[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 142 (Wednesday, November 1, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2050]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO RAMON B. PRICE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 1, 2000

  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I pay tribute to Mr. Ramon B. Price, who 
passed on Friday, September 29, 2000. While Ramon was the youngest 
brother of Chicago's late mayor Harold Washington, Ramon was better 
known as a great costume designer, painter, sculptor, illustrator, 
historian, educator, and ambassador of Afro-American Art, who devoted 
his life to the service of his community.
  Ramon Betrell Price was born on July 18, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. 
He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Art Education from the School of the 
Art Institute, and went on to receive a Master's Degree at Indiana 
University.
  From the beginning of his career, Ramon had been engaged in 
education. His early career in education not only helped him develop 
his passion for art, but encouraged his enthusiasm for public service. 
After his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps, Ramon spent the 
next 17 years teaching art at various High Schools, and colleges, in 
and around Chicago.
  In 1973, Ramon began his tenure as Chief Curator of the DuSable 
Museum of African American History--the oldest museum of African 
American History in the nation.
  In an effort to create an exchange of ideas, and culture, Ramon 
traveled extensively on behalf of the DuSable. Not long before his 
passing, he led a group of artists and patrons to the Festival del 
Caribe in Santiago, Cuba. Ramon regularly traveled to Africa, and to 
Bahia, Brazil, where he worked closely with the ``Sisterhood of Boa 
Morte,'' a sorority which traces its origins back to the time of 
slavery. He was also a co-founder of both the Afro-American Artist 
Round Table (AVAR); and the Artists for Senhora Vadente's Settlement 
House in Salvador de Behai, Brazil.
  Ramon worked on many projects, assisting anyone who asked. When his 
friends needed assistance, support or guidance, Ramon was always one on 
which they could depend. To Ramon, art was inexorably linked to 
education. This philosophy is most beautifully, and poignantly 
expressed through his own words: ``Art, in its broadest sense, is a 
culmination of all human experiences. If one is faithful to the idea 
that art is essentially a means of communication, then the artist as 
teacher is as he should be. This is especially important to me in 
relation to my art and its most immediate audience . . . my black 
brothers and sisters.'' Ramon was a true gentleman and scholar; and he 
will truly be missed.

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