Cecil Armillo Partee (April 10, 1921 – August 17, 1994) was an American attorney and politician. He was the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to serve as president of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

and the first to serve as

Cook County State's Attorney The Cook County State's Attorney is the District attorney, chief prosecutor for Cook County, Illinois. The State's Attorney oversees the second-largest prosecutor's office in the United States, with over 600 attorneys and 1,200 employees. The off ...

. He served in both the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

and the

Illinois State Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under th ...

. He also served three terms as

City Treasurer of Chicago The city treasurer of Chicago is an elected official of the City of Chicago. Current occupant The current city treasurer of Chicago is Democratic Party (United States), Democrat Melissa Conyears. Conyears was elected by Chicago citizens on April ...

Early life and education

Born in

Blytheville, Arkansas Blytheville is one of two county seat, county seats of and the largest city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. It is approximately north of West Memphis, Arkansas, West Memphis. The population was 13,40 ...

, Partee received his bachelor's degree from

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tennes ...

and his J.D. degree from

Northwestern University School of Law The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (formerly known as Northwestern University School of Law from 1891 to 2015) is the law school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university. The law school is l ...

in 1946.

Political career

Illinois State House

He practiced law and was an assistant state's attorney. In 1956, he was elected to the

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. As a member of the House, he served on a special House committee on reapportionment, as chairman of an interim legislative committee that set up the Illinois Fair Employment Practices Commission, and as chairman of the House Elections Committee. While in the House, Partee sponsored

fair housing A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

legislation. He was also a leader in pursuing fair employment practices legislation.

Illinois State Senate

In 1966, he was elected to the

. In 1975, he was elected as President of the Illinois Senate, becoming the first black person to serve in that role and the first to head a state legislature anywhere in the United States since the end of

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

. He ran for

Illinois Attorney General The Illinois attorney general is the highest legal officer of the state of Illinois in the United States. Originally an appointed office, it is now an office filled by statewide election. Based in Chicago and Springfield, the attorney general ...

in 1976 and won the Democratic Party nomination, but lost the general election to Republican William Scott.

20th Ward Committeeman

During the 1970s, Partee served as Democratic Party committeeman for Chicago's 20th ward. He was credited in his ''Chicago Tribune'' obituary for playing an important role in helping

Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st mayor of Chicago. In April 1983, Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city’s mayor at the age of ...

win a close election for State Representative while in this position.

City Treasurer of Chicago

In 1979, he successfully ran for

. He won re-election twice and served in the office until 1989.

Cook County State's Attorney

Partee was appointed State Attorney for Cook County on April 24, 1989, when

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...

was elected

Mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of city Government of Chicago, government in Chicago, Illinois, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsib ...

. He was the first black person to serve in this office, and the last until

Kim Foxx Kimberly M. Foxx ( Anderson; born April 9, 1972) is an American politician who served as Cook County State's Attorney, State's Attorney (district attorney) for Cook County, Illinois from 2016 to 2024. She managed the second largest prosecutor's ...

won election in 2016. He lost a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

for the office to Republican nominee Jack O'Malley on November 6, 1990.

Death

Partee died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

in Chicago on August 17, 1994.

References

External links

Richard J. Daley Library-Cecil Armillo Partee papers
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Partee, Cecil A 1921 births 1994 deaths African-American state legislators in Illinois Democratic Party Illinois state senators Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Cook County state's attorneys Politicians from Chicago Illinois lawyers Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni Tennessee State University alumni People from Blytheville, Arkansas 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American lawyers 20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly