[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 18 (Thursday, February 17, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MR. MILTON DAVIS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 17, 2005

  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of 
Chicago's unsung heroes, the late Mr. Milton Davis who sadly passed 
away on February 11, 2005. His untimely death will truly leave a deep 
void in the Chicago community.
  Mr. Speaker, the City of Chicago has lost a giant. My condolences and 
the condolences of my family are extended to Gertrude Davis and to her 
entire family.
  Mr. Milton Davis was born in Jasper, Alabama and graduated from 
Morehouse College. He moved to Chicago in 1958 and worked with Ronald 
Gryzwinski and Mary Houghton on an experimental minority lending 
program at Hyde Park. In 1973, Mr. Davis was part of a group that 
purchased South Shore Bank in order to prevent its move to downtown 
Chicago.
  A true pioneer, Mr. Davis dedicated the Shore Bank institution to 
serving low-income and middle-income African-Americans on the South 
Side of Chicago. Mr. Davis believed that you can empower the African-
American community if you can provide them with the economic resources 
they needed to prosper. With that commitment in mind, Mr. Davis 
dedicated his life to making sure that his bank allowed the undeserved 
to gain a piece of the economic pie.
  Mr. Davis' keen business sense or astuteness cannot be forgotten. 
From 1983 to 1996, he was chairman of Shorebank, which grew $40 million 
in assets to more than 1.5 billion today. Until, his death, Mr. Davis 
was on the bank's board and served as chairman emeritus.
  Mr. Davis' courage to be independent, to speak his mind, and to fight 
for the under-represented in the South Side of Chicago will surely be 
missed. My fellow colleagues please join me in honoring the memory of 
Mr. Milton Davis, a true beacon of the Chicago community.

                          ____________________