A senate RESOLUTION

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR BARBARA BOLLING-WILLIAMS FOR HER ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER AS AN ATTORNEY AND TO WELCOME HER TO THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TO ADDRESS THE NAACP FREEDOM FUND BANQUET IN LAURENS.

Whereas, the South Carolina Senate was pleased to learn that Barbara Bolling-Williams will address the Freedom Fund Banquet in Laurens as the keynote speaker on January 14, 2023; and

Whereas, born on January 14 in Gary, Indiana, Ms. Bolling-Williams is the oldest of two daughters of the late Samuel L. Bolling, a brick mason, and the late Mary Hardaway Bolling who taught school for over thirty years; and

Whereas, she graduated from Gary West Side High School in 1973 and earned a bachelor's degree in industrial administration from the former General Motors Institute in 1980, now know as Kettering University, in Flint, Michigan. She earned a juris doctorate from the former Valparaiso University School of Law 1989 in Valparaiso, Indiana, where she won first place in the Regional Client Counseling Competition in 1987 and the Corpus Juris Secundum in 1989, received an endowment scholarship in 1987 and 1988, and was a Glenn Peters Fellow in 1988; and

Whereas, in private practice since October of 1991, Ms. Bolling-Williams has previously held licenses to practice law in the states of Illinois and Michigan and is now licensed to practice law in Indiana, concentrating on family, probate, corporate/business, and criminal law. She completed leadership training at Harvard Business School in 2003 and was certified as a NAACP trainer in 2007; and

Whereas, she served as an adjunct professor at Valparaiso University, a Judge Pro Tem for the Lake Superior Court in East Chicago, and a Special Judge in Gary City Court. Active in numerous community service groups, she has served as president of the Indiana State Conference since 2003 and has been a subscribing Gold Life Member of the NAACP and has served on the NAACP National Board of Directors since 2012; and

Whereas, Ms. Bolling-Williams has served her profession as a member of the Indiana State Bar Task Force on Women in the Law, the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Association, and the Michigan Bar Association; and

Whereas, Ms. Bolling-Williams' outstanding contributions have been recognized with the James Kimbrough Bar Association Beacon Award and the Katie Hall Education Foundation Attorney John Henry Hall, Ed.D., LL.M. Legal Award in 2016; the Citation Award from the Beta Mu Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa Sorority, Inc., in 2008; the NAACP Midwest Region III Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks, State Conference President of the Year in 2005 and 2010; the Soror of the Year for the Sigma Phi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., in 2002; the Indiana State Conference Loren Henry Award in 2002; the President's Award in 2000; President's Award for the Fort Wayne Branch of the NAACP in 1990; and the YWCA Special Volunteer Recognition Award in 1990; and

Whereas, a faithful member of First Baptist Church in Gary, Indiana, since 1998, she has been deeply involved in leadership and church ministries, and she has been honored to appear as an invited panelist, speaker, reader, presenter, and judge at a wide variety of venues and has given testimony before the Indiana Public Defense Commission and the Indiana Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and she was appointed a Kentucky Colonel in 2012; and

Whereas, the South Carolina Senate values the contributions of Barbara Bolling-Williams to her community and her profession, and the members welcome her to our great State. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate:

That the members of the South Carolina Senate, by this resolution, recognize and honor Barbara Bolling-Williams for her illustrious career as an attorney and welcome her to the State of South Carolina to address the NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet in Laurens.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Barbara Bolling-Williams, Esquire.

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