2007-2008 Bill 4789: Sylvia Woods - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 117th Session, 2007-2008 3 4 H. 4789 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 House Resolution 9 Sponsors: Reps. Cobb-Hunter, Agnew, Alexander, Allen, Anderson, Anthony, Bales, Ballentine, 10 Bannister, Barfield, Battle, Bedingfield, Bingham, Bowen, Bowers, Brady, Branham, Brantley, Breeland, 11 G. Brown, R. Brown, Cato, Chalk, Clemmons, Clyburn, Coleman, Cooper, Cotty, Crawford, Dantzler, 12 Davenport, Delleney, Duncan, Edge, Erickson, Frye, Funderburk, Gambrell, Govan, Gullick, Hagood, 13 Haley, Hamilton, Hardwick, Harrell, Harrison, Hart, Harvin, Haskins, Hayes, Herbkersman, Hiott, 14 Hodges, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Hutson, Jefferson, Jennings, Kelly, Kennedy, Kirsh, Knight, Leach, 15 Limehouse, Littlejohn, Loftis, Lowe, Lucas, Mack, Mahaffey, McLeod, Merrill, Miller, Mitchell, 16 Moody-Lawrence, Moss, Mulvaney, J.H. Neal, J.M. Neal, Neilson, Ott, Owens, Parks, Perry, Phillips, 17 Pinson, E.H. Pitts, M.A. Pitts, Rice, Rutherford, Sandifer, Scarborough, Scott, Sellers, Shoopman, Simrill, 18 Skelton, D.C. Smith, F.N. Smith, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.E. Smith, J.R. Smith, W.D. Smith, Spires, 19 Stavrinakis, Stewart, Talley, Taylor, Thompson, Toole, Umphlett, Vick, Viers, Walker, Weeks, Whipper, 20 White, Whitmire, Williams, Witherspoon and Young 21 Document Path: l:\council\bills\gm\24098mm08.doc 22 23 Introduced in the House on March 4, 2008 24 Adopted by the House on March 4, 2008 25 26 Summary: Sylvia Woods 27 28 29 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 30 31 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 32 3/4/2008 House Introduced and adopted HJ-39 33 34 35 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 36 37 3/4/2008 38 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A HOUSE RESOLUTION 10 11 TO RECOGNIZE AND COMMEND THE LIFE AND WORK OF 12 SOUTH CAROLINA NATIVE SYLVIA WOODS, AND TO 13 CONGRATULATE HER ON HER INTERNATIONAL 14 SUCCESS THAT GREW FROM THE COURAGEOUS AND 15 HUMBLE BEGINNINGS OF THE NOW FAMOUS SYLVIA’S 16 RESTAURANT IN HARLEM, NEW YORK. 17 18 Whereas, born in Hemingway, South Carolina, in 1926, Sylvia 19 Woods learned early from her mother and grandmother, the two 20 widows who raised her, the importance of preparing and offering 21 savory meals; and 22 23 Whereas, she met Herbert Woods, her childhood sweetheart, who 24 attended the same church and school as she did, when she was 25 eleven years old and they were both working in the bean fields of 26 South Carolina; and 27 28 Whereas, he became her beloved husband when they married in 29 1944, and they enjoyed some sixty years of marriage before his 30 death. In 1946, they moved to New York City, where they raised a 31 close-knit family of four children in their five-room apartment that 32 also became a temporary home to many relatives desiring to move 33 to the Big Apple; and 34 35 Whereas, Sylvia worked as a waitress in a café know as Johnson’s 36 Lunch until the owner relocated and she operated it herself, until 37 Sylvia finally made a daring move: she borrowed money from her 38 mother, who mortgaged the South Carolina farm, so that she could 39 buy the small establishment of six stools and four booths; and 40 41 Whereas, a year later in 1963, she renamed the café to “Sylvia’s,” 42 and five years later her success enabled her to move to its present

1 [4789] 1 1 location; however, her perseverance had yet to pay the large 2 dividends that she would realize eventually; and 3 4 Whereas, in 1979, famous food critic Gael Greene entered the tiny 5 restaurant in Harlem and emerged to write a rave review of 6 Sylvia’s Southern “soul food” in New York magazine, and since 7 then the New York Times has described her as “the Queen of Soul 8 Food,” and the restaurant has become internationally known; and 9 10 Whereas, the growing publicity coupled with the aggressive 11 leadership of Sylvia’s oldest son, Van Woods, enabled the 12 restaurant to expand in the early 1980s until it consumed the entire 13 city block, now seating four hundred fifty people and including a 14 banquet hall and a jazz and blues club; and 15 16 Whereas, in 1992, Van launched a line of nationally distributed 17 products known as Sylvia’s Soulfood, among which are her world 18 famous sauces, preseasoned vegetables, spices, syrup, cornbread, 19 and pancake mixes, and in the same year William Morrow 20 Company published the first of her two cookbooks; and 21 22 Whereas, a children’s book about Sylvia called Growing Up Sylvia 23 was written by Brenda Woods and was published in 2000. 24 Recently, the family launched a line of hair and skin care products 25 under two brand names; and 26 27 Whereas, her four children and eighteen grandchildren have all 28 worked in the restaurant and continue to frequent the family table 29 where Sylvia still dishes up healthy portions of family advice to 30 them about the secrets to success: love of God, love of family, love 31 of friends, love of customers, and love of work; and 32 33 Whereas, in these words and in her life, she has taught her family 34 what the wise king of Israel rightly stated in Proverbs 13:11, “He 35 that gathereth by labour shall increase”; and 36 37 Whereas, her homemade food, based on the recipes of her mother 38 and grandmother, have showcased her love of cooking and have 39 given an international popularity to Southern cuisine, which 40 caused Orangeburg County to set aside December 22, 2007, as 41 Sylvia Woods Day. Now, therefore, 42 43 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

1 [4789] 2 1 2 That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, 3 by this resolution, recognize and commend the life and work of 4 South Carolina native Sylvia Woods, and congratulate her on her 5 international success that grew from the courageous and humble 6 beginnings of the now famous Sylvia’s Restaurant in Harlem, New 7 York. 8 9 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to 10 Sylvia Woods. 11 ----XX---- 12

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