The Dirksen Congressional Center is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization in Pekin, Illinois, that seeks to improve civic engagement by promoting a better understanding of Congress and its leaders through archival, research, and educational programs.
The Center maintains its quality and independence through the gift support of individuals, corporations, and foundations who believe in its educational mission.
The Center is named for Everett McKinley Dirksen (1896-1969). Dirksen served in the U.S. House from 1933-1948, the U.S. Senate from 1951-69, and as Minority Leader of the Senate from 1959 until 1969.
CongressLink provides information about the U.S. Congress -- how it works, its members and leaders, and the public policies it produces.
CongressLink is directed to teachers of American Government and civics. It is multi-featured, offering original content (including lesson plans and historical materials) and up-to-the-minute information about Congress.
AboutGovernment is the new edition of The Dirksen Congressional Center's Web portal. We have changed this Web site to focus more selectively on Internet sites related to Congress. With the advent of such search engines as Google and Ask, it is far easier than it used to be to find sites related to the executive and judicial branches and to the hundreds of federal agencies. We simply couldn't keep up!
What is included on this site are links to more than 50 sites about the U.S. Congress. We have also provided links to four major search engines and to a handful of sites about the federal government more generally.
Learning about the federal government doesn't have to be boring. Congress for Kids gives you access to interactive, fun-filled experiences designed to help you learn about the foundation of our federal government and how its actions affect you. Although designed for students in grades fourth through high school, other students, teachers, parents, and interested citizens will find helpful, engaging activities, too.
Using appealing, full-color illustrations, and engaging activities, this site will extend your learning in the basics about the American federal government.
Uncle Sam is your guide through Congress for Kids. He will introduce you to a new skill or bit of knowledge, or review a skill you already have, or even test your knowledge.
Get started on the tour of the federal government. Uncle Sam will lead the way! Click "Quizzes" in the blue vertical bar to the left to begin.
A blog including resources and ideas for teaching about Congress.
Communicator is a web-based newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to enhance civic education and improve the understanding of Congress.
Communicator is a collection of featured classroom resources and teacher topics drawn from information posted on The Dirksen Center's Web suite. Each monthly publication includes selected resources and topics.
Communicator will provide information about any changes to the other sites in The Center's Web suite, share classroom uses of the information posted on them, and highlight any Center related accomplishments.
The newsletter is a free service and publication.
Board of Directors, 2010-2011
The Dirksen Center's Selected Milestones
In April 1989, the Board of Directors expressed the current mission in these words:
"The Everett McKinley Dirksen Congressional Leadership Research Center is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational institution whose mission is to help people better understand the U.S. Congress and its leaders.
The Dirksen Congressional Center will be an organization of choice for study, interpretation, and discussion of the U.S. Congress
Join the Dirksen Center Friends.
Your FREE membership will represent your support for the work of The Dirksen Congressional Center, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts educational and research programs for scholars, teachers, and students.
Contact and Staff Information
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.
On October 15, 1982, Dirksen's mother, Antje Conrady Ailts, married her second husband and Dirksen's father, Johann Frederick Dirksen, born in Emden, Germany
The Everett McKinley Dirksen Collection consists of five major groups of material: reference volumes, still photographs, audiovisual items, memorabilia, and papers. Each group is described individually in finding aids housed at The Center. Arrangement varies according to type of record.
On September 26, 2003, Congressman Ray LaHood announced his intention to donate his congressional papers to The Dirksen Center at the dedication of The Center's new $1.6 million facility.
The Robert H. Michel Collection, first acquired by The Center in 1989 and supplemented over the years, is currently being processed.
In addition to the papers of Everett M. Dirksen and Robert H. Michel, The Center houses small collections of papers, artifacts, oral histories, and miscellany donated by others. Most of these materials related to Dirksen.
The papers of Harold H. Velde number among The Center's additional collections. Velde served in the House seat vacated by Dirksen in 1947 and then assumed by Michel after Velde's retirement in 1956. The 10.5 linear feet Velde collection documents Harold Velde's career in the House of Representatives and as a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Although the collection is fragmentary, it contains insightful documents on the House Un-American Activities Committee, which Velde chaired in 1953.
Both debate and advocacy are essential to the governing process. An underlying shared framework of trust and understanding built and renewed through dialogue is also essential to effective governance. Debate enables conflicting views to be articulated more fully, throws into sharper focus the strengths and weaknesses of different positions, and enables clearer judgments to be made. Dialogue, on the other hand, is essential when people with different beliefs, perspectives, backgrounds, interests, values, or traditions must find common ground. Dialogue creates the shared language and framework, the mutual trust and understanding that enable subsequent debate, negotiation and decision-making to be more productive and effective. This selection is a report produced by the 107th Congress Stennis Congressional Fellows, a group of senior congressional staff.
How do Members of Congress make decisions about the votes they cast? Analogies offer a systematic and insightful way to identify and make subtle inferences about factors involved in congressional decision making. In this interactive exercise, Steve Frantzich, Professor of Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy, uses vectors to illustrate how competing influences, such as personal preference or constituency interests, affect decisions.
The Landon Lecture presented by Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle at Kansas State University, May 10, 2004. "There is nothing inherently wrong with partisanship. To the contrary, pride in one's party and the principles for which it stands can be admirable. But it should be principled. It should acknowledge - as Senators Dole and Kassebaum and others do - that there are things that matter more than political parties; there are lines we should not cross, regardless of the advantage we think it might give our party. Demonizing those with whom we disagree politically does not serve the interests of democracy. It does not resolve differences. It inflames passions and deepens divisions." Daschle suggests seven actions to improve the quality of political discourse.
Former Representative Lee Hamilton speaks about the strengths and weaknesses of Congress and why it is important to understand the institution. He explains how Congress represents the people, that it is the most accessible branch of the federal government, and that its independence from the White House and the federal courts is something to value. But Hamilton is equally frank about several weaknesses in today's Congress -- that its members place too much emphasis on winning, that Congress fails to oversee the executive agencies effectively, and that Congress does not assert itself strongly enough in setting the public policy agenda.
Stephanie Larson, political scientist specializing in media coverage of politics, presents a brief overview of reporting on Congress. She explains why a teacher might tackle the subject, suggests how to approach the teaching of this information, and summarizes recent scholarship on the role of media in covering Congress. The selection includes a bibliography of major books on Congress and the media, 1980-2005.
How do Members of Congress make decisions about the votes they cast? Analogies offer a systematic and insightful way to identify and make subtle inferences about factors involved in congressional decision making. In this interactive exercise, Steve Frantzich, Professor of Political Science at the U.S. Naval Academy, uses vectors to illustrate how competing influences, such as personal preference or constituency interests, affect decisions.
An 8,000 word essay about Bob Michel's first contest for a formal leadership post in the House of Representatives, the chairmanship of the National Republican Congressional Committee, in 1973.
What are the skills needed to serve effectively in Congress and how do politicians acquire them? Political scientist Barbara Sinclair answers this question by examining the job of Congress, how Congress has organized itself to do its job, and then considering the skills Members need to function effectively in that environment.
This selection from AdVanced Consulting's Advocacy Classroom provides expert tips for reaching your Congress member. Learn what a congressional office can and cannot (or should not) do for you, what staff members do, and how best to deal with them.
Unit lesson plans prepared by teachers using CongressLink resources and features. This section also includes simulations. The plans are organized by subject.
In addition to the lesson plans posted on this site, the Web hosts scores of other lessons about Congress. This section of CongressLink highlights the best and provides links to them. If you know of a lesson that we should include, please send an e-mail to Frank Mackaman at fmackaman@dirksencenter.org.
"...A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the internet..."
{Bernie Dodge, 1995]
Link to some of the best Web sites about Congress. For links to hundreds of other sites about our nation's legislature and the federal government, please visit "AboutGovernment" using the navigation link to the right.
As publishers begin to post textbooks about Congress on the Internet, we will proivde links to them here.
Provides guidance to teachers who want to submit lesson plans for the CongressLink site. It describes learning objectives for students based on Bloom's taxonomy. CongressLink lesson plans should incorporate classroom activities that reflect the taxonomy.
Subscribe to Communicator to get updates about changes to the other Dirksen Center sites, to learn about classroom uses of the information posted on them, and to hear about Dirksen Center news.
Editorial cartoonists loved Everett Dirksen (1896-1969)—his position of influence as Minority Leader in the Senate (1959-69), his way with words, and, of course, his distinctive appearance. Over the years, Senator Dirksen's staff compiled a scrapbook containing more than 300 editorial cartoons. Topics covered include Vietnam, civil rights, Republican Party politics, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, reapportionment, Taft-Hartley 14(b), school prayer, Dirksen's recording career, Senate procedures, congressional pay, presidential appointments, and Dirksen's legacy. Naturally, cartoonists also used these topics to depict Dirksen's relationship with President Lyndon Johnson, with his Democratic colleagues in the Senate, and with the Supreme Court. In addition, cartoonists sent Dirksen between 50 and 60 original sketches on equally diverse topics.
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.
The 1960s: A Multi-Media View from Capitol Hill documents the public policy challenges resulting from those tumultuous times using a unique body of records housed in The Center's historical collections—the minutes and press conferences (both print and audio) of the Joint Senate-House Republican Leadership, 1961-69.
Following the election of John F. Kennedy to the White House in 1960, congressional Republicans sought a new venue to communicate their principles and positions to the public. At the suggestion of out-going President Dwight Eisenhower, they created a new policy-making group called the Joint Senate-House Republican Leadership. This group held weekly meetings when Congress was in session to discuss important legislative matters and to formulate party policy. Following most meetings, Senate Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen and House Minority Leader Charles Halleck (and later Gerald R. Ford) appeared together in a press conference designed to provide Republicans with an effective opposition voice.
Links to more than 50 sites about the U.S. Congress.
For your convenience we have provided links to four major search engines.
Good, basic sites about the other branches of government—remember there are hundreds more.
The Center provides support to the American Political Science Association through a publishing prize and travel/housing grant.
The Dirksen Center awards scholarships each year to Pekin Community High School students who attend the Close Up program in Washington, DC.
Congress in the Classroom® is a national, award-winning workshop for teachers held every summer. Developed and sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, the workshop is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information on teaching about Congress.
on the campus of Bradley University.
Congress in the Classroom® Online is an alternative to our annual workshop for teachers that provides rich content about Congress presented by experts.
Information about books and monographs sponsored by The Center.
The Center hosts and maintains a multi-site Web suite, of which this site is one. You can reach the other sites using the navigation links in the middle of the page.
The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants to fund research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress. 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 $835,432 to support 402 projects. Applications are accepted at any time, but the deadline is March 1 for the annual selections, which are announced in April. The Dirksen Congressional Center intends to award grants in 2012, with March 1 the deadline for proposals.
In November 2004, The Center announced a new grants program designed to improve the public's understanding of Congress.
PLEASE NOTE: The Center is not accepting new proposals at this time. Funds budgeted for the current fiscal year (ending September 30, 2011) have been obligated.
The Ray and Kathy LaHood Scholarships for the Study of American Government provide financial support for tuition, fees, and books to juniors at Bradley University who are majoring in a discipline related to the study of the federal government. The Center sponsors the LaHood Scholarships to promote the study of politics and governance as practiced by the distinguished public servants who have represented Illinois's 18th district in Congress, a list which includes Abraham Lincoln, Everett Dirksen, Robert H. Michel and, currently, Congressman Ray LaHood.
The Dirksen Center awards scholarships each year to Pekin Community High School students who attend the Close Up program in Washington, DC.
The Everett McKinley Dirksen Collection consists of five major groups of material: reference volumes, still photographs, audiovisual items, memorabilia, and papers. Each group is described individually in finding aids housed at The Center. Arrangement varies according to type of record.
The Dirksen Papers, the largest of the five divisions, consist predominately of files accumulated during Everett Dirksen's years as a U.S. Senator, 1951-69. Several smaller additions to the main collection include material spanning other years of Dirksen's life.
Major file groups encompass campaigns and politics, public works, legislation, constituent correspondence and casework, patronage, congressional leadership activities, remarks and releases, and clippings. Each of these sections, and smaller ones as well, are described in more detail in The Center's finding aids.
Congressman Ray LaHood announced his intention to donate his congressional papers to The Dirksen Center on September 26, 2003, at the dedication of The Center's new $1.6 million facility.
The Robert H. Michel Collection, first acquired by The Center in 1989 and supplemented over the years, is currently being processed.
In addition to the papers of Everett M. Dirksen and Robert H. Michel, The Center houses small collections of papers, artifacts, oral histories, and miscellany donated by others. Most of these materials related to Dirksen.
The papers of Harold H. Velde number among The Center's additional collections. Velde served in the House seat vacated by Dirksen in 1947 and then assumed by Michel after Velde's retirement in 1956. The 10.5 linear feet Velde collection documents Harold Velde's career in the House of Representatives and as a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Although the collection is fragmentary, it contains insightful documents on the House Un-American Activities Committee, which Velde chaired in 1953.
On-line version of the 40-page introduction to Everett Dirksen's memoir, The Education of a Senator.
A description of the circumstances surrounding Dirksen's death on September 7, 1969.
Citations to books, articles, and news reports about Everett Dirksen.
Excerpts from historical documents on such topics as government spending.
Selected photographs through the years.
Sampling of holiday cards drawn by Everett or Louella Dirksen.
Interview transcripts featuring Everett Dirksen from 1940 through 1969, largely the period of his service in the U.S. Senate.
C-SPAN Radio's congressional leaders series includes two programs with Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, Republican from Illinois. The first program contains portions of two interviews conducted in 1964 and 1967where Sen. Dirksen talks about his childhood, the 1952 Republican National Convention, his work on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and his relationships with President John Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson. The second program features a 1964 interview with NBC's Len O'Connor during which the Senate Minority Leader discusses his family, his start in public service, his relationships with President John Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson, his role at the 1952 Republican National Convention, and the 1964 presidential race (audio courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society).
A special website devoted to editorial cartoons featuring Dirksen.
Did Everett Dirksen ever say the phrase popularly attributed to him?
As part of the Bicentennial Celebration of Abraham Lincoln, the Dirksen Congressional Center is pleased to present a version of the Lincoln legacy through the eyes of two members of Congress, Everett McKinley Dirksen and Robert H. Michel, who later represented the central Illinois congressional district that once sent Lincoln to the House of Representatives.
Scanned images of a staff-prepared compilation of legislative measures.
Analysis by Dirksen scholar Byron Hulsey who focuses on six aspects of Dirksen's personality and character that made it possible for him to shape some of the most important laws of his generation.
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.
Description of perhaps Dirksen's most famous speech delivered immediately before the successful cloture vote was taken in the Senate on what became the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The late U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen, R-Pekin, was honored for his role in passing the 1964 Civil Rights Act at the annual banquet of the local NAACP chapter. Featured speakers were the Rev. Phillip Cousin, retired bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Frank Mackaman, director of the Dirksen Congressional Leadership Center.
"The Voices of Your Classroom are the Voices of Our Future," by Everett Dirksen [The Instructor, March 1967]
His recommendations for preparing for a career in administrative or elective politics.
Selections from Dirksen's public statements, 1954-69, on the war in Southeast Asia. Topics include the role of the commander-in-chief, the relationship between Congress and the President, the role of the minority party in a two-party system, among others.
Scanned copies of Senate documents which contain the texts of the leaders' press statements following weekly Republican congressional leadership meetings, 1961-68. These statements were the basis for the "Ev and Charlie" and "Ev and Jerry" shows.
The 1960s: A Multi-Media View from Capitol Hill documents the public policy challenges resulting from those tumultuous times using a unique body of records housed in The Center's historical collections-the minutes and press conferences (both print and audio) of the Joint Senate-House Republican Leadership, 1961-69.
From his first week in office in the House of Representatives through 1946, Congressman Everett Dirksen personally composed and typed weekly newsletters (while Congress was in session) to his constituents in central Illinois. Congressional Front, as it was called, covered the personalities, politics, and policies of Congress and the federal government. By the end of the run, Dirksen had written 474 of these newsy reports.
Key dates in Robert H. Michel's life and career.
An 8,000 word essay about Bob Michel's first contest for a formal leadership post in the House of Representatives, the chairmanship of the National Republican Congressional Committee, in 1973.
As part of the Bicentennial Celebration of Abraham Lincoln, the Dirksen Congressional Center is pleased to present a version of the Lincoln legacy through the eyes of two members of Congress, Everett McKinley Dirksen and Robert H. Michel, who later represented the central Illinois congressional district that once sent Lincoln to the House of Representatives.
In December 1980, Republicans in the House of Representatives chose Robert H. Michel of Illinois as their leader, the Minority Leader of the House, a position he held until retiring in 1995. Anatomy of a Congressional
Leadership Race uses historical materials contained in the Robert H. Michel Papers housed at The Dirksen Congressional Center in Pekin, Illinois, to describe the contest.
On June 25, 2005, former House Republican Leader Bob Michel and his successor and former chief of staff, Ray LaHood, appeared at the Bertha Frank Performing Arts Center in Morton, Illinois, for an evening of “personal reflections” about their combined 50 years of service representing the 18th congressional district.
Statements by Robert H. Michel upon his election as Republican Leader of the House, 1980-92, and the announcement in 1993 of his decision not to seek re-election to the House.
Photographs of Michel and with presidents.
During the processing of Bob Michel's papers, staff discovered several copies of a compilation of quotes from Mr. Michel, bound in a red cover. The quotations are arranged, as they are in the booklet, alphabetically by subject.
The Robert H. Michel Collection, first acquired by The Center in 1989 and supplemented over the years, is currently being processed.
In January 1992, the Republican minority issued a document designed to outline how the Republicans would govern should they obtain the majority. Fifteen Republicans contributed to the project, each writing an essay on a different topic. For example, Leader Michel entitled his, "What I Would Do as Speaker of the House."
In the Spring of 1993, House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel prepared A Blueprint for Leadership. "The challenge of our new situation," he wrote, "is to shape the Republican view of America, tell the American people what we believe in, and fully utilize our legislative skills to implement our vision." He hoped the document would serve as study guide for Republican
action, outlining areas of policy responsibility, mechanisms for communication, and structures for implementation.
As a member of the House of Representatives, Robert H. Michel (RHM) -- http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_michel_bio.htm -- served with nine presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton. In what he called his "Presidential Scrapbooks," RHM kept selected photographs and correspondence with each of the nine.
RHM's relationship with Richard Nixon (RN) arguably spanned the longest period of any of the presidents. For example, RHM served as administrative assistant to Harold Velde (R-IL) from 1949 to 1956, overlapping briefly with RN's last two years in the House—RN resigned his House seat in 1950 to run for the Senate. Although there are no historical records from that period in RHM's collection, it is likely the two met before RN's election to the Senate inasmuch as both he and Velde served on the House Un-American Activities Committee.
The RN series in the Presidential Scrapbooks begins in 1956, as RHM campaigned for the House seat vacated by Velde.
Bob Michel was honored for his public service and advocacy on behalf of veterans on April 21. A crowd of several hundred attended an event naming the Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic after the former Republican Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. The three-minute, 22-second video clip provides basic biographical information about Michel.
Information from Congressman LaHood's House Web site.
View Congressman LaHood via YouTube. Topics include his appearance at Illinois’s Republican Day at the state fair, his endorsement of John McCain, and the congressman’s retirement from the House of Representatives.
On June 25, 2005, then-Congressman Ray LaHood and his predecessor and mentor Bob Michel appeared at the Bertha Frank Performing Arts Center in Morton, Illinois, for an evening of “personal reflections” about their combined 50 years of service representing the 18th congressional district.
Information about scholarships sponsored by The Dirksen Center for selected juniors attending Bradley University.
The Dirksen Center wants to help teachers teach better by giving them the opportunity to use technology to create, customize, and share online learning activities in their classrooms. The Center wants to help students learn more by bringing educational resources together in one place that provide new ways to learn about Congress interactively.
What is the Communicator? What does the Communicator offer? How can I receive Communicator updates? Reprints?
Become a Communicator Sponsor, Become a Communicator Author, Subscribing, Unsubscribing, and Change of E-mail Addresses, Communicator Article Suggestions, Missed a Communicator?, Subscribe to AboutCongressForTeachers, and Reprints
Communicator welcomes questions, comments, suggestions, and ideas from its users. Your feedback makes a difference!
A blog including resources and ideas for teaching about Congress.
A few terms you will find on your tour. Take three different quizzes to see how much you know. If you are an expert, you can skip all three quizzes and take the tour!
A few terms you will find on your tour. Take three different quizzes to see how much you know. If you are an expert, you can skip all three quizzes and take the tour!
A few terms you will find on your tour. Take three different quizzes to see how much you know. If you are an expert, you can skip all three quizzes and take the tour!
In this section you will travel back in American history to the time of the thirteen colonies struggling to free themselves from the rule of the British monarch. The creation of the Declaration of Independence is a dramatic story, and this section includes some helpful information to tell the tale.
This section covers the history of the Constitution of the United States. It includes information about the writing the Constitution, the Great Compromise, the Constitution's signers, the Bill of Rights, the Amendments to the Constitution and what they mean to Americans, and much more.
Learn all about the U.S. Congress and how it operates. Other topics include how laws are made and bills that are vetoed.
Learn about the executive branch of the United States Government. Topics include the American president, the president's job, the presidential cabinet, the president and Congress, and how the president has fun.
This section explains the role of the Supreme Court and the judicial branch of the government. It also includes information about the Court's rulings on segregation.
Democracy requires citizens to participate in their government, beginning with the duty to vote. This section will help you learn more about the American process.
This section of Congress for Kids is about citizenship. You'll learn about citizenship, responsible citizenship, attitudes and actions that lead to responsible citizenship, communicating in communities, working to keep your freedom, and even share your opinion about certain citizens.
We'll begin by explaining some of the basic features of citizenship. Then you will complete a series of activities in which you are the only person on earth!
Are you ready? Your learning adventure is about to begin. Make sure you complete the first activity in each section. It's called Word Play. And it will show you new words, definitions, and much more to help you on your journey.
Make sure you read the directions provided in the green box found on each page before you complete a Word Play activity or related Worksheet.
Democracy requires citizens to participate in their government, beginning with the duty to vote. This section will help you learn more about the American process.
DEADLINE: All proposals must be received no later than March 1, 2012.
The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants to fund
research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress. 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. Applications are accepted at any time, but
the deadline is March 1 for the annual selections, which are announced in
April. A total of up to $35,000 will be available in 2012.
Complete information about what kind of research projects are eligible for
consideration, what could a Congressional Research Award pay for, application
procedures, and how recipients are selected may be found at The Center's
Website: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm. PLEASE READ
THOROUGHLY. Frank Mackaman is the program officer -
fmackaman@dirksencenter.org.
This lesson will introduce students to selected demographic features of one of the early New Deal Congresses. It will ask them to identify the characteristics of women members of the House and Senate—what qualities and experiences they shared, how they differed. Students may also compare and contrast the female membership in 1937-38 with female membership today.
The 2011 workshop will be held Monday, July 23-26, 2012, at Embassy Suites, East Peoria, Illinois.
Developed and sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, the workshop is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information on teaching about Congress.
Congress in the Classroom® is designed for high school or middle school teachers who teach U.S. history, government, civics, political science, or social studies. Forty teachers will be selected to take part in the program.
Although the workshop will feature a variety of sessions related to Congress, the 2012 program will also include presentations about the 2012 presidential election and the workshop blends two kinds of sessions. Some emphasize ideas and resources that teachers can use almost immediately in their classrooms—sessions about primary sources and Best Practices are good examples. Other sessions deal with more abstract topics. Think of them as resembling graduate-level courses, stronger on content than on classroom applications. If you are looking for a program that features one or the other exclusively, Congress in the Classroom® is probably not right for you.
Brief information about The Dirksen Center.
Testimonials from folks who have used The Dirksen Center site.
Information about and links to the other websites in The Dirksen Center's websuite.
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. This first version only addresses legislative output, not non-legislative events such as the impeachment of President Clinton or internal congressional processes or congressional politics. We plan to leave room for expansion to include such elements as a timeline of notable, non-congressional events and selections from our historical collections.
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.
Brief information about CongressLink.
Testimonials from folks who have used CongressLink.
Information about and links to the other websites in The Dirksen Center's websuite.
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. This first version only addresses legislative output, not non-legislative events such as the impeachment of President Clinton or internal congressional processes or congressional politics. We plan to leave room for expansion to include such elements as a timeline of notable, non-congressional events and selections from our historical collections.
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.
Brief information about AboutGovernment.
Testimonials from folks who have used AboutGovernment.
Information about and links to the other websites in The Dirksen Center's websuite.
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. This first version only addresses legislative output, not non-legislative events such as the impeachment of President Clinton or internal congressional processes or congressional politics. We plan to leave room for expansion to include such elements as a timeline of notable, non-congressional events and selections from our historical collections.
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.
Learning about the federal government doesn't have to be boring. Congress for Kids gives you access to interactive, fun-filled experiences designed to help you learn about the foundation of our federal government and how its actions affect you. Although designed for students in grades fourth through high school, other students, teachers, parents, and interested citizens will find helpful, engaging activities, too.
Using appealing, full-color illustrations, and engaging activities, this site will extend your learning in the basics about the American federal government.
Uncle Sam is your guide through Congress for Kids. He will introduce you to a new skill or bit of knowledge, or review a skill you already have, or even test your knowledge.
Let's get started on the tour of the federal government. Uncle Sam will lead the way!
Click "Quizzes" in the blue vertical bar to the left to begin.
Brief information about the Communicator.
Testimonials from folks who have used the Communicator.
Information about and links to the other websites in The Dirksen Center's websuite.
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. This first version only addresses legislative output, not non-legislative events such as the impeachment of President Clinton or internal congressional processes or congressional politics. We plan to leave room for expansion to include such elements as a timeline of notable, non-congressional events and selections from our historical collections.
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.
Special announcements about new content posted on various sites in The Center's Websuite.
Special announcements about new activities posted on Congress for Kids.
Special announcements from The Dirksen Center about new programs, projects, and grants.
Additional resources about Congress from external sites.
Just a little something funny!
Links to past issues of the Communicator.
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Abraham Lincoln & the IL Congressional District
