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:

* GRANTS: CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH AWARDS *

1. People Who Served in Congress
2. Congress Defined
3. *New* Lesson Plan: Standing Committee Chest: Understanding the Standing Committees of Congress
4. *New* Editorial Cartoons
5. *New* Leaders for Today’s Congress, the 111th
6. *New* Congressman Ray LaHood On YouTube
7. *New* Barack Obama & Trivia: Inaugural Speeches
8. Postscript Information

1. PEOPLE WHO SERVED IN CONGRESS
   Sketches of famous and not-so-famous Senators and Representatives 

There have been 17 former House members who have served on the U.S. Supreme Court. Among this number, two were Chief Justices of the United States. In only one case was a House member appointed to the Supreme Court directly: James M. Wayne (1790-1867 ) in 1835. Wayne, a Representative from Georgia; born in Savannah, Ga., in 1790; completed preparatory studies and was graduated from Princeton College in 1808; studied law in New Haven, Conn.; was admitted to the bar in 1810 and commenced practice in Savannah, Ga.; entered the military service during the War of 1812, and served as an officer in the Georgia Hussars; member of the State house of representatives in 1815 and 1816; mayor of Savannah 1817-1819; judge of the court of common pleas and oyer and terminer of Savannah 1820-1822; judge of the superior court of Savannah from 1822 to 1828; elected as a Jacksonian to the Twenty-first, Twenty-second, and Twenty-third Congresses and served from March 4, 1829, to January 13, 1835, when he resigned to accept a judicial position; chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs (Twenty-third Congress); had been reelected to the Twenty-fourth Congress; appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and served from January 14, 1835, until his death in Washington, D.C., on July 5, 1867; interment in Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Chatham County, Ga.

Bibliography

Lawrence, Alexander A. James Moore Wayne, Southern Unionist. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1943.

Sources:

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress:  http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp   

African-Americans in Congress:  Eva M. Clayton (1934-),  a Representative from North Carolina; born in Savannah, Chatham County, Ga., September 16, 1934; B.S., Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, N.C., 1955; M.S., North Carolina Central University, Durham, N.C., 1962; director, University of North Carolina Health Manpower Development Programs; assistant secretary for community development, North Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Community Development, 1977-1981; unsuccessful candidate for nomination to the Ninety-first Congress in 1968; chair of the Warren County, N.C., board of commissioners, 1982-1992; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Second Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Walter B. Jones, and reelected to the four succeeding Congresses (November 3, 1992-January 3, 2003); not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Eighth Congress in 2002.

Sources: 

Black Americans in Congress at: http://baic.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=42
 
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress:  http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp

Women in Congress:  Mary T. Norton (1875-19359). For a quarter century in the House, colleagues knew Mary T. Norton as “Battling Mary,” a reformer who fought for the labor and the working-class interests of her urban New Jersey district. An apprentice with one of the most notorious Democratic political machines in America, Norton emerged from Jersey City as the first woman to represent an eastern state and eventually chaired four House committees. Norton's career was defined by her devotion to blue-collar concerns. Born in Jersey City, N.J., March 7, 1875; attended parochial schools and the Jersey City High School; was graduated from Packard Business College, New York City, in 1896; president of the Queen’s Daughters’ Day Nursery Association of Jersey City 1916-1927; appointed to represent Hudson County on the State Democratic committee in 1920; elected a member of that committee in 1921 and served as vice chairman 1921-1931 and as chairman 1932-1935; also served as vice chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Committee; elected county freeholder in 1922; delegate at large to the Democratic National Conventions in 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948; delegate to International Labor Conference at Paris, France, in 1945; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-ninth and to the twelve succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1925-January 3, 1951); chairwoman, Committee on District of Columbia (Seventy-second through Seventy-fifth Congresses), Committee on Labor (Seventy-fifth through Seventy-ninth Congresses), Committee on Memorials (Seventy-seventh Congress), Committee on House Administration (Eighty-first Congress); was not a candidate for renomination in 1950; consultant, Women’s Advisory Committee on Defense Manpower, Department of Labor, 1951 and 1952; died in Greenwich, Conn., August 2, 1959; interment in Holy Name Cemetery, Jersey City, N.J.

Sources:

Women in Congress at: http://womenincongress.house.gov/

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress:  http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp

2. CONGRESS DEFINED
   Words and phrases that describe congressional processes

Public Law.  A public law, or P.L., is designated by the number of the Congress and the order in which it is enacted. For example, P.L. 106-10, is the tenth law enacted during the 106th Congress.

Source:

http://www.c-span.org/guide/congress/glossary/alphalist.htm

3. * NEW LESSON PLAN * STANDING COMMITTEE CHEST: UNDERSTANDING THE STANDING COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS

During our annual Congress in the Classroom® workshop –– http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm –– participants are asked to introduce the lesson plans, resources, and techniques that have proven successful in teaching about Congress in their classrooms.  A 2008 participant, Sara Piotrowski, Plainfield Central High School, Plainfield, IL, presented a lesson entitled, Standing Committee Chest: Understanding the Standing Committees of Congress.

This lesson will address the role of standing committees in Congress. Students will learn how to depict the standing committees in Congress kinesthetically and visually. They will be able to explain why each committee is important to Congress.

Find Standing Committee Chest: Understanding the Standing Committees of Congress at http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_standingcommittee.htm.

4. * NEW EDITORIAL CARTOONS*

The Dirksen Congressional Center recently announced the completion of the Editorial Cartoon Collection project: http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/index.htm.

The editorial cartoons and related lesson plans from The Dirksen Center will teach students to identify issues, analyze symbols, acknowledge the need for background knowledge, recognize stereotypes and caricatures, think critically, and appreciate the role of irony and humor.

This month we have posted five new cartoons:

1. Everett Dirksen Recording Star http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron31-40.htm #39
   
   
2. The 1968 Republican Presidential Race http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron41-50.htm #43
   
   
3. Dirksen and the Nixon Administration http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron41-50.htm #45
   
   
4. Everett Dirksen The Celebrity http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron41-50.htm #47
   
   
5. Dirksen Laid to Rest http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron51-60.htm #52

We now have a total of 54 cartoons posted!

5.   * NEW *  LEADERS FOR TODAY’S CONGRESS, THE 111TH

Will the leaders in today’s Congress stand up, please?

Find a complete list of the 111th Congress leaders including links to all Senate Democrats, Senate Republicans, House Democrats, and House Republicans at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_111leaders.htm

6. * NEW *  CONGRESSMAN RAY LAHOOD ON YOUTUBE

Congressman Ray LaHood talks about his 14 years in the House of Representatives.

Find this YouTube video at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_lahood_youtube.htm

7. BARACK OBAMA & TRIVIA: INAUGURAL SPEECHES

You can listen to the information about President-Elect Obama first, and then students can click on “Online Exercise.” This feature also has a number of activities you can print-out.

Find Barack Obama at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/executivebranch/2_execbranch.htm

Trivia: This trivia quiz is to see how much you really know about our past presidents. You will be given part of an Inaugural speech and you have to guess which president said it.

Part of an Inaugural Speech: “The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe, the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God”?

1. Richard M. Nixon
2. Dwight D. Eisenhower
3. John Fitzgerald Kennedy
4. Lyndon B. Johnson

*Find the answer in next month's issue.

Answer to November 2008's Fun, Facts, and Trivia: http://www.webcommunicator.org/classroomresources/funfactstrivia_ans1108.htm

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