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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
* GRANTS: CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH AWARDS *
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- People Who Served in Congress
- Congress Defined
- *New* Lesson Plan: Simulation Debate - Civil Rights Bill
- *New* Editorial Cartoons
- *New* Dirksen: An Early Advocate for Civil Rights
- *New* FedNet: Black History Month
- The Civil Rights Documentation Project
- *New* How to Influence Legislators
- *New* Stand Up for Your Rights, Stamp on Black History, Brain Pop: Civil Rights, I Have a Dream, Fight for Rights: History Challenge & Trivia
- Postscript Information
GRANTS: CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH AWARDS
DEADLINE: All proposals must be received no later than February 1, 2010.
The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants to fund research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress. A total of up to $35,000 will be available in 2010. Awards range from a few hundred dollars to $3,500.
The competition is open to individuals with a serious interest in studying Congress. Political scientists, historians, biographers, scholars of public administration or American studies, and journalists are among those eligible. The Center encourages graduate students who have successfully defended their dissertation prospectus to apply and awards a significant portion of the funds for dissertation research. Applicants must be U.S. citizens who reside in the United States.
The awards program does not fund undergraduate or pre-Ph.D. study. Organizations are not eligible. Research teams of two or more individuals are eligible. No institutional overhead or indirect costs may be claimed against a Congressional Research Award.
There is no standard application form. Applicants are responsible for showing the relationship between their work and the awards program guidelines. Applications are accepted at any time. Applications which exceed the page limit and incomplete applications will NOT be forwarded to the screening committee for consideration.
All application materials must be received on or before February 1, 2010. Awards will be announced in March 2010.
Complete information about eligibility and application procedures may be found at The Center's Web site: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm. PLEASE READ THOROUGHLY. Frank Mackaman is the program officer – mailto:fmackaman@dirksencenter.org.
The Center, named for the late Senate Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen, is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to the study of Congress and its leaders. Since 1978, the Congressional Research Awards (formerly the Congressional Research Grants) program has paid out $776,188 to support 378 projects. |
- PEOPLE WHO SERVED IN CONGRESS
Sketches of famous and not-so-famous Senators and Representatives
Cabaniss, Thomas Banks (1835-1915), (cousin of Thomas Chipman McRae), a Representative from Georgia; born in Forsyth, Monroe County, Ga., August 31, 1835; attended private schools and Penfield College; was graduated from the University of Georgia at Athens in 1853; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1861; entered the Confederate Army April 1, 1861, and served throughout the Civil War; returned to Forsyth, Ga., and commenced the practice of law; member of the State house of representatives 1865-1867; appointed assistant secretary of the State senate in 1870 and secretary in 1873; resigned to become solicitor general of the Flint circuit, which office he held until 1877; served in the State senate 1878-1880 and 1884-1886; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-third Congress (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1895); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1894; appointed a member of the Dawes Commission to adjust affairs in the Indian Territory; mayor of Forsyth, Ga., in 1910; judge of the city court in 1913 and 1914; died in Forsyth, Ga., August 14, 1915; interment in Oakland Cemetery.
Sources:
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000001
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African-Americans in Congress:
Image courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration
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Hyman, John Adams (1840-1891), a Representative from North Carolina; born a slave near Warrenton, Warren County, N.C., July 23, 1840; was sold and sent to Alabama; returned to North Carolina in 1865 and engaged in agricultural pursuits; pursued elementary studies; delegate to the State equal rights convention in 1865 and to the State constitutional convention in 1868; member of the State senate 1868-1874; elected as a Republican to the Forty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1875-March 3, 1877); unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1876; resumed agricultural pursuits; special deputy collector of internal revenue for the fourth district of North Carolina from July 1, 1877, to June 30, 1878; died in Washington, D.C., on September 14, 1891; interment in Harmony Cemetery.
Sources:
Black Americans in Congress: http://baic.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=6
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H001025 |
Women in Congress:
Image courtesy of Ellis County Historical Society
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McCarthy, Kathryn O’Loughlin (1894-1952), (after election was married to Daniel M. McCarthy and thereupon served under the name of Kathryn O’Loughlin McCarthy), a Representative from Kansas; born near Hays, Ellis County, Kans., April 24, 1894; attended the rural schools; was graduated from the Hays (Kans.) High School in 1913, from the State Teachers College, Hays, Kans., in 1917, and from the law school of the University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill., in 1920; was admitted to the bar in 1921 and commenced practice in Chicago, Ill.; returned to Kansas in 1928 and continued the practice of law in Hays; delegate to the State Democratic conventions in 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, and 1936, and to the Democratic National Conventions in 1940 and 1944; member of the State house of representatives in 1931 and 1932; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third Congress (March 4, 1933-January 3, 1935); was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1934 to the Seventy-fourth Congress; resumed the practice of law; also owned and operated a large ranch and was part owner of an automobile agency at Hays and Ellis, Kans.; died in Hays, Kans., January 16, 1952; interment in St. Joseph’s Cemetery.
Sources:
Women in Congress: http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=158
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=O000081 |
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- CONGRESS DEFINED
Words and phrases that describe congressional processes
Adjourn Sine Die. Final adjournment of a session of Congress. The two houses must agree to a privileged concurrent resolution for such an adjournment. A sine die adjournment precludes Congress from meeting again until the next constitutionally fixed date for convening (January 3 of the following year) unless the adjournment resolution provides otherwise or the president calls Congress into special session.
Source: Congressional Quarterly’s American Congressional Dictionary, 3rd edition (2001):3.
- * NEW LESSON PLAN * SIMULATION DEBATE: CIVIL RIGHTS BILL
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, Larry Rogers, School of Imaging and Information Technology, Rochester, NY, presented a lesson entitled, Simulation Debate: Civil Rights Bill.
After completing the lesson, students will (1) understand the controversy surrounding the passage of civil rights bills in the 1960s, (2) appreciate the arguments for and against civil rights legislation, and (3) experience what a debate in the Senate involves.
Find Simulation Debate: Civil Rights Bill at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_simulationdebateCRB.htm
- * NEW * EDITORIAL CARTOONS
The Dirksen Congressional Center recently announced additions to the Editorial Cartoon Collection project: http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/index.htm.
The editorial cartoons and related lesson plans 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:
We now have a total of 113 cartoons posted!
- * NEW * DIRKSEN: AN EARLY ADVOCATE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
Everett McKinley Dirksen enjoys a well-deserved reputation for his effectiveness in passing civil rights legislation. He led Senate Republicans in the successful effort to enact President Dwight Eisenhower’s civil rights program in 1957. Dirksen provided crucial support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. His leadership proved indispensable in passing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Senate Minority Leader’s presence loomed large on the national stage.
Less well known, however, is Dirksen’s performance in a smaller theater of civil rights politics where progress came incrementally, often only for the benefit of a few. The senator’s efforts on behalf of the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs in the mid-1950s to establish a National Negro History Week, to obtain a national charter for the organization, and to exempt it from a variety of taxes demonstrate his doggedness in supporting the NACWC’s civil rights agenda.
Find Dirksen: An Early Advocate for Civil Rights at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_emd_earlyadvocateCR.htm
- * NEW * FEDNET: BLACK HISTORY MONTH
The Dirksen Center is pleased to join with FedNet to produce a special feature for February, Black History Month. Drawing upon its vast collection of video clips from House and Senate floor proceedings, FedNet’s TeachingCongress website offers immediate access to more than a dozen clips on these topics: the Little Rock Nine, Martin Luther King, Jr., the civil rights movement, West Texas State University’s NCAA tournament basketball team, the Tuskegee Airmen, and Abraham Lincoln. Visit the site at http://www.fednet.net/tc/blackhistory.htm.
- THE CIVIL RIGHTS DOCUMENTATION PROJECT
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 Civil Rights Documentation Project 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.
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.
Find The Civil Rights Documentation Project included in the list of The Center’s other special projects at: http://www.dirksencenterprojects.org/#civilrights
- * NEW * HOW TO INFLUENCE LEGISLATORS
The January 2010 publication of InterBusiness Issues includes an article written by Frank Mackaman, of The Dirksen Congressional Center, and Stephanie Vance, advocacy guru at Advocacy Associates and author of four books on advocacy, including the recently released “Citizens in Action: A Guide to Influencing Government.”
“How to Influence Legislators” is the first in a series of quarterly articles about policy or legislative advocacy. Frank and Stephanie believe that individuals can make their voices heard, and that elected officials welcome those voices. Knowing the right tone of voice is important and this article provides some helpful guidance.
Future articles will explain the four principles for effective legislative advocacy, the six key questions you’ll want to answer before you ask a policymaker for something, and five key elements of effective messages, among other topics.
Find How to Influence Legislators at: http://www.peoriamagazines.com/ibi/2010/jan/how-influence-legislators
- * NEW * STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS, STAMP ON BLACK HISTORY, BRAIN POP: CIVIL RIGHTS, I HAVE A DREAM, THE FIGHTS FOR RIGHTS: HISTORY CHALLENGE & TRIVIA
* Stand Up for Your Rights *
This site talks about civil rights. It features such subjects as women and the vote, school desegregation, and religious freedom. Profiled are Anne Hutchinson, Alice Paul, and Little Rock, Arkansas. Do you think you know a thing or two about civil rights? If so, while visiting this site test your civil rights brainpower by taking the short, challenging quiz found on the PBS American Experience Game Space.
Find Stand Up For Your Rights at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/makinglaws/2_makinglaws.htm
* Stamp on Black History *
In 1940, Booker T. Washington became the first black American to be honored on a U.S. postage stamp issue. Since then, other black Americans have been honored as individuals or depicted as representatives of their race in different categories such as civil rights, sports, science, and music on U.S. stamps.
This site offers a ton of resources including an alphabetical list of stamps, stamps by curriculum areas, information on how individuals are chosen to appear on U.S. stamps, stamp collecting as a hobby, philatelic words, terms, and more. It also features a list of stamp dealers, a black history tour, black history quizzes, and a games and activities zone.
Find Stamp on Black History at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/Judicial_segregation/2_jud_segregation.htm
* Brain Pop: Civil Rights *
Equality for all! In this BrainPOP movie, Tim and Moby introduce you to the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Find out what this movement was all about and why it was so important! Among other things, you’ll find out about the famous Brown v. Board of Education trial case, and about what happened when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama. You’ll also learn about sit-ins, Freedom Rides, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and what he did to contribute to the civil rights movement. America isn’t perfect, but if it ever is, we’ll know whom to thank!
Watch the social studies movie about civil rights by finding Brain Pop: Civil Rights at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/Judicial_segregation/2_jud_segregation.htm
* I Have a Dream **
Fill in all the gaps of several excerpts of the speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963.
Find I Have a Dream at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/makinglaws/2_makinglaws.htm and fill-in the blanks. Then watch the YouTube video Martin Luther King “I Have a Dream” at http://www.congressforkids.net/games/makinglaws/2_makinglaws.htm
* The Fight for Rights: History Challenge *
Can you finish Martin Luther King’s Montgomery March?
Find The Fight for Rights: History Challenge at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/Judicial_segregation/2_jud_segregation.htm
* Trivia *
Martin Luther King's methods of gradual change seemed outdated by the late 1960s, and many younger blacks demanded a faster pace. For this reason, more radical organizations became popular. Groups such as CORE (Congress for Racial Equality) and the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) began to advocate an aggressive, at times violent, black response to white oppression, an ideal which many young people could relate to. Stokely Carmichael, the new radical leader of the SNCC, coined the phrase "Black Power". In which 1966 demonstration did he famously use this phrase?
- The Watts Riots
- The Birmingham Campaign
- The Meredith March
- The Poor People's Campaign
*Find the answer in next month's issue.
Answer to December 2009’s Fun, Facts, and Trivia: http://www.webcommunicator.org/classroomresources/funfactstrivia_ans1209.htm
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