Shirley Hursey

I was born in a small town (Mound City) in Southern, Illinois. My parents were Leslie W. and Mary A. Treadwell. I attended Lovejoy Grade School, Carver Junior High and graduated from Lovejoy Senior High School. I attended Illinois State University at Normal, Illinois. In August, 1955, I married Paul S. Hursey and to this union, two children were born, a son, Paul S. Hursey, Jr., and a daughter, Shirese S. Hursey.

I started my community service at an early age particularly in the area of discrimination in housing. In the political arena, I supported Kenneth Stratton in his quest for a seat on the Champaign City Council. After seven years of living in Champaign, we moved to Urbana. I became involved in the politics of the City of Urbana and was effective in getting support of the people to elect my husband to the Urbana City Council. He was elected in 1964 - the first African-American to fill that position. Together, we were involved in the effort to form the Hays Neighborhood Association to improve the educational opportunities for the children attending the neighborhood school. I was very supportive of Evelyn Underwood, the first African-American elected to the Urbana School Board.

As a member of the Bethel AME Church, I became the Youth Choir Director. I also joined the League of Women Voters, the Council for Community Integration and other organizations in the church and the community in an attempt to improve opportunities in education and employment. For
the above mentioned efforts, I was honored by the State of Illinois House of Representatives in 2000, and the University of Illinois Y.W.C.A.- February 11, 2001.

I also owned and operated the Lincoln Press Bookbindery, where we put Dissertations and Professional Journals into hard cover.