Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional Center's Communicator - a web-based e-newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to improve the understanding of Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Civil Rights Documentation Project
2. Digital Database
3. The 1960s: A Multi-Media View from Capitol Hill
4. Famous Court Decisions
5. America's Legislatures Back to School Program
6. Postscript Information

1. CIVIL RIGHTS DOCUMENTATION PROJECT

The landmark civil rights legislation of the mid-1960s has attracted considerable scholarly attention, deservedly so. Much of the analysis of this legislation has centered on the social and cultural conditions that gave birth to such laws as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

As valuable as the emphasis on the civil rights movement has been, an equally vital chapter has been neglected -- the story of the legislative process itself. The Center has posted another new feature on CongressLink that provides a fuller accounting of law-making based on the unique archival resources housed at The Dirksen Congressional Center, including the collection of then-Senate Minority Leader Everett McKinley Dirksen (R-IL), widely credited with securing the passage of the bills.

The Civil Rights Documentation Project [ http://www.congresslink.org/civilrights/index.htm ]

Intended to serve the needs of teachers and students, The Civil Rights Documentation Project demonstrates that Congress is capable of converting big ideas into powerful law, that citizen engagement is essential to that process, and that the public policies produced forty years ago continue to influence our lives.

The project takes the form of an interactive, Web-based presentation with links to digitized historical materials and other Internet-based resources about civil rights legislation created by museums, historical societies, and government agencies. We hope to provide resources teachers can use to create lesson plans and materials to supplement their teaching of the legislative process, of recent American history, and of the civil rights movement, among other social studies topics.

This beta version is made available to you for testing purposes prior to the official release of the new CongressLink feature. We want to give you a sneak peak so you can let us know what you think. If you have any ideas or comments about this new project, please contact Cindy Koeppel.

Did you know that in 1964 Everett McKinley Dirksen helped secure passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Take a look at some other highlights in Dirksen's life: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_emd_chron.htm.

2. DIGITAL DATABASE

As we mentioned in an earlier Communicator issue, we are building a digital database of, first, some of the printed guides to The Center's archival holdings and, second, selected historical documents. We have made more progress that we would like to share!

Dirksen and his staff used the Working Papers series as a topically arranged reference file for legislation, selected constituent cases, speeches, and other matters. The bulk contains information concerning legislation between 1964 and 1969. Topics receiving relatively substantial attention include civil rights, foreign trade, Internal Revenue Code amendments, attempts to repeal Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act, Dirksen's prayer amendment and reapportionment amendment, and the activities of the Trading With the Enemy Act subcommittee.

We have posted the guide to Dirksen's Working Papers, which occupies 41 linear shelf feet. A detailed folder list consisting of 26 searchable PDF files is presented on our site. Find this list at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/guides_emd/Workingpapers1857-69/intro.htm.

3. THE 1960s: A MULTI-MEDIA VIEW FROM CAPITOL HILL

The Center is seeking outside funding to support a new program, The 1960s: A Multi-Media View from Capitol Hill. Intended to serve the needs of teachers, students, and scholars, this project will identify unique historical materials in The Center's congressional collections which depict the public policy challenges and accomplishments of the 1960s.

The 1960s: A Multi-Media View from Capitol Hill will:

• Identify and digitize for Web posting the minutes, press conference transcripts, still photographs, and audio recordings of the Joint Senate-House Republican leadership.
• Create curricular aids (e.g., contextual information, study questions, links to related Web sites) to facilitate the use of these materials in classrooms and for scholarship.
• Illustrate the role of the political party out-of-power in shaping legislative action and in contesting or supporting the president.
• Depict the symbiotic relationship between the opposition leadership in Congress and the national press.
• Demonstrate the staying power of the major issues of war and peace, economic prosperity, social justice, and the proper role of government in American life.

Please contact Frank Mackaman if you are aware of any funding opportunities that this project would qualify. Thanks!

4. FAMOUS COURT DECISIONS

Some of the Supreme Court cases and court decisions stand out in history because of their impact on our society. Match the titles of these better-known cases with the resulting court decisions. Find Famous Court Decisions at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/Judicial_segregation/courtdecisions.htm.

5. AMERICA'S LEGISLATORS BACK TO SCHOOL PROGRAM

The Dirksen Center is a proud supporter of America's Legislators Back to School Program which is a little different this year. As a result of feedback, the program kicked off the third week of September and will run throughout the school year.

America's Legislators Back to School Program, part of the National Conference of State Legislatures' Trust for Representative Democracy, is designed to teach young people--the nation's future voters and leaders--what it's like to serve as an elected official: the processes, the pressures, and the debate, negotiation and compromise that are the very fabric of representative democracy.

For more information about America's Legislators Back to School Program, contact Karl Kurtz, Jan Goehring, Amy Barse, or Joyce Johnson at (303) 364-7700; or send an email to BTSP@ncsl.org.

Answers toSeptember's issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia0905ans.htm.

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