Unity Hall is a historic building located at 3140 S. Indiana Ave. in the Douglas community area of Chicago , Illinois . Built in 1887, the building originally served as a Jewish social club called the Lakeside Club. The red brick building, designed by local architect L.B. Dixon, features terra cotta decorations and sheet metal edging. In 1917, Chicago alderman Oscar Stanton De Priest founded the Peoples Movement Club and made Unity Hall its headquarters. De Priest was the first African-American to serve on the Chicago City Council, and he established the Peoples Movement Club to organize the black community politically. The Peoples Movement Club became "one of the best organized political groups" in Chicago's Black Metropolis neighborhood, and De Priest became the first African-American U.S. Representative from the northern states in 1928.
32-537: After the Peoples Movement Club left the building, William L. Dawson used it as his political headquarters. From the 1950s onward, the building had mainly been used by churches. It is currently vacant and was placed on Preservation Chicago's list of the most endangered historic properties in the city. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 30, 1986. It
64-458: A Royal Navy ship is a post or appointment, rather than a rank. Historically the lieutenants in a ship were ranked in accordance with seniority, with the most senior being termed the first lieutenant and acting as the second-in-command , unless the ship was complemented with a commander . Although lieutenants are no longer ranked by seniority, the post of "first lieutenant" remains. In minor war vessels, destroyers , frigates , and submarines ,
96-597: A command. The primary mission of the division is servicing, cleaning, organizing and inventorying items within a command. The term "first lieutenant" had a dual meaning in the United States Revenue Cutter Service (known until 1894 as the United States Revenue-Marine). The position title of first lieutenant was held by a junior officer who was in charge of deck operations and gunnery. The rank of first lieutenant
128-671: A mentor for rising young black politicians in Chicago, such as Archibald Carey Jr. , helping with their elections and federal appointments. During his tenure in the House, Dawson was a vocal opponent of the poll tax , which in practice was discriminatory against poorer voters. Since the end of the nineteenth century, poll taxes were among a variety of measures passed by southern states to disfranchise most black voters and tens of thousands of poor whites as well, particularly in Alabama through
160-444: A senior (first lieutenant) and junior ( second lieutenant ) rank. In navies, while certain rank insignia may carry the name lieutenant, the term may also be used to relate to a particular post or duty, rather than a rank. In Indonesia , "first lieutenant" is known as Letnan Satu ( Lettu ), Indonesian National Armed Forces uses this rank across all three of its services. It is just above the rank of second lieutenant and just below
192-571: A specialty platoon , or assignment as the executive officer for a company -sized unit (70–250 soldiers or marines). In the Air Force, a first lieutenant may be a flight commander or section's officer in charge with varied supervisory responsibilities, including supervision of as many as 100+ personnel, although in a flying unit, a first lieutenant is a rated officer (pilot, navigator, or air battle manager) who has just finished training for his career field and has few supervisory responsibilities. In
224-553: Is just above the rank of second lieutenant and just below the rank of captain . It is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) in the other uniformed services . Promotion to first lieutenant is governed by Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980. DOPMA guidelines suggest all "fully qualified" officers should be promoted to first lieutenant. A second lieutenant ( grade O-1)
256-533: Is usually promoted to first lieutenant (grade O-2) after 18 months in the Army or 24 months in the Marine Corps and Air Force. The difference between the two ranks is slight, primarily being experience and a higher pay grade. It is not uncommon to see officers moved to positions requiring more experience after promotion to first lieutenant. For example, in the Army and Marine Corps these positions can include leading
288-543: The British Army and Royal Marines , the rank above second lieutenant is simply lieutenant (pronounced lef-tenant ), with no ordinal attached. Before 1871, when the whole British Army switched to using the current rank of "lieutenant", the Royal Artillery , Royal Engineers and fusilier regiments used "first lieutenant" and "second lieutenant". The first lieutenant (often abbreviated "1st Lt") in
320-701: The Chicago area in Illinois in 1912 to study at Northwestern University Law School . He was initiated into Theta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He reached Chicago at the beginning of the Great Migration of hundreds of thousands of African Americans from rural areas of the South to industrial cities in the North and Midwest - more than 1.5 million migrated up to 1940, and millions more after that. With
352-708: The Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments in the Eighty-first and Eighty-second Congresses . He chaired its successor, the Committee on Government Operations , in the Eighty-fourth through Ninety-first Congresses . For years he and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. from Harlem, New York , were the only two African-American representatives in Congress. Dawson was also leader of
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#1732773041316384-528: The Royal Navy for the first lieutenant include " number one ", "the jimmy" (or "jimmy the one") and "James the First" (a back-formation referring to James I of England ). The first lieutenant may hold the rank of sub-lieutenant , lieutenant or lieutenant-commander . In the U.S. Army , U.S. Marine Corps , U.S. Air Force , and U.S. Space Force , a first lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer . It
416-470: The U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard , "first lieutenant" is the name of a billet and position title, rather than rank. Officers aboard early sailing ships were the captain and a number of lieutenants. The senior among those lieutenants was known as the first lieutenant, and would have assumed command if the captain were absent or incapacitated. As modern ships have become more complex, requiring specialized knowledge of engineering, communications, and weapons,
448-416: The first lieutenant is second in command, executive officer (XO) and head of the executive branch; in larger ships where a commander of the warfare specialization is appointed as the executive officer, a first lieutenant is appointed as their deputy. The post of first lieutenant in a shore establishment carries a similar responsibility to the first lieutenant of a capital ship . Colloquial terms in
480-495: The segregated U.S. Army in World War I . Back in Chicago, he became a successful lawyer, community leader, and Democratic Party activist. Like his two predecessors representing Illinois' 1st District , when Dawson was first elected in 1942, he was the only African American in Congress. He was active in the civil rights movement and sponsored registration drives. In the late 1940s he successfully opposed efforts to re-segregate
512-436: The "first lieutenant" is the officer in command of the deck department responsible for line handling during mooring and underway replenishment . On smaller ships, the officer of the "first lieutenant" billet holds the rank of lieutenant, junior grade or ensign . On larger vessels, the position of "first lieutenant" is held by a lieutenant or, in the case of extremely large warships such as cruisers or aircraft carriers ,
544-723: The 1940s. Dawson is credited with defeating the Winstead Amendment. Proposed by Representative William Winstead (D-Mississippi) after the Truman administration integrated the United States armed forces following World War II, it would have allowed military members to opt out of racially integrated units. In 1952, Dawson was the featured speaker at the first annual conference of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (a civil rights organization), held in
576-673: The African-American "submachine" within the Cook County Democratic Organization . In the predominantly African-American wards, Dawson acted as his own political boss, handing out patronage and punishing rivals just as leaders of the larger machine did, such as Richard J. Daley . However, Dawson's machine had to continually support the regular machine in order to retain its own clout. He chose to work on city politics from this stance, rather than to conduct open civil rights challenges, and did not support
608-472: The Republican Party, as it had emancipated the slaves and led the movement for amendments to grant them citizenship and the franchise. T.R.M. Howard, who had moved to Chicago, challenged Dawson as a Republican opponent in the 1958 election, but Dawson won and kept his seat. Dawson was the first African American to serve as the chairman of a regular congressional committee beginning in 1949, leading
640-594: The all-black town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi . He was invited by Dr. T.R.M. Howard , who headed the RCNL. Dawson was the first black congressman to speak in the state since Reconstruction ended in 1877. Dawson, a member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), had the long-term goal of increasing national black support for the party. Since the Civil War , most blacks had been allied with
672-612: The efforts of Martin Luther King Jr. to shake up city politics in the late 1960s. Dawson was born in Albany, Georgia in 1886. He attended the local public segregated school and graduated from Albany Normal School in 1905, which prepared teachers for lower schools. He continued his studies at Fisk University , a historically black college in Nashville, Tennessee , where he graduated magna cum laude in 1909. He moved to
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#1732773041316704-755: The entry of the U.S. into World War I , Dawson served in France as a first lieutenant with the 366th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army from 1917 until 1919. After returning home, he was admitted to the bar in 1920 and started a private practice in Chicago. Dawson entered politics, becoming a member of the Republican Party in 1930 as a state central committeeman for the First Congressional District of Illinois . He held this position until 1932. That year he
736-422: The feelings of Dawson's Southern friends in Congress -- friends who had given Dawson control over many jobs in federal agencies." President Kennedy offered Dawson the position of United States Postmaster General as a reward for his work on Kennedy's 1960 election campaign. Dawson declined, as he believed that he could accomplish more in the House. Dawson died of pneumonia in Chicago on November 9, 1970. He
768-602: The military. Dawson was the first African American to chair a standing committee in the United States Congress, when he chaired the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments . He served as chair of that committee and its successor for most of the years between 1949 and 1970. After 1952, Dawson also became closely aligned with the political machine in Chicago, collaborating often with Mayor Richard J. Daley . In this role, he focused on patronage and services for his constituents. He gave no support to
800-584: The position of "first lieutenant" may be held by a lieutenant commander or even commander . However, on submarines and in aircraft squadrons, where the deck department may only have a few junior sailors, the "first lieutenant" billet may be filled by a first-class petty officer or chief petty officer . What is known in the U.S. Navy as the "first lieutenant division" is usually composed of junior sailors (E-3 and below) who are completing their ninety days of temporary assigned duty, or TAD, that all enlisted personnel are required to perform when initially assigned to
832-515: The rank of captain . In the Israel Defense Forces , the rank above second lieutenant is simply lieutenant (Segen). The rank of (קצין מקצועי אקדמאי (קמ"א ( katsín miktsoí akademai or "kama"), a professional academic officer (that is, a medical, dental or veterinary officer, a justice officer or a religious officer), is equivalent to a professional officer of the second class in the reserve and equivalent to first lieutenant. In
864-540: The work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Chicago in the 1960s. Dawson undercut the nascent efforts of the Chicago Housing Authority in the early 1950s to integrate Black residents into white neighborhoods because those neighborhoods were outside Dawson's district and, hence, not votes he could deliver to the machine. Dawson advised 1960 presidential candidate John F. Kennedy not to "use the phrase 'civil rights' in his speeches, because it might hurt
896-585: Was an American politician and lawyer who represented a Chicago , Illinois district for more than 27 years in the United States House of Representatives , serving from 1943 to his death in office in 1970. In 1949, he became the first African American to chair a congressional committee. Born in segregated Georgia , Dawson attended Fisk University in Tennessee and Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago. He served as an officer in
928-472: Was cremated, and his ashes were placed in the columbarium in the Griffin Funeral Home in Chicago. First lieutenant#United States First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces ; in some forces, it is an appointment . The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into
960-504: Was elected as an alderman for the second ward of Chicago, serving from 1933 until 1939. After that, he served as a Democratic Party committeeman. Dawson was elected in 1942 as a Democratic Representative from Illinois to the Seventy-eighth , and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1943, until his death from pneumonia in Chicago, Illinois in 1970. In addition to influencing national policy, he acted as
992-565: Was named a Chicago Landmark on September 9, 1998. This article about a property in Cook County, Illinois on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a building or structure in Chicago is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . William L. Dawson (politician) William Levi Dawson (April 26, 1886 – November 9, 1970)
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1024-511: Was the equivalent of lieutenant in the current rank structure of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps , and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps . The next senior officer ranking above first lieutenant was captain and the next two lower officer ranks were second and third lieutenant , respectively. When the Revenue Cutter Service merged with
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