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. REFERENCE SOURCES ABOUT THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

An Idea Whose Time Has Come, June 1964 -- http://www.congresslink.org/civil/cr16.gif

As Senate Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen began to consider helping to end the Senate debate on the civil rights bill, he composed the language he would use to persuade his colleagues to vote with him.
This document, part of his personal notes, later served as the basis for his June 10 speech calling for cloture. . [Everett M. Dirksen Papers. Notebooks, f. 200. The Dirksen Congressional Center, Pekin, IL] See Senator Dirksen on the Civil Rights Bill -- http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_civilrights64_doc8.htm.

2. DIRKSEN ON CIVIL RIGHTS: June 10, 1964

The following article was published originally in the Peoria Journal Star on June 10, 2004.

Everett McKinley Dirksen's Finest Hour: June 10, 1964 -- http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_civilrights64_cloturespeech.htm

3. BLACK HISTORY MONTH AND CIVIL RIGHTS

The Dirksen Center assembled a collection of resources and information from its Web suite to complement classroom topics related to Black History Month and civil rights -- http://www.webcommunicator.org/site%20resources/archives/feb05.htm#theme

Lesson Plan: How a Bill Becomes Law: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_civilrights.htm

Resource: Civil Rights Documentation Project -- http://www.congresslink.org/civilrights/index.htm

4. WORKSHOP: CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: CONGRESS IN THE CLASSROOM® 2006

ATTENTION HIGH SCHOOL AND MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS !!!

** Call For Participation: Congress in the Classroom® 2006**

DEADLINE: March 30, 2006

The 2006 program will feature a broad overview of Congress with special attention to the mid-year elections of 2006. Tentative session titles are:

• A View from Capitol Hill -- The Honorable Ray LaHood, (R-IL, 18th District, U.S. House of Representatives)
• Congressional Insight: An Interactive Simulation of a Member's First Term in the House of Representatives -- National Association of Manufacturers
• We Already Know the Winners: The Demise of Congressional General Elections -- Harvey Tucker, Texas A&M University
• How Legislators' Experiences as Candidates Affect Their Behavior as Policymakers in Congress -- Tracy Sulkin, University of Illinois
• Ten Things Your Students Should Know about Congress -- Frank Mackaman, The Dirksen Congressional Center
• C-SPAN in the Classroom: Where Content Clicks!-- Joanne Wheeler, C-SPAN
• How to Get Your Point Across to Congress Members -- Stephanie Vance, AdVanced Communications
• The Dirksen Center Web Suite as a Resource for Teachers -- Cindy Koeppel, The Dirksen Congressional Center
• View from the Other End of the Avenue: The Legislative Presidency -- Jeffrey Weinberg, Adjunct faculty, American University and George Washington University
• What We Can Expect from the 2006 Congressional Elections -- Lauren Whittington, Roll Call

Other Program Highlights

In addition to the hour-long sessions above, The Center will offer what we call "Sound Bites," or 15-minute sessions, on campaign commercials, campaign literature, a film clip of Senator Dirksen explaining the nature of congressional leadership, a new Web feature dealing with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, among other possibilities.

Take a look at The Dirksen Center Web site - http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm -- to see what participants say about the program and to learn more about the scheduled sessions and presenters.

Registration

If you are interested in registering for the Congress in the Classroom® 2006 workshop, you can complete an online registration form found at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/programs_CiCapplication.htm.

5. SIXTIES EXPERT…WHO ME? THE 1960s AND CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION

Sixties Expert...Who Me? -- The 1960's and Civil Rights Legislation:
http://www.congressforkids.net/games/makinglaws/1960s-CivilRights.ppt (PowerPoint Presentation)

This WebQuest was developed to introduce students to the idea that political parties occasionally work together to achieve legislative results. Often the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is assumed to have been strictly the result of Democrats' efforts to guarantee equal rights for all Americans. This assignment clearly shows that civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s owed its passage to the support of both political parties. The lesson asks students to take on the role of an average high school senior asked to do research about the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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