[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 67 (Thursday, May 6, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E770]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING HENRY ``HANK'' PARKER AND HIS HISTORIC CAREER OF PUBLIC 
                                SERVICE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 6, 2010

  Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor a lifetime of public 
service to the people of Connecticut by a lifelong friend to me, to my 
family, and to the families of our State: Henry E ``Hank'' Parker.
  Born one of seven children in Baltimore, Hank first moved to 
Connecticut after serving two years in the Army, obtaining a degree 
from the Hampton Institute in Virginia, and turning down an offer to 
play with the Harlem Globetrotters. Maryland and Harlem's loss was 
Connecticut's gain. For the next fifty years, Hank would serve our 
State ably as an educator, activist, public official and powerful 
crusader for both social change and fiscal responsibility.
  Upon receiving his MS in Education from Southern Connecticut State 
College, Hank served as Project Director at the First Community School 
in my hometown and soon became chairman of the New Haven Black 
Coalition in 1962. Amid the social and political tumult of the ensuing 
decade, he would become deeply involved in local and community 
politics, and become known throughout Connecticut as an influential, 
passionate, and exceptionally keen advocate for social justice.
  In 1974, Hank was elected Connecticut State Treasurer, becoming not 
only just the second African-American to hold the position but the sole 
fiduciary of the State's then $3.3 billion pension fund. Among his 
achievements during his tenure, Hank created Yankee Mac, a $450 million 
home mortgage program for the State that emphasized opportunities for 
urban renewal. He chaired the Governor's Task Force on South Africa 
investment policies that yielded one of the first model anti-apartheid 
bills in America. And he chaired the 1977 State Citizen's Committee 
that recognized Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a State 
holiday, seven years before Congress followed suit.
  After stepping down in 1986--making him the longest-serving 
Connecticut State Treasurer in over 150 years--Hank became Senior Vice-
President of Atalanta/Sosnoff Capital Corporation. In addition, he 
continued both his advocacy and community service efforts as a member 
of many important Boards, and as a lifelong member of the NAACP.
  Endorsed by such national figures as Paul Newman and Muhammad Ali 
over the course of a career of good works, Hank has made a profound 
transformative impact on our State. For almost my entire life, he and 
his wife of over fifty years, former State Representative Janette 
Johnson Parker, have been a veritable institution in New Haven, and in 
my neighborhood of Wooster Square. I thank Hank, Jan, and their 
children Curtis and Janet for their service to our Connecticut 
community, and for their years of friendship to my family. Hank, Jan, 
Curtis, and Janet, congratulations and thank you to you all.

                          ____________________