[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10610]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                     A TRIBUTE TO DORIS TURNER KEYS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 14, 2010

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Doris Turner 
Keys, a union leader who has demonstrated dedication to improving the 
lives of others.
  Doris Turner Keys has been a member of District 1199, National Union 
of Hospital and Health Care Employees, Retail, Wholesale and Department 
Store Union (RWDSU), AFL-CIO for more than thirty years. She was a 
leader in the historic 1959 hospital workers strike which launched the 
union, and she joined the union staff as an organizer in 1960. She rose 
through the ranks, quickly becoming Vice President, Area Director. She 
became Executive Vice President in 1967 and served in that position for 
15 years.
  In May 1982, she was elected President of District 1199, and was re-
elected in 1984. As a founding member and principal organizer she 
served as Secretary, and as an officer of the State AFL-CIO, and was 
the only African American woman and one of two women of the AFL-CIO to 
serve at that time.
  Mrs. Keys served as a trustee of the union's Training and Upgrading 
program which provides over $1 million dollars annually to 1199 members 
seeking upward mobility. She was a leader in the struggle to improve 
union services for members and their families, especially children and 
retirees, and was instrumental in expanding the union's civic, social, 
cultural, and political programs.
  She has dedicated herself to national, local and community endeavors. 
Mrs. Keys was a New York State delegate to the National Women Founding 
Conference in Houston, Texas in 1975 and served as a New York City 
Commissioner of Human Rights for six years. She was also a member of 
the Committee International Year of the Woman and a Trustee of the 
Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Changes. She 
served as a delegate representing Westchester County at a Democratic 
Convention. Mrs. Keys has served on the New York State Hospital Review 
and Planning Council as well as many other health and labor related 
organizations.
  Mrs. Keys has been honored by the NAACP, the NYC Council AFL-CIO, the 
Urban League, and the African Peoples Christian Organization, among 
others. She is the recipient of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists 
Sojourner Truth Loyalty Award, New York State 33rd Assembly District's 
Service and Humanitarian Award, and the Letha Loggins Bradford Memorial 
Foundations' Woman of the Year Award. She has been recognized for her 
role in raising money for AIDS research and treatment. She has also 
been listed in ``Who's Who in Black America'' and Who's Who in the 
Labor Movement''.
  Mrs. Keys makes her home in Mount Vernon, New York and she and her 
family are active members of the Bethesda Baptist Church of New 
Rochelle. For more than 12 years, she was the cook in the church's soup 
kitchen, Lad's Lunch, which fed approximately 100 men, women and 
children each week.
  She is married to Willie D. Keys and is the mother of 2 daughters. 
She has 7 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. Her extended family 
includes several sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and cousins. 
However, she says she is most of all a child of the King.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 
achievements of Doris Turner Keys.

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