Highlights from The Center's Websuite

* NEW INTERFACE * Dirksen Center’s Gateway

We’ve put a bright new face on The Dirksen Center’s Gateway interface and streamlined the site to make it faster, easier, more intuitive – and a whole lot nicer to look at!

From this gateway, visitors can gain access to any of the Web suite's individual Web sites. Notice, too, that we have video posted at the "Research. Education. Knowledge." tab.

If you pause long enough on the index page, you will see photographs scroll through at the top--probably one of our favorite features! Take a look: http://www.dirksencongressionalcenter.org

* NEW LESSON PLAN * Everett Dirksen Chooses a Sketch

Students will evaluate the elements of political cartooning by examining the decision of Senator Everett M. Dirksen to substitute a drawing for a photograph in the Pocket Congressional Directory. Students will select an editorial cartoon from The Center's extensive online collection that best depicts the qualities of the senator.

Find Everett Dirksen Chooses a Sketch at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_everettdirksensketch.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:

Caption: Dirksen Rivals Nixon in Influence http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron151-160.htm #155

Caption: The Nixon-Dirksen Rivalry http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron151-160.htm #154

Caption: Dirksen Challenges Nixon on Appointments http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron151-160.htm #153

Caption: The Nixon-Dirksen Rivalry http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron151-160.htm #157

Caption: Dirksen Leaves the Stage http://www.congresslink.org/cartoons/chron181-190.htm #186

We now have a total of 194 cartoons posted!

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Research Grants | Congress in the Classroom

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The Dirksen Congressional Center Gateway
- A point of entry to The Dirksen Center's suite of Web sites.
  
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The Dirksen Center
- Helping People Better Understand the U.S. Congress, its people, its processes, and the public policies it produces.
  
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CongressLink
- A Resource for Teachers Providing Information About the U.S. Congress
  
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AboutGovernment
- Links to more than 50 sites about the U.S. Congress, four major search engines, and to a handful of sites about the federal government more generally.
  
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Congress for Kids
- Gives students access to interactive, fun-filled experiences designed to help them learn about the foundation of our federal government and how its actions affect you.
  
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Congressional Timeline

For each Congress beginning with the 73rd (1933-35), this timeline features session dates, partisan composition, the presidential administration, a list of congressional leaders, and notable legislation passed...More

73rd Congress: March 9, 1933 - June 18, 1934

73rd Congress: March 9, 1933, to June 18, 1934

A meeting of the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. The first session of Congress, known as the "Hundred Days," took place before the regular seating and was called by President Roosevelt specifically to pass two acts. March 9, 1933, The Emergency Banking Act...More

74th Congress: January 3, 1935 - June 20, 1936

The Soil and Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act allowed the government to pay farmers to reduce production so as to conserve soil, prevent erosion, and accomplish other minor goals. It was a piece of legislation passed in response to the Supreme Court's declaration....More

75th Congress: January 5, 1937 - June 16, 1938

In 1938 the Civil Aeronautics Act transferred federal responsibilities for non-military aviation from the Bureau of Air Commerce to a new, independent agency, the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The legislation also gave the authority the power to regulate airline fares and to determine...More

76th Congress: January 3, 1939 - January 3, 1941

On November 4, 1939, the Neutrality Act of 1939 was passed, allowing for arms trade with belligerent nations on a cash and carry basis, thus in effect ending the arms embargo. ...More

77th Congress: January 3, 1941, to December 16, 1942

The Lend-Lease Act was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of the European war in September 1939, but six months before the U.S. entrance into the war in December 1941. It was called An Act Further to Promote the Defense of the United States...More

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Dirksen Center Special Projects

Dirksen Center Special Projects is a series of multi-media projects rich in Web-based resources on a variety of topics from civil rights to editorial cartoons. We have posted them where it makes sense within our Web suite. But as the suite has grown, we suspect it has become more difficult to find these special projects.

To make them stand out, we have created the Dirksen Center Special Projects web page to host links to all our special projects listed below.

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