On March 27, 2000, the U.S. Capitol Historical Society held its second African Americans in Public Service Youth Forum, through the generous support of Time Warner Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation, Inc. The one-day program was held at the Time Warner offices at 1271 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Selected New York metropolitan area high school students participated in a daylong program of questions and answers about how to get involved in public life, the methods of compromise, confronting minority issues, and education in tomorrow's world.
The United States Capitol Historical Society initiated the Outstanding Members of Congress Series publications in 1993 and began conducting youth forums in 1996 as part of the Society's outreach programs for high school students. The forums are designed as a special and personal introduction for young people to the men and women who serve the nation as its democratically elected leaders. It is through these symposia that the Society hopes to help our future leaders gain a better understanding of the duties, responsibilities, rewards and sacrifices of assuming important positions in government and the private sector.
The Society held its first African American Youth Forum on September 30, 1999 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C. Made possible with generous financial assistance from Houston Associates, Inc., Kemper National Insurance Co., Kemper Open, Marjorie Merriweather Post Foundation, Riggs Bank NA, and Time Warner, Inc., this forum hosted almost 300 high school students from Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Moderated by Juan Williams, Washington Post News Correspondent, participants discussed the rewards, sacrifices and experiences of African Americans in Congress, and how African-Ameircan Members of Congress develop consensus.
Including the latest forum on African Americans in Public Service, the Society has conducted five very successful Youth Forums. On April 26, 1996, with the support of AirTouch Communications Foundation, MARPAT Foundation, Inc. and Marjorie Merriweather Post Foundation, the first in this series of educational Youth Forums took place in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill. During the first session, Congresswomen Lindy Boggs (D-LA) and Margaret Heckler (R-MA) presented the history of women in Congress starting with Jeanette Rankin's arrival in 1917 to today's women. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Constance Morella (R-MD) and Patricia Schroeder (D-CO) were among the panelists who discussed the contemporary issues that women face in Congress. Dr. Elisabeth Griffith of the Madeira School of Washington, D.C., concluded with a commentary on how women are changing the old definitions of power and leadership.
The second forum, also dealing with women's issues and public service, took place on November 10, 1997, at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, California. Through another generous grant from the AirTouch Communications Foundation, 100 female students from the San Francisco area were able to participate in the symposium. The morning program with Barbara Kaufman, Jacqueline Speier, Susanne Wilson and Cathie Wright focused on the role of women in state and local government. The second session furnished the perspectives of former Members of Congress Shirley Pettis (R-CA), Lynn Schenk (D-CA) and Barbara Vucanovich (R-NV) on the impact of public service on their private and family lives. The program concluded with a one-hour question and answer period.
The AirTouch Communication Foundation also underwrote the filming and production of a video recording of the San Francisco forum. Segmented into three parts, the cassette affords educators the opportunity to introduce students to the political life of the nation and generate a dialogue concerning a number of current event issues. A lesson guide for high school teachers accompanies the video. Focusing on women's issues, the handbook offers a series of study, discussion and extra curricular activities.
On March 31, 1998, the Society hosted a third forum. The George Preston Marshall Foundation, Marjorie Merriweather Post Foundation, MARPAT Foundation and Riggs Bank N.A. provided the necessary financial support for the symposium spotlighting athletes in Congress. 150 students from the Washington metropolitan area attended the conference and listened to and exchanged ideas with Congressmen about the impact and preparation sports had on their lives as community and Congressional leaders.
Jack Kemp (R-NY) began the program with a 30-minute talk entitled: "Values Learned on the Field." Following Kemp's remarks, the morning session with panelist Wendell Anderson (D-MN), Tom McMillen (D-MD), James McNulty (D-AZ) and Wilmer Mizell (R-NC) emphasized the positive influences that sports had on their lives. An afternoon session featured Norman Dicks (D-WA), Michael Oxley (R-OH), Marty Russo (D-IL) and Martin Sabo (D-MN) discussing issues concerning sports and leadership in today's society.
The Outstanding Members of Congress Series provided the genesis for the series of symposia designed to introduce secondary school students to the roles, responsibilities and rewards of public life. Each book in the series offers biographical sketches of noteworthy former Members of Congress. A book on women was published in 1995, followed by another in the series in 1997 on athletes who become members of Congress. In 1998, the Society published the latest edition of the series: "Outstanding African Americans of Congress."
