41 RESOLUTION NO. _____ _
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3 A Resolution of the City of South Miami calling ou the Florida Legislature to
4 inform the United States Congress of its desire to place a statue of
5 environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas or Civil rights leader Mary Mcleod
6 Bethuue, or other appropriate Floridiau in the Congressional collectiou
7 represeuting Florida and to replace the statue of Confederate General Edmund
8 Kirby Smith, currently one of two statues representing Florida in Statuary Hall
9 in Washington, DC.
10 WHEREAS, in 1864, in accordance with legislation sponsored by Representative Justin
11 Morrill, Congress invited each state to contribute two statues of prominent citizens for permanent
12 display in a room in the U.S. Capitol, which was renamed National Statuary Hall; and
13 WHEREAS, in 1914, the state of Florida gave a statue ofJohn Gorrie, considered the father
14 of air conditioning and refrigeration, to the National Statuary Hall Collection; and
15 WHEREAS, in 1922, the state of Florida gave a statue of Confederate General Edmund
16 Kirby to the National Statuary Hall Collection; and
17 WHEREAS, in 2000, an act of Congress (2U.S.C. § 2\32), permits states to provide statue
18 replacements and repossess the earlier one; and
19 WHEREAS, as of 2015, six states (Kansas, California, Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, and
20 Arizona) have replaced statues; and
21 WHEREAS, in 2015, several Florida members of Congress wrote a bipartisan letter ,to the
22 leaders of Florida Legislature requesting that the statue of Confederate General Smith be removed
23 from Statuary Hall; and
24 WHEREAS, according to the Tallahassee Democrat the leaders of the Florida Legislature
25 expressed a willingness to replace the statue of Confederate General Smith with another prominent
26 Floridian; and
27 WHEREAS, Marjory Stoneman Douglas was an important environmentalist in the 20th
28 century who made improvements in Florida's quality oflife; and
29 WHEREAS, her most influential work was the book The Everglades: River of Grass
'30 (1947)", which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river instead of a
31 worthless swamp; and
32 WHEREAS, in 1993, President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
33 the highest honor given to a civilian; and
34 WHEREAS, in 1987 she was named a great Floridian by the state of Florida; and
35 WHEREAS, Douglas was inducted into the National Wildlife Federation Hall of Fame in
36 1999; and
37 WHEREAS, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2000; and
1 WHEREAS, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection named its headquarters in
2 Tallahassee after her in 1980; and
3 WHEREAS, the Conservation Association established the Marjory Stoneman Douglas
4 Award in 1986, that honors individuals who often must go to great lengths to advocate and fight for
5 the protection of the National Park System; and
6 WHEREAS, she was honored with a visit from Queen Elizabeth II in 1991; and
7 WHEREAS, instead of gifts and celebrations on her birthday, Douglas asked that trees be
8 planted that resulted in over 100,000 planted trees across the state; and
9 WHEREAS, Marjory Stoneman Douglas would be the 10th woman in National Statuary
10 Hall Collection should the Florida Legislature select her as a statue replacement; and
11 WHEREAS, Mary McCleod Bethune was an important civil rights leader and educator in
12 the 20th century who made improvements in the quality oflife in Florida; and
13 WHEREAS, she also served as an advisor to five of the Presidents of the United States.
14 Calvin Coolidge and Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her to several government positions; and
15 WHEREAS, she established the school that would eventually become Bethune-Cookman
16 University in Daytona Beach; and
17 WHEREAS, she was a recognized leader in promoting equal opportunity and helped
18 establish the National Council of Negro Women and United Negro College Fund (UNCF); and
19 WHEREAS, Bethune was awarded the Spingarn Medal in 1935 by the National Association
20 for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); and
21 WHEREAS, she played an important role during World War II as the assistant director of
22 the Women's Army Corps; and
23 WHEREAS, Mary McLeod Bethune was the only black woman to participate at the
24 founding of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945; and
25 WHEREAS, in 1973, Mary McLeod Bethune was inducted into the National Women's Hall
26 of Fame; and
27 WHEREAS, in 2002 she was named a great Floridian by the state of Florida; and
28 WHEREAS, in 1974 approximately 250,000 people attended the unveiling ceremony of a
29 statue of her in Lincoln Park in Washington DC; and
30 WHEREAS, in 1985 the US Postal Service issued a stamp in Bethune's honor; and
31 WHEREAS, in 1991, the International Astronomical Union named the Bethune Patera on
32 planet Venus in her honor; and
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1 WHEREAS, in 1994, the National Park Service acquired Bethune's last residence and
2 designated it as the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site; and
3 WHEREAS, schools have been named in her honor in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego,
4 Dallas, Palm Beach, Florida, Moreno Valley, California, Minneapolis, Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta,
5 Philadelphia, Folkston and College Park, Georgia, New Orleans, Rochester, New York, Cleveland,
6 South Boston, Virginia, and Jacksonville, Florida; and
7 WHEREAS, Mary Mcleod Bethune would become the first African-American in National
8 Statuary Hall should the Florida Legislature select her as a statue replacement; and
9 WHEREAS, the statue of Confederate General Smith has already had 93 years to represent
10 Florida and can now be moved to another appropriate location; and
11 WHEREAS, in 2009 Alabama swapped its statue of Confederate soldier J abez Curry for one
12 of humanitarian Helen Keller.
13 NOW, THEREFORE, BE RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
14 COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA THAT:
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Section 1. The Florida Legislature should replace the statue of Confederate General Edmund
Kirby Smith in National Statuary Hall Collection with Marjory Stoneman Douglas or Mary Mcleod
Bethune or another appropriate Floridian.
Section 2. The City Clerk is hereby directed to transmit this resolution to the Florida
Speaker of the House, the President of the Florida Senate, the Mayor and County Commissioners of
Miami-Dade County and all elected municipal officials in Miami-Dade County.
Section 3. Severability. If any section clause, sentence, or phrase of this resolution is for
any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the holding shall not
affect the validity ofthe remaining portions ofthis resolution.
Section 4. Effective Date. This resolution shall become effective immediately upon
adoption by vote of the City Commission.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this __ day of _____ , 2015.
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM,
LANGUAGE, LEGALITY AND
EXECUTION THEREOF
CITY ATTORNEY
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APPROVED:
MAYOR
COMMISSION VOTE:
Mayor Stoddard:
Vice Mayor Harris:
Commissioner Edmond:
Commissioner Liebman:
Commissioner Welsh: