PRINTER'S NO. 2739
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
607
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY WHEATLEY, THOMAS, CALTAGIRONE, DRISCOLL, MURT,
KINSEY, DAVIS, MILLARD, RABB, PASHINSKI, SCHWEYER AND
KIRKLAND, NOVEMBER 21, 2017
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
NOVEMBER 21, 2017
A RESOLUTION
Designating November 2, 2017, as "Wendell Freeland Day" in
Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, Wendell Freeland was born in 1925; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Freeland was drafted in 1943 and became a
bombardier for the Tuskegee Airmen who, during World War II,
became the military's first African-American pilots; and
WHEREAS, After leaving the military, Mr. Freeland won a
scholarship to Howard University, where he graduated cum laude
in 1947; and
WHEREAS, He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and
earned his law degree from the University of Maryland School of
Law in 1950; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Freeland then moved to Pittsburgh, was admitted
to the bar in 1951 and soon became involved in the Highland Park
Swimming Pool case in which he sued the city to assure the
safety of African Americans who tried to swim there; and
WHEREAS, He later chaired the Urban League of Greater
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Pittsburgh's Board's Education Committee and established the
paradigm for dialogue between the African-American community and
the Pittsburgh Public Schools' Board that laid the foundation
not only for desegregation but also for the hiring of African-
American teachers; and
WHEREAS, From 1962 to 1967, he served as Chairman of the
Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh's Board of Directors; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Freeland helped convince the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court in 2010 to posthumously admit George Vashon, a
black attorney who was turned down in 1847 and 1868 and later
practiced before the United States Supreme Court, to the
Allegheny County bar; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Freeland was a huge fan of the Pittsburgh
Steelers; and
WHEREAS, On January 24, 2014, Mr. Freeland died at 88 years
of age due to pancreatic cancer; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Freeland was survived by his wife, Jane Young
Freeland, two children, Michael W. Freeland and Lisa B.
Freeland, and two grandchildren; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate
November 2, 2017, as "Wendell Freeland Day" in Pennsylvania.
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