[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S3613]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING WALTER KNIGHT

  Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor Walter Knight, who 
passed away on June 20, 2023, at the age of 89. Mr. Knight will be 
remembered for his numerous acts of leadership in the community of 
Beloit, WI--notably, serving as the first African-American on the 
Beloit Police and Fire Commission and the first African-American to be 
elected to the Beloit City Council.
  Mr. Knight spent the first 17 years of his life in Arkansas where he 
attended segregated public schools and graduated from Union Grove High 
School in 1951. Upon graduation, he moved to Beloit, WI, where he went 
on to work for Fairbanks Morse in the foundry. The grueling conditions 
of the foundry motivated him to enroll in Blackhawk Technical College. 
This allowed him to move into a position in the machine shop at 
Fairbanks Morse where he remained for 25 years. Later in his career at 
Fairbanks Morse, he was elected the president of the Local Union 1533 
United Steelworkers of America from 1972-1976.
  To further advance his educational career, Mr. Knight studied union 
policy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the time he attended 
Madison, less than 1 percent of students were African-American. After 
securing higher-level education, Mr. Knight's activist voice and 
profound leadership in the Beloit community led him to be elected the 
first African-American on the Beloit City Council, where he served from 
1972-1985. Mr. Knight's involvement and dedication to the Beloit 
community did not stop there. As an African-American, he spent his 
early years in Beloit fighting segregation by exposing and assisting in 
the closure of local discriminatory and prejudice businesses.
  In addition to his fight for racial justice, Mr. Knight spent over 30 
years with the Rock County Opportunities Industrialization Center. As 
executive director, he dedicated his time to helping minority and other 
local residents build occupational and social skills to enhance their 
career prospects. Mr. Knight always wanted to be remembered as someone 
who did all he could to help others. His life of selfless acts for his 
community accurately displays this. From working in the foundry at 
Fairbanks Morse to becoming president of the Beloit City Council, Mr. 
Knight was truly a trailblazer and has left an indelible mark on the 
Beloit community.
  By creating opportunities and a voice for the minority community in 
Beloit, Mr. Knight's leadership granted him induction into the Beloit 
Historical Society Hall of Fame in 2014. Additionally, as a part of the 
2019 Juneteenth celebration, the Portland Avenue Bridge in Beloit was 
renamed ``Walter R. Knight Bridge'' in his honor. Mr. Knight will be 
whole-heartedly missed and always remembered for the years of 
compassion and love he bestowed upon his community.

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