The Origins

Chartered in 1963, The Dirksen Congressional Center, named for Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen (R-Ill.), really took shape beginning in the late 1970s. The Board of Directors raised funds to build a wing of the Pekin Public Library in 1975, hired the first staff member later that year, began to process the papers of Senator Dirksen in 1976, and achieved a measure of financial stability in 1978 with the award of a $2.5 million federal grant.

From the beginning, The Center took as its purpose “to help people better understand the U.S. Congress and its leaders.” The Center is a non-profit, educational organization and, perhaps uniquely among the nation’s congressional centers, unaffiliated with a college, university, state historical society, or other body. We are completely independent and self-standing.

It would be easy and impressive (at least in my view!) to explain The Center by simply listing its many programs, from our historical collections to our grants and workshops, but The Center’s web site (http://www.dirksencenter.org) does that more comprehensively than I can in this article. Perhaps a better way to describe what The Dirksen Congressional Center does, for whom, and how is through a series of stories about people who have used The Center’s programs.

Historical Materials

The Dirksen Congressional Center began as the repository for Senator Dirksen’s collection. Dirksen, Senate Minority Leader from 1959 until his death ten years later, is best remembered for his key role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and his oratorical style, from which he fashioned a distinctive media persona. Byron Hulsey represents the scholars who have used The Center’s historical collections. In 1993, Byron, then a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Texas, asked about Everett Dirksen’s papers in connection with his dissertation. The Center’s historical collections consist of over 2,700 cubic feet of documents, 20,000 photographs, thousands of artifacts, and hundreds of films and video tapes.

Over the next five years, Byron made repeated trips to Pekin, mining the extensive Dirksen Papers. In addition, he visited two dozen other archival repositories scattered over the country. He received a Congressional Research Award from The Center in 1998 to defray his travel costs. “I hope also that it’s clear how much I appreciate the wonderful help all of you have given me,” Byron wrote in 1996. “Your efforts to make me a Dirksen Centennial Fellow re-inspired me to write an exceptional dissertation on the former Senator.”

His book, Everett Dirksen and His Presidents: How a Giant Shaped American Politics, was published in 2000 by the University of Kansas Press. “A thoroughly engaging, judiciously presented, and richly documented study of a pivotal figure in Cold War era American political history,” wrote the director of the U.S. Senate Historical Office in reviewing the volume.

The papers of former House Republican Leader Robert H. Michel are also housed at The Center. Nicole Mellow, also working on a dissertation, received a grant in 2001 to analyze the growth in partisan conflict in Congress since the 1970s. She examined files related to Republican Party politics and legislative strategy on such topics as trade, welfare, and social security in a visit to The Center in April 2001. She described the value of his papers this way: “Much of what was most instructive for me was contained in the Leadership Series of the Michel collection. This series contains documents from Michel’s service first as Republican Whip and then as Minority Leader. Communications between party leaders, notes on strategy meetings, exchanges between party leaders and supportive interest groups, and documents from leaders to rank-and-file members provide evidence for the ways in which the party sought to regain majority status in the House.”

Although Byron and Nicole, along with hundreds of others who have consulted the Dirksen or Michel papers, found useful information for their projects, we have been stymied all these years in finding the answer to the most frequent request we received: “When and where did Senator Dirksen say, ‘A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.’” The source of that famous quote has eluded us for reasons that we explain in a special feature on our Web site at http://www.dirksencenter.org/featuresBillionHere.htm. We even offer a reward to the first person who can authenticate that statement.

Grants

Most readers of Extensions probably know about our research grants. The Center has supported congressional research since 1978 through what we now call Congressional Research Awards. We have awarded a total of $589,454 to 317 projects, and our list of recipients reads like a Who’s Who in congressional research. In addition to its longevity, one factor that distinguishes the CRAs from other grants programs at presidential libraries or congressional centers is that we do not require recipients to use our historical materials.

In 2003, more than 70 scholars applied for funding. Among the projects selected were these:

· Strategy and Choice in the 19th and Early 20th Century U.S. House Elections

· The Field of Blood: The Culture of Congress in Antebellum America

· Strategic Appointments to Conference Committees in the US Congress

· Setting Priorities in the Congressional Budget Process

· Styles of Oversight: How Congress Oversees the Executive Branch

· Stability, Change, and Family Assumptions in Congressional Policymaking.

Half of this year’s grants went to Ph.D. students, and scholars from the following institutions won financial awards averaging $3,200: Michigan State University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Yale University, University of Iowa, Bowling Green State University, and North Carolina State University.

Although congressional scholars comprise one of our most important audiences, they are not our exclusive focus. Meet, for example, Hilary Conklin. An accomplished teacher at Horace Mann Middle School in Franklin, Massachusetts, Hilary found her students struggling to understand how our government has evolved. In April 2001, she applied for a Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grant. “Students will examine a broad range of primary sources to help them gain a first-hand understanding of the history of representative government,” she explained in her proposal.

The selection committee awarded her $3,000. By September, Hilary had produced 15 lesson plans. They showed how ideas for representative government have changed, how our current Congress functions, and how today’s citizens can take part. Two of the lesson titles suggest the range of her work. “What Can You Learn about Congress from Pictures?” has students examine different images of the Senate and House chambers to draw conclusions about Congress. Her class also conducts a Socratic seminar to discuss and defend the importance of being an engaged citizen in “Does It Matter If We Participate in Representative Government?” Teachers everywhere can use Hilary’s lesson plans – they are posted on our Web site.

Hilary Conklin is just one of many teachers who have developed 40 lesson plans on the Constitution, Members of Congress, congressional processes, and politics posted at The Center’s award-winning Web site, CongressLink (http://www.congresslink.org).

The Center established the Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grants program in 1999 to help classroom teachers develop new materials and approaches for teaching about Congress. Since then, we have supported more than 40 projects. These awards are designed to produce tangible products, curricular materials and techniques teachers can take to their classrooms immediately, in contrast to the Congressional Research Awards, which resemble more research and development funding.

The very first Michel Grant went to William J. Ball, political scientist at The College of New Jersey, for his "Historical Materials Digitization Project.” He provided a core selection of public domain multimedia material (almost exclusively in the form of images) on American political history for use in education at all levels. These resources are available on the Internet, without charge, at http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/index.htm.

In the most recent selection round, The Center supported these projects for Michel Grants, among others:

· Impeach the President - Using Mock Trials to Teach About Congress

· Promoting Civic Involvement Through Simulated Elections and Related Activities

· Web-based Simulations of the Legislative Process

· Uncharted Waters: The Continental Congress Online

· Teaching Civics Through Film.

Recipients included teachers and faculty from The Maggie L. Walker Governor's School for Government and International Studies, Richmond, Virginia; Little Miami High School, Morrow, Ohio; Great Neck North High School, Great Neck, New York; Plainville High School, Plainville, Connecticut; Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Dorchester, Massachusetts; Missouri Southern State College; and the George Washington University Center for Public Culture and History.

Workshops/Conferences

The Center serves teachers in the more traditional workshop format, too. Our award-winning Congress in the Classroom® attracts more than 200 applications each year from all over the world. Kathy Edwards, an assistant professor at Ashland Community College, Ashland, Kentucky, expressed her enthusiasm for the 2002 edition this way: “I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to you and all your staff for an enriching experience last week. The speakers were educational; the dialogue among us teachers was inspirational and spirited. I came home with new information and an increased appreciation of technology, and all the vast resources you and the others supplied -- and will begin using many of the resources and ideas in my ‘smart classroom’ in American Government. It was an honor to be a part of Congress in the Classroom® -- academically, professionally, and personally. I will never forget my experience.”

The program for 2003 includes sessions about the demographics of congressional membership, the challenge of leading Congress, Congress and the media, creating the Department of Homeland Security, and the use of simulations to teach about Congress, among others.

Because of the strong demand for Congress in the Classroom®, The Center began offering an online version in the fall of 2002. Teachers who enroll complete Web-based lessons on such topics as teaching democracy appreciation, deciding what makes Congress members effective, congressional campaigns, how members organize their time, legislative productivity, and more.

Jim Jeffries, a high school teacher in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was one of the first to complete the course. “I have been teaching AP US Government and civics for 5 years, and I have never taught my unit on Congress very well,” Jim noted. “I have always found civil liberties, elections, or the presidency to be much more interesting than our legislative branch. The lessons that I took through the Dirksen Center's electronic classroom and the resources I received from their summer workshop not only improved my knowledge in this area, it also changed my perspective. I have also ‘stolen’ many of my Congress lessons directly from the website. My teaching has improved and my students' knowledge of and appreciation for Congress has greatly increased. Dirksen has fundamentally changed my teaching.”

The Center has also convened and supported scholarly conferences throughout our history. The most recent example was our co-sponsorship with Yale University and the University of Colorado of “The Macro-Politics of Congress” which delved into such subjects as patterns of major policy change since the 19th century, how public opinion affects the credibility of the governing system, and how bureaucracy obscures legislative intent.

Web Sites

It could be argued that The Center achieves its greatest impact through our Web sites. The numbers support the claim – nearly five million hits in 2002, and projected use surpassing ten million hits in 2003. We offer a Web suite consisting of five different Web sites, each appealing to a different audience. The sites have been endorsed by dozens of organizations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Political Science Association, the New York Times, USA Today, and the Public Broadcast System.

Jennifer Mantlo, who teaches at Warren East High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is one of our “virtual” customers. She’s a big fan of CongressLink (http://www.congresslink.org), our flagship Web site. Now in its fourth edition, the site delivers up-to-date information about members of Congress, congressional procedures, and the congressional schedule. It includes essays by experts, lesson plans for teachers, WebQuests for students, and historical information for all users. “The opportunity that CongressLink has given to many others and me in the educational world has been outstanding,” Jennifer recalled. “Before I became acquainted with CongressLink, I did not comprehend the amount of material that one can receive on the Internet. . . . In addition to the fact that students benefit greatly from CongressLink, the website is also a learning place for teachers.”

We soon realized that students and teachers have different needs in educational Web sites, so we developed Congress for Kids (http://www.congressforkids.net). Learning about government doesn't have to be boring. Congress for Kids gives access to interactive, fun-filled experiences designed to help students in grades four through high school learn about the foundation of our federal government and how its actions affect them. Here’s a student’s comment: “[Congress for Kids] is very clear and easy to understand. It also teaches kids a lot and helps them to find information for school papers and reports. It even lets them show their knowledge so they can feel proud of themselves. If ever I need any help in social studies or US history, I will go to this site first.” But my favorite comment comes from ten-year-old Kris: “These [sic] website is the best one I have ever seen. With the help of these [sic] website I brought my grade from a U to a E.”

Parents appreciate Congress for Kids, our fastest growing site, too. “Just want you to know how helpful the congressforkids site is,” one parent e-mailed. “I rate it an ‘excellent.’ My daughter is a 4th grader at a St. Louis parochial grade school. An upcoming social studies test features an essay calling for discussion of the three branches of government. Unfortunately, my daughter's text book and her instructor have provided such a cursory view that the students have no real understanding and are ill equipped to tackle this essay. In frustration, I turned to the internet for information. How absolutely delighted I was to find your fantastic website. In kid-friendly and simple terms, you provide children with a wonderful look at our government. Thanks.”

In addition to CongressLink, Congress for Kids, Congress in the Classroom® Online, and The Dirksen Center site, our Web presence also includes a portal site to other Internet-based sources about the federal government (http://www.aboutgovernment.org) and a Web-based newsletter with more than 10,000 subscribers (http://www.webcommunicator.org).

The Center: Providing Opportunities for Success

The people we serve often look for an opportunity to learn more or to teach better about Congress -- a lesson plan for a class, a research project for a book, a conference of scholars, a workshop on teaching methods, access to information on a Web site. The form of their opportunity may vary, but many have looked to The Dirksen Congressional Center for help. Our business is to provide the means for these people to take advantage of their opportunities – through a grant, information from our historical collections, contacts with a network of scholars, or ideas posted on our Web suite.

For the past 25 years, The Dirksen Congressional Center, with vigor and imagination, has built a national reputation for research and educational programs to help people understand the U.S. Congress, its leaders and members, its processes and procedures, and the public policies it produces.

In October 2002, The Center made a substantial investment in its future when it broke ground for a new building. When it is completed in the summer of 2003, The Center will have the capacity to co-author more stories of opportunity and achievement with the Hilary Conklins, the Byron Hulseys, and the Jennifer Mantlos of this world – the people who do research and who teach about the institutions of our national government.

Frank H. Mackaman rejoined the staff of The Dirksen Congressional Center in 1996 after serving as Director of the Gerald R. Ford Library. He received his B.A. in History from Drake University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Missouri, Columbia. He has taught history and political science at the University of Michigan and Bradley University.

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