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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Jake Wheatley State
Rep. Joseph Preston |
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House adopts Wheatley, Preston resolution honoring Harvey Adams Jr.
HARRISBURG, Sept. 18 – State Reps. Jake Wheatley and Joseph Preston Jr., both D-Allegheny, are lauding the full House of Representatives for unanimously adopting their resolution memorializing civil rights leader Harvey Adams Jr., who died earlier this month.
"This was a gentleman I had the pleasure to know for many years who was an extraordinary public servant," Preston said. "Harvey taught me that 'to be a good leader, you have to be a good follower.' The time that he spent standing up for all people of all colors set a precedent that people deserve to be treated equally and with respect.
"We are indebted to Harvey for the life lessons he has bestowed upon us, and I look forward to sending a copy of this resolution to his family," Preston said.
Wheatley said, "While we still have a long way to go, it is because of civil rights leaders like Harvey Adams Jr. that Pittsburgh has come as far as it has, and I am proud to help honor him."
Adams was a retired director of the Pittsburgh Housing Authority police, and former
president of the Pittsburgh branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People.
During his time on the police force, he implemented a minority police recruitment program and
youth athletic and educational programs, and organized police and community councils for the
city, including the Guardians of Greater Pittsburgh, an organization for black police officers that
successfully sued the city in 1970 over discriminatory hiring policies. He later served at the
helm of the Pittsburgh branch of the NAACP from 1976 until 1992 and headed the association's
police affairs committee.
The resolution also commends Adams for his actions following the death of Martin Luther King Jr., in 1968, when he was a Pittsburgh police sergeant. Violent protests broke out across the city,
particularly in the Hill District, and he worked diligently to keep the peace during those riots.
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