{{short description|American politician and attorney (1921-1994)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Cecil A. Partee | image = Cecil A. Partee circa 1976.jpg | caption = official portrait, circa 1976 | office = Cook County State's Attorney | term_start = April 24, 1989 | term_end = December 1, 1990 | predecessor = Richard M. Daley | successor = Jack O'Malley | office1 = Chicago City Treasurer | term_start1 = April 1979 | term_end1 = April 1989 | predecessor1 = Joseph G. Bertand | successor1 = Miriam Santos | office2 = President of the Illinois Senate | term_start2 = January 8, 1975 | term_end2 = February 16, 1977 | predecessor2 = William Harris | successor2 = Thomas Hynes | governor2 = James R. Thompson | state_senate3 = Illinois | district3 = 26th | term_start3 = January 4, 1967 | term_end3 = February 16, 1977 | preceded3 = David Davis IV | succeeded3 = Harold Washington | office4 = Member of the Illinois House of Representatives | term_start4 = 1957 | term_end4 = 1967 <!--personal--> | birth_name = Cecil Armillo Partee | birth_date = {{birth date|1921|04|10}} | birth_place = Blytheville, Arkansas, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1994|8|17|1921|4|10}} | death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | party = Democratic | spouse = Paris | children = Two | alma_mater = {{nowrap|Tennessee State University {{small|(B.A.)}}<br>Northwestern University {{small|(J.D.)}} }} | profession = Attorney }}
'''Cecil Armillo Partee''' (April 10, 1921 – August 17, 1994) was an American attorney and politician. He was the first African American to serve as president of the Illinois Senate and the first to serve as Cook County State's Attorney. He served in both the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois State Senate. He also served three terms as City Treasurer of Chicago.
==Early life and education== Born in Blytheville, Arkansas, Partee received his bachelor's degree from Tennessee State University and his J.D. degree from Northwestern University School of Law in 1946.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Heise |first=Kenan |date=August 17, 1994 |title=Cecil Partee, pioneer in politics |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-08-17-9408170101-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218202121/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-08-17-9408170101-story.html |archive-date=2020-02-18 |access-date=2020-02-18 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Political career==
=== Illinois State House === He practiced law and was an assistant state's attorney. In 1956, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives as a Democrat. 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.<ref name=":0" />
While in the House, Partee sponsored fair housing legislation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Grant|first=Keneshia Nicole|title=The great migration and the Democratic party: Black voters and the realignment of American politics in the 20th century|publisher=Temple University Press|year=2020|isbn=978-1-4399-1747-3|oclc=1122682592}}</ref> He was also a leader in pursuing fair employment practices legislation.<ref name=":0" />
=== Illinois State Senate === In 1966, he was elected to the Illinois State Senate. 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.<ref name=":0" />
He ran for Illinois Attorney General in 1976 and won the Democratic Party nomination, but lost the general election to Republican William Scott.<ref name=":0" />
=== 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 win a close election for State Representative while in this position.<ref name=":0" />
=== City Treasurer of Chicago === In 1979, he successfully ran for City Treasurer of Chicago.<ref name=":0" /> He won re-election twice and served in the office until 1989.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dukmasova |first=Maya |date=March 28, 2019 |title=More money no problems |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/chicago-treasurer-election-pawar-conyears-ervin/Content?oid=69283264 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224170947/https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/chicago-treasurer-election-pawar-conyears-ervin/Content?oid=69283264 |archive-date=2020-02-24 |access-date=2020-02-18 |website=Chicago Reader |language=en}}</ref>
=== Cook County State's Attorney === Partee was appointed State's Attorney for Cook County on April 24, 1989, when Richard M. Daley was elected Mayor of Chicago. He was the first black person to serve in this office, and the last until Kim Foxx won election in 2016.<ref name=":0" /> He lost a special election for the office to Republican nominee Jack O'Malley on November 6, 1990.
==Death== Partee died of lung cancer in Chicago on August 17, 1994.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cecil Partee. Memoir|url=http://www.uis.edu/archives/memoirs/PARTEEvI.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927025637/http://www.uis.edu/archives/memoirs/PARTEEvI.pdf|archive-date=2011-09-27}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== *[http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/specialcoll/services/rjd/findingaids/CParteef.html Richard J. Daley Library-Cecil Armillo Partee papers] *{{C-SPAN|2209}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Thomas G. Lyons}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Illinois |years=1976}} {{s-aft|after=Richard J. Troy}} {{s-end}} {{Cook County State's Attorney|state=collapsed}} {{Chicago City Treasurers|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Partee, Cecil A}} Category:1921 births Category:1994 deaths Category:African-American state legislators in Illinois Category:Democratic Party Illinois state senators Category:Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Category:Cook County state's attorneys Category:Politicians from Chicago Category:Illinois lawyers Category:Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni Category:Tennessee State University alumni Category:People from Blytheville, Arkansas Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:20th-century African-American politicians Category:20th-century African-American lawyers Category:20th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly