Bill Text: PA HR536 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Honoring Naomi Ruth Sims for her groundbreaking role in modeling and the business world and her pioneering work as the premier African-American cover girl.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-9)

Status: (Passed) 2009-12-07 - Adopted [HR536 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2009-HR536-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 2903
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No. 536 Session of2009
INTRODUCED BY BROWN, BEYER, CALTAGIRONE, CLYMER, CREIGHTON, DONATUCCI, FABRIZIO, FRANKEL, GEIST, HELM, HENNESSEY, KIRKLAND, KORTZ, KULA, MAHONEY, MAJOR, PARKER, PASHINSKI, PHILLIPS, SAINATO, SIPTROTH, SONNEY, WALKO, WHEATLEY AND YOUNGBLOOD, NOVEMBER 16, 2009
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, NOVEMBER 16, 2009
A RESOLUTION
Honoring Naomi Ruth Sims for her groundbreaking role in modeling
and the business world and her pioneering work as the premier
African-American cover girl.
WHEREAS, Naomi Ruth Sims was born on March 30, 1948, in
Oxford, Mississippi, and raised in Pittsburgh by foster parents
after her mother became ill; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Sims moved to New York to attend the Fashion
Institute of Technology in 1966, a time when there were very few
African-American fashion models; and
WHEREAS, In need of money to continue her studies, Ms. Sims
was encouraged by friends and classmates to give modeling a try;
and
WHEREAS, Ms. Sims collaborated with famed New York Times
photographer Gosta Peterson who photographed her for the cover
of the New York Times August 1967 fashion supplement called
"Fashions of the Times"; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Sims was unable to find a modeling agency
willing to represent her, even after she appeared in "Fashions
of the Times"; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Sims displayed the ingenuity and business savvy
for which she would become famous by telling Wilhelmina Cooper,
a former model who was just starting her own agency, that she
would send out copies of "Fashions of the Times" with Cooper's
name attached; and
WHEREAS, By the end of 1968, Ms. Sims was making $1000 per
week and had been hired to star in one of the first national
television commercials which featured women of different races
together; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Sims was in demand by fashion designers Halston,
Teal Traina and Giorgio di Sant'Angelo; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Sims' prominence came at a time when the Black
Pride movement was just gaining steam, and she embodied the
expression "black is beautiful" as she graced the front covers
of Ladies' Home Journal and Life, which garnered her the title
"first black cover girl"; and
WHEREAS, After retiring from modeling, Ms. Sims broke another
barrier by becoming a respected businesswoman, shattering
stereotypes that beautiful women could not succeed in the
business world; and
WHEREAS, In addition to her success as a model and
businesswoman, Ms. Sims was an advice columnist and author of
books such as All About Health and Beauty for the Black Woman
and How to Be a Top Model; and
WHEREAS, Even as an adult Ms. Sims retained the sense of
propriety that her foster parents had instilled in her, refusing
to accept an offer to star as the title character in Cleopatra
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Jones because she felt that the movie portrayed African
Americans in a racist light; and
WHEREAS, Referred to as "the great ambassador for all black
people" by designer Halston, Ms. Sims lost her battle with
cancer August 1, 2009; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor Naomi Ruth
Sims for her groundbreaking role in modeling and the business
world and her pioneering work as the premier African-American
cover girl.
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