City Delivers Proclamation for Mrs. Bradley

Peoria City Councilman Ryan Spain presented a proclamation to Provost Walter Zakahi recognizing the life and accomplishments of Lydia Moss Bradley in honor of her 200th birthday at a recent city council meeting.  The proclamation reads as follows:

WHEREAS, Lydia Moss Bradley was industrious, progressive, independent, and teachable, as evidenced by her estate exceeding a value of two million dollars; and

WHEREAS, Lydia Moss Bradley was a visionary with common sense and generosity, who moved to Peoria from Indiana, and had a profound and far-reaching effect on the City of Peoria and our region; and

WHEREAS, Lydia Moss Bradley founded and endowed Bradley University nearly 120 years ago for the benefit of the young people of Peoria and the vicinity. Today, Bradley attracts students from around the world and its alumni represent every field of endeavor around the globe; and

WHEREAS, while Bradley University may be her crowning achievement, her business acumen and generosity also benefitted the people, the city, other communities, and countless organizations, including the Children’s Home Association of Illinois, OSF St. Francis Medical Center, the Universalist Unitarian Church of Peoria, and the Grand Opera House among many others; and

WHEREAS, the Peoria Pleasure Driveway and Peoria Park District, the first park district chartered in Illinois, is the result of her gift of land to the City of Peoria; and

WHEREAS, farmland she owned on the West Bluff was developed into some of the most historic and handsome neighborhoods in the City of Peoria; and

WHEREAS, her farmlands in Mason and Menard counties, once barren and unproductive, became fertile and nurtured  the growth of towns, churches, schools, and the agricultural economy around them; and

WHEREAS, Lydia Moss Bradley became the first woman in Illinois and the United States to serve on the board of a national bank, a position she held for more than 30 years and also has been acknowledged for her accomplishments by being inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1998;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Jim Ardis, Mayor of the City of Peoria, Illinois, do hereby recognize Lydia Moss Bradley and celebrate July 31^st, 2016, the  

200^th ANNIVERSARY OF HER BIRTH

In Peoria, Illinois.

Dated this 26^th day of July 2016 A.D.