[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 213 (Wednesday, December 16, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1161-E1162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF MRS. ROSIE LEE ATCHISON

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 16, 2020

  Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, to live to become 109 
years old in this country or any country is quite a feat. Such has been 
the life and legacy of Mrs. Rosie Atchison who was born on August 15th, 
1911 in Bolivar Mississippi and passed away on November 23rd, 2020. Her 
birth mother passed away when Rosie was just six weeks old and she was 
taken into the care of her father Mr. Henry Liner who raised her as the 
2nd oldest of 27 children whom he fathered.
  Rosie grew up in Clarksdale, Mississippi where she lived a typical 
life for blacks in that area, she worked the fields, went to church, 
got married had two children, lost a child, got

[[Page E1162]]

tired of the fields and a failed marriage, took her two children and 
migrated to Chicago looking for a better life and that is exactly what 
she found. With faith in God she joined Greater Salem Missionary 
Baptist Church where the renowned gospel singer Mahalia Jackson was a 
member and she also sang in the choir. She met and married her second 
husband Mr. Andrew Atchison who worked for the Diamond Glue Factory. 
She found a job cleaning rail cars for the Pennsylvania Railroad and 
worked there until her retirement in 1970.
  Mrs. Atchison and her husband became very productive citizens and 
developed a reputation for helping others less fortunate than 
themselves and she became known to many as big mama. Rosie and her 
family lived in the mecca building in the heart of the Bronzeville 
community until they were forced out to make room for the Illinois 
Institute of Technology. They protested and held marches around city 
hall but lost. After her husband died she purchased a 2 flat building 
in the Englewood community and kept on helping people.
  On November 23, 2020, after 109 years Rosie passed away leaving 2 
daughters, 15 grandchildren, 60 great grandchildren, 95 great great 
grandchildren and 24 great, great, great, great, grandchildren, one 
sister Josephine Liner Wilson and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, 
friends and extended family. What a life, what a legacy.

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