achievements of African Americans throughout the history of South Dakota.

WHEREAS, Black History Month was first established in 1926 as Negro History Week by historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, and re-established in 1976 as Black History Month by President Gerald Ford; and

WHEREAS, the mission of the South Dakota African American History Museum, founded in 2009 in Sioux Falls, is to foster greater appreciation for the perseverance of African Americans in South Dakota through educational exhibits, community events, outreach, and historical documentation and preservation; and

WHEREAS, the first African American who laid foot in South Dakota was York, who participated in the Lewis and Clark expedition; and

WHEREAS, Sarah "Aunt Sally" Campbell was the first African American woman to own property and an independent business in South Dakota, when she discovered gold in the Black Hills and subsequently owned a half dozen mining claims and became a successful entrepreneur; and

WHEREAS, the Blair Family and others met in Yankton, in 1906, and established the Northwestern Homestead Movement, which sought to relocate African Americans from Southern states to homesteads in South Dakota and the Upper Midwest; and

WHEREAS, Cleveland Abbott was born in Yankton, graduated from high school in Watertown with sixteen varsity letters, graduated from South Dakota State College, now South Dakota State University, with fourteen varsity letters, was the head football coach at Tuskegee University for thirty-two seasons, served in World War I, and coached the first two African American gold medal winners; and

WHEREAS, Leonard "Bud" Williams served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, and served his community as Director of Student Activities at the Mitchell Vocational Institute, as a Mitchell city council member, and as the mayor of Mitchell; and

WHEREAS, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., graced Sioux Falls with his presence in January 1961; and

WHEREAS, Kenny Anderson, Sr. was the first, and so far the only, black city commissioner for the city of Sioux Falls, and has a park and community center in the city named for him; and

WHEREAS, Emma Armstrong who lived to be 102 years of age, lived in Sioux Falls since 1945, touched the lives of many of the people referenced above, including Porter Williams, Kenny Anderson, Bud Williams, and Martin Luther King, Jr., and dedicated her life to community service;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Ninety-Sixth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the Legislature of the State of South Dakota recognizes the deep history of African Americans in our great state and honors them throughout the month of February, Black History Month, and the remainder of the year.