| 1 | House Resolution |
| 2 | A resolution honoring Attorney Delano Smart Stewart, 2005 |
| 3 | inductee into the National Bar Association Hall of Fame. |
| 4 |
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| 5 | WHEREAS, on August 5, 2005, during the 80th Annual |
| 6 | Convention of the National Bar Association, longtime Tampa |
| 7 | attorney Delano Smart Stewart was inducted into the |
| 8 | association's Hall of Fame, one of only six outstanding |
| 9 | attorneys so honored for the year 2005, and |
| 10 | WHEREAS, considered the Dean of Black Lawyers in Florida, |
| 11 | Attorney Delano Stewart has been practicing law in Tampa since |
| 12 | 1964, compiling a record of many significant contributions, |
| 13 | including his co-founding the Tampa Organization of Black |
| 14 | Affairs, serving as the first black assistant public defender in |
| 15 | Hillsborough County, and making his firm the first integrated |
| 16 | practice in the city by hiring a white lawyer in 1970, and |
| 17 | WHEREAS, Attorney Stewart has been honored numerous times |
| 18 | by local and state bar associations, some of the most recent |
| 19 | awards to his credit being the Francisco Rodriguez Award for |
| 20 | unstinting service to mankind in the areas of civil and human |
| 21 | rights, given by the George Edgecomb Bar Association; the |
| 22 | President's Award from the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter Bar |
| 23 | Association; and the 2004 Herbert Goldberg Award, the highest |
| 24 | award given by the Hillsborough County Bar Association Trial |
| 25 | Lawyers Section, and |
| 26 | WHEREAS, hailed as a man of uncommon character, who has |
| 27 | devoted his practice to being a "social engineer, not a parasite |
| 28 | on society," his goal to serve the most needy, "Del" Stewart |
| 29 | quietly brushes aside such accolades, simply saying of himself, |
| 30 | "God has been kind to me; He has tremendously blessed me, and I |
| 31 | have taken my law degree to use as a shield and sword: a shield |
| 32 | for the oppressed and a sword for the oppressors," NOW, |
| 33 | THEREFORE, |
| 34 |
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| 35 | Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of |
| 36 | Florida: |
| 37 |
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| 38 | That Delano S. Stewart, Attorney at Law, is congratulated |
| 39 | upon his induction into the Hall of Fame of the auspicious |
| 40 | National Bar Association and is extended the heartfelt honor |
| 41 | befitting one of his stature. |
| 42 | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be |
| 43 | presented to Attorney Delano S. Stewart as a tangible token of |
| 44 | the sentiments expressed herein. |