Title
Also naming the 2900 block of Girard Avenue as “Lana Felton Ghee Way.”
Body
WHEREAS, Lana Jean Felton Ghee was born on April 8, 1947 in North Philadelphia to Howard and Vivian Henry; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Felton Ghee attended Germantown High School and then Temple University, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration; and
WHEREAS, In 1967 Mrs. Felton Ghee would marry her first husband, Shedrick Morris Felton II, from which her first two children Shedrick Felton III and Petra Felton were conceived; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Felton Ghee’s career in special events began during the year of our nation’s 200th birthday, when City officials selected her to conceptualize and launch Philadelphia’s 1976 Bicentennial Celebration; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Felton Ghee also created the Philadelphia Freedom Festival, which would later be called Welcome America!, the nation’s largest Independence Day Celebration, whose Benjamin Franklin Parkway location inspired the creation of nationally acclaimed music festivals on the Parkway such as the Made In America Festival; and
WHEREAS, Her leadership and event-planning skills she demonstrated led to opportunities for work in nonprofit, corporate, political organizations and political figures such as Reverend Jesse Jackson, Governor Ed Rendell, the NBA, Pepsi-Cola, the Million Man March, the School District of Philadelphia, the Criminal Justice Center, and more over the ensuing decades; and
WHEREAS, Between 1980 and 1991, Mrs. Felton Ghee served in a variety of capacities, including serving as the Executive Director of District 1199C National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees; President of Government Affairs at Health Partner Plans; and Chief Deputy City Representative under Mayor W. Wilson Goode; and
WHEREAS, On New Years Eve 1984, she married Jimmy Ghee, a well-respected Philadelphia Police Officer and father of Kevin and Theron Ghee, with whom Mrs. Felton Ghee would remain married for the duration of her life; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Felton Ghee established her own private public relations, marketing, and consulting firm Felton-Ghee Associates Inc. (LFGA) in 1995; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Felton Ghee served on nearly every major political campaign in the City of Philadelphia since 1973, beginning with David P. Richardson’s successful State Representative campaign in Pennsylvania’s 201st District and including W. Wilson Goode’s historic 1983 campaign to become Philadelphia’s first Black Mayor; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Felton Ghee became the first woman in Philadelphia and first African American woman in the Northeastern U.S. to manage a successful Mayoral campaign with the election of John F. Street in 1999; and
WHEREAS, President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore sought the political consulting services of Mrs. Felton Ghee at the time of Street’s triumphant 1999 campaign, and she managed Mayor Street’s successful reelection campaign in 2003; and
WHEREAS, In her spare time, Mrs. Felton Ghee demonstrated her commitment to education and the arts by raising $22 million to build a 650-seat performing arts theater at the Girard Academic Music Program, where her grandchildren attended; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Felton Ghee also contributed to the real estate market in the City, owning numerous properties on the 2800 block of West Girard Avenue, including “The Hat Shoppe” from 1995-2010 with her husband Jimmy Ghee; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Felton Ghee retired in 2012 to spend time with family and get more involved with her church, True Light Fellowship Church in East Mount Airy; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Felton Ghee has been praised by many throughout the City for her dedication and commitment to helping others; and
WHEREAS, Lana Felton Ghee remained devoted to her beloved birthplace acting as the City’s unofficial cheerleader and ambassador, irrepressibly enthusiastic in her advocacy for the City’s disadvantaged and impoverished residents; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the 2900 block of Girard Avenue shall also be named as “Lana Felton Ghee Way”
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this Resolution be presented to the family of Lana Felton Ghee as evidence of the true and sincere admiration and respect of this legislative body.
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