[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 458 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 458

Recognizing and commending Mary Baker Eddy's achievements and the Mary 
           Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2002

   Mr. Smith of Texas (for himself, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Leach, and Mrs. 
    Lowey) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing and commending Mary Baker Eddy's achievements and the Mary 
           Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity.

Whereas the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity will 
        officially open on September 29, 2002, in Boston, Massachusetts, thereby 
        making available to the public the Mary Baker Eddy Collections, one of 
        the largest collections of primary source material by and about an 
        American woman;
Whereas the namesake of the Library, Mary Baker Eddy, achieved international 
        prominence during her lifetime (1821-1910) as the founder of Christian 
        Science and was the first woman in the United States to found and lead a 
        religion that became an international movement with members in 139 
        countries;
Whereas historians compare Mary Baker Eddy to nineteenth-century women reformers 
        like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, who took leadership 
        roles at a time when women infrequently did so;
Whereas Mary Baker Eddy founded and served as the pastor of her own church, the 
        First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, and established a 
        publishing organization that produces numerous publications, including 
        ``The Christian Science Monitor'', an international daily newspaper that 
        has won seven Pulitizer Prizes;
Whereas in recognition of the numerous achievements of Mary Baker Eddy, the 
        Women's National Hall of Fame inducted her into its membership in 1995 
        for having made ``an indelible mark on society, religion, and 
        journalism'';
Whereas the Mary Baker Eddy Library, a facility of 81,000 square feet, provides 
        a place for people to come together to explore ideas and offers on-site 
        and online educational experiences, programs, and exhibits;
Whereas the Mary Baker Eddy Collections consist of more than 100,000 documents, 
        artifacts, photographs, and other media that chronicle the development 
        of Mary Baker Eddy's ideas and offer an unequalled resource to scholars 
        in women's history and mind-body medicine;
Whereas the Library's initiative to make the previously unpublished materials in 
        the Mary Baker Eddy Collections available to the public is exemplary of, 
        and in full accord with, the intent of the provisions of title 17, 
        United States Code, relating to the publication of previously 
        unpublished materials; and
Whereas the Mary Baker Eddy Library will establish an Institute for the 
        Rediscovery and Preservation of the History of Women in Seneca Falls, 
        New York, the birthplace of the first Women's Rights Convention, in 
        order to showcase new research on the forgotten histories of women and 
        offer educational programs for students: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress recognizes and commends--
            (1) Mary Baker Eddy for her outstanding achievements and 
        contributions, particularly her contributions to the 
        advancement of women's rights as a public figure and role model 
        in the early stages of the women's rights movement; and
            (2) the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of 
        Humanity, which will open to the public on September 29, 2002.
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