LTC 378-2015 City of South Miami Resolution i11111.1111■
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1915 •2015
MIAMI BEAC H
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC# 378-2015 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Philip Levine and Members of thy'- City Commis;-ion
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager n
DATE: September 22, 2015
SUBJECT: CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI RESOLUTIO
Attached for your information is Resolution No. 147-15-14486, sponsored by Commissioner
Gabriel Edmond, adopted by the Mayor and City Commission of South Miami on September 15,
2015.
A Resolution of the City of South Miami calling on the Florida Legislature to
inform the United States Congress of its desire to place a statue of
environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas or Civil rights leader Mary McLeod
Bethune, or other appropriate Floridian in the Congressional collection
representing Florida and to replace the statue of Confederate General Edmund
Kirby Smith, currently one of two statues representing_ Florida in Statuary Hall
in Washington, DC.
The City of South Miami has requested that a copy of this resolution be provided to the Miami
Beach Mayor and Commissioners.
If you have a questions, please contact the Office of the City Clerk at 305.673.7411.
JLM/REG
Attachment
F:\CLER\$ALL\LILIA\LTC's-Transmittal's\Resolution 147-15-14486.docx
RESOLUTION NO. 147-15-14486
A Resolution of the City of South Miami calling on the Florida Legislature to
inform the United States Congress of its desire to place a statue of
environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas or Civil rights leader Mary Mcleod
Bethune, or other appropriate Floridian in the Congressional collection
representing Florida and to replace the statue of Confederate General Edmund
Kirby Smith, currently one of two statues representing Florida in Statuary Hall
in Washington,DC.
WHEREAS, in 1864, in accordance with legislation sponsored by Representative Justin
Morrill, Congress invited each state to contribute two statues of prominent citizens for permanent
display in a room in the U.S. Capitol,which was renamed National Statuary Hall;and
WHEREAS, in 1914,the state of Florida gave a statue of John Gorrie, considered the father
of air conditioning and refrigeration,to the National Statuary Hall Collection;and
WHEREAS, in 1922, the state of Florida gave a statue of Confederate General Edmund
Kirby to the National Statuary Hall Collection; and
WHEREAS, in 2000, an act of Congress (2 U.S.C. § 2132), permits states to provide statue
replacements and repossess the earlier one;and
WHEREAS, as of 2015, six states (Kansas, California, Alabama, Iowa, Michigan, and
Arizona)have replaced statues; and
WHEREAS, in 2015, several Florida members of Congress wrote a bipartisan letter to the
leaders of Florida Legislature requesting that the statue of Confederate General Smith be removed
from Statuary Hall; and
WHEREAS, according to the Tallahassee Democrat the leaders of the Florida Legislature
expressed a willingness to replace the statue of Confederate General Smith with another prominent
Floridian; and
WHEREAS, Marjory Stoneman Douglas was an important environmentalist in the 20th
century who made improvements in Florida's quality of life; and
WHEREAS, her most influential work was the book The Everglades: River of Grass
(1947)", which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a treasured river instead of a
worthless swamp; and
WHEREAS, in 1993,President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
the highest honor given to a civilian; and
WHEREAS, in 1987 she was named a great Floridian by the state of Florida;and
WHEREAS, Douglas was inducted into the National Wildlife Federation Hall of Fame in
1999; and
WHEREAS,she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2000; and
Res. No. 147-15-14486
WHEREAS, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection named its headquarters in
Tallahassee after her in 1980; and
WHEREAS, the Conservation Association established the Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Award in 1986, that honors individuals who often must go to great lengths to advocate and fight for
the protection of the National Park System; and
WHEREAS, she was honored with a visit from Queen Elizabeth II in 1991; and
WHEREAS, instead of gifts and celebrations on her birthday, Douglas asked that trees be
planted that resulted in over 100,000 planted trees across the state; and
WHEREAS, Marjory Stoneman Douglas would be the 10th woman in National Statuary
Hall Collection should the Florida Legislature select her as a statue replacement; and
WHEREAS, Mary McCleod Bethune was an important civil rights leader and educator in
the 20th century who made improvements in the quality of life in Florida; and
WHEREAS, she also served as an advisor to five of the Presidents of the United States.
Calvin Coolidge and Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed her to several government positions; and
WHEREAS, she established the school that would eventually become Bethune-Cookman
University in Daytona Beach; and
WHEREAS, she was a recognized leader in promoting equal opportunity and helped
establish the National Council of Negro Women and United Negro College Fund(UNCF); and
WHEREAS, Bethune was awarded the Spingarn Medal in 1935 by the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP);and
WHEREAS, she played an important role during World War II as the assistant director of
the Women's Army Corps; and
WHEREAS, Mary McLeod Bethune was the only black woman to participate at the
founding of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945; and
WHEREAS, in 1973, Mary McLeod Bethune was inducted into the National Women's Hall
of Fame; and
WHEREAS, in 2002 she was named a great Floridian by the state of Florida; and
WHEREAS, in 1974 approximately 250,000 people attended the unveiling ceremony of a
statue of her in Lincoln Park in Washington DC; and
WHEREAS, in 1985 the US Postal Service issued a stamp in Bethune's honor; and
WHEREAS, in 1991, the International Astronomical Union named the Bethune Patera on
planet Venus in her honor;and
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Res. No. 147-15-14486
WHEREAS, in 1994, the National Park Service acquired Bethune's last residence and
designated it as the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site; and
WHEREAS, schools have been named in her honor in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Diego,
Dallas, Palm Beach, Florida, Moreno Valley, California, Minneapolis, Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta,
Philadelphia, Folkston and College Park, Georgia, New Orleans, Rochester, New York, Cleveland,
South Boston,Virginia,and Jacksonville,Florida;and
WHEREAS, Mary Mcleod Bethune would become the first African-American in National
Statuary Hall should the Florida Legislature select her as a statue replacement;p acement;,and
WHEREAS, the statue of Confederate General Smith has already had 93 years to represent
Florida and can now be moved to another appropriate location; and
WHEREAS, in 2009 Alabama swapped its statue of Confederate soldier Jabez Curry for one
of humanitarian Helen Keller.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI,FLORIDA THAT:
i
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 of the remaining portions of this resolution.
Section 4. Effective Date. This resolution shall become effective immediately upon
adoption by vote of the City Commission.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 1 5tbgy of September ,2015.
• -" ST: APPROVED:
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a ''' ek..'--•d ..,_ef Aiai.."47.4
CLE'!' MAY
READ AND • ' ROVED AS TO FORM, COMMISSION VOTE: 5-0
LAN,�•y EGALI Y • n Mayor Stoddard: Yea
;' ON T I-RE G r Vice Mayor Harris: Yea
Commissioner Edmond: Yea
i/IA Commissioner Liebman: Yea
• 0 = Commissioner Welsh: Yea
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