[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 65 (Thursday, May 6, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E887]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN HONOR OF BETTY FRANKLIN-HAMMONDS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 6, 1999

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay solemn tribute to a 
longtime civil rights advocate, Betty Franklin-Hammonds, of Madison, 
Wisconsin. Ms. Franklin-Hammonds has been known in the Madison 
community for her long-time advocacy on behalf of human equality and 
mutual understanding. She has ranked among the region's noted civil 
rights leaders, and has been widely recognized as effective, tenacious, 
low-key, and out front in nearly every civil rights campaign of the 
past 20 years. It is with great sadness that I note her passing on 
April 28, 1999.
  Betty Franklin-Hammonds' commitment to organizations such as the 
NAACP and the Urban League was critical in ensuring equal rights for 
all of our citizens. Her unshakeable belief in equality of education 
for all was likely the force behind her strong leadership of the 
Madison Committee on the Achievement of Black Students, leadership 
which positively affected the educational possibilities for countless 
African American children in Madison. For nearly a decade, Betty 
Franklin-Hammonds served as the publisher of the Madison Times, today 
one of the most widely-read publications in Dane County. In her weekly 
column, Betty Franklin-Hammonds remained an outspoken advocate, 
sometimes voicing the concerns of thousands of others, other times 
advising, educating, or comforting.
  Her unselfish contributions to the community brought numerous awards 
and recognition and she graciously accepted it all in stride, never 
slowing for even a minute from the enduring struggle for human equality 
and understanding. In the past few years, she has been recognized for 
her leadership at the helm of the Madison Urban League, and in 1993, 
Betty received the City of Madison's prestigious Reverend Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award. Earlier this year, she received 
the City of Madison Martin Luther King Heritage Award, and this month 
was due to receive the YWCA's Women of Distinction Award.
  In recognition of the lifelong leadership provided by Ms. Betty 
Franklin-Hammonds, I ask the Congress today to recognize the life of 
this great Civil Rights leader. She will be greatly missed by many, but 
her legacy lives on, as together we strive to achieve the goals of 
equality, education, and understanding that were so central to her 
life's work.

                          ____________________