2007 Senate Resolution 21
ENGROSSED RESOLUTION
Relating to: the life and public service of Assemblyman Lucien Palmer.
Whereas, Assemblyman Lucien Palmer became the first African-American elected to the Wisconsin legislature with his election to the state assembly in 1906, where he served a single term; and
Whereas, Assemblyman Lucien Palmer was a resort manager and hotel steward in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, prior to his election and his election resonated beyond Milwaukee and Wisconsin with articles showing up in other newspapers in cities such as Chicago, Illinois; and
Whereas, Assemblyman Lucien Palmer continued to have been the only African-American elected to the legislature until the election in 1944 of Assemblyman Le Roy J. Simmons to the state assembly; and
Whereas, after Lucien Palmer's and Le Roy Simmons' elections, the state of Wisconsin began a continuous string of representation by at least one African-American in each legislative session since; and
Whereas, the adoption of this senate resolution is supported not only by the senate, but also by members of the assembly, including specifically Representatives Young, Grigsby, Turner, Zepnick, Sheridan, and Toles; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the senate, That the members of the Wisconsin senate honor the trailblazing election of Assemblyman Lucien Palmer to the 1906 state assembly, an event that we are honoring more than 100 years later with a ceremony in the Wisconsin state senate in celebration of Black History Month.
