[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13441]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING SYD FINLEY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, a few days ago a good friend of 
mine, Syd Finley, died at the Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, 
Illinois. But before his death, his life personified that of a premier 
activist. He made effective use of himself to bring about positive and 
progressive change.
  After graduating from high school and Knox College in Galesburg, 
Illinois, he began work as a recreational therapist for the State. He 
served in the military and fought in the Korean War and was awarded the 
Bronze Star with two oak leaf clusters, the Combat Medic Badge, United 
Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal and the Merit 
Unit Citation.
  In 1961, he was appointed Midwest director of the NAACP and moved his 
family from Galesburg to what was then segregated Wheaton. Real estate 
brokers only took him to the parts of town where African American 
families lived, and African American children were not bused to school 
like white children, and businesses would not consider hiring blacks.
  Therefore, Syd started meeting with the school board and city council 
members. Mr. Finley's style of operating proved to be quite effective; 
and he not only brought about change in his neighborhood, but he also 
brought about change for thousands of others through his work at the 
NAACP.
  Mr. Finley took his children to civil rights marches in Selma, St. 
Louis, Milwaukee, and Washington, D.C. As a leader of the NAACP's Fair 
Program in the 1980s, Mr. Finley got hundreds of people hired into 
management jobs at Fortune 500 companies and was appointed Illinois 
Governor Jim Thompson's Assistant for Minority Affairs.
  Syd worked at Argonne National Laboratory from 1973 to 1980; and 
under his leadership, minority employment increased from 9 percent to 
14 percent and female employment from 12 percent to 24 percent.
  Mr. Finley joined Medical Management of America in 1994 and became 
vice president of Community and Media Relations for Doctor's Hospital 
of Hyde Park. He was a founder of the DuPage African Methodist 
Episcopal Church in 1979. He led a full and complete life.
  He leaves to mourn and cherish his memory his wife, Mary Lou; three 
children, Sidney Finley, III; Robin Hines; and William Christopher 
Finley; two sisters, Dorothy Newman and Delores Ford; and two 
grandchildren.
  Syd Finley was indeed a unique person and able to influence the 
thinking and behavior of others. He was an effective leader and a great 
American. We revere his life, mourn his passing, and shall cherish his 
memory.

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