Otis Grant Collins (May 2, 1917 – January 1, 1992) was a businessman and politician in Illinois. He was succeeded in office after his death by his wife Earlean Collins. Collins was born in

Camden, Mississippi Camden is an unincorporated community located on Mississippi Highway 17 in Madison County, Mississippi, United States. Camden is located approximately northeast of Sharon and is located within the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. Althoug ...

and was an African-American. He moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

with his family. Collins served in the United States Military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He went to Wilson Junior College,

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, and Roosevelt University. Collins was involved in the insurance and real estate business and was involved in the labor union movement. Collins served in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

from 1965 to 1973 and was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. Collins died in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Collins was married to Earlean Collins who also served in the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

. They then separated.The History Makers-The Honorable Earlean Collins
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Notes

1917 births 1992 deaths People from Madison County, Mississippi Businesspeople from Chicago Politicians from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois Northwestern University alumni Roosevelt University alumni Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives African-American state legislators in Illinois African Americans in World War II {{Illinois-politician-stub