[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 53 (Wednesday, March 22, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E657]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   CONGRATULATING JILL MOSS GREENBERG--MARYLAND WOMEN'S HALL OF FAME 
                                HONOREE

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                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 22, 1995
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to recognize an 
outstanding citizen of Prince George's County, MD. Ms. Jill Moss 
Greenberg, a resident of Hyattsville, was recently named one of six 
women throughout the entire State of Maryland to be inducted into the 
Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.
  I have known Jill for a number of years and have worked very closely 
with her on the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well 
as in my capacity as chairman of the Helsinki Commission in seeking the 
release of Jewish refuseniks from the former Soviet Union. Over the 
years she has been instrumental in forging change throughout our 
county, our State, our Nation and on the international level--change 
that has benefited the lives of many people. She is truly worthy of 
this honor.
  Recently, Ms. Andrea Novotny of the Prince George's Journal wrote of 
the outstanding contributions Jill Moss Greenberg has made in garnering 
this recognition and I am pleased to share this article with my 
colleagues and urge them all to join me in congratulating one of 
Maryland's Women's Hall of Fame honorees--Jill Moss Greenberg.
                   Honoree Recalls Her Activist Past

                          (By Andrea Novotny)

       Twenty years ago, women could not have credit cards in 
     their name and faced expulsion from school for running on the 
     ``boys' track.''
       But Jill Moss Greenberg, 52, of Hyattsville, a self-
     described civil rights and feminist pioneer, worked to change 
     those and other gender, race and socio-economic inequities. 
     She is one of six women who on Tuesday were named honorees of 
     the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame, established by the 
     Maryland Commission for Women in 1985.
       ``People don't even think of it now. But it was a hard 
     fight to get to where we are today. . . . No one should be a 
     second-class citizen. We are working to create a society 
     where no one is marginalized and no one is a footnote. The 
     whole is greater than the parts, and every individual has the 
     potential of creating great change,'' Greenberg said.
       ``There are a lot of laws on the books, but it is a 
     constant struggle to make them real in the lives of everyday 
     people. We have to assure that those accomplishments remain 
     and that we continue to go forward for the rest.''
       Greenberg began tackling social problems as a teenager, 
     joining the Civil Rights movement while still in junior high 
     school. By middle school, she was volunteering on the 
     presidential campaign of Adlai Stevenson, who she believed 
     shared her vision of civil liberty.
       Greenberg's efforts with a friend to remove barriers for 
     the disabled led to the creation of one of the first 
     preschools for disabled children in the United States. She 
     was in her junior year in college.
       ``From the time I was very young, my family raised me with 
     the values that each person could make a difference. 
     Something can always be done about social inequities,'' 
     Greenberg said.
       She now works as director of multicultural education at the 
     Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium, providing assistance to 
     school systems in five states on issues involving gender and 
     race. ``Racial minorities and women not only have a glass 
     ceiling, but they have to clean it too,'' Greenberg noted. 
     ``. . . As Frederick Douglass said, `you can't have change 
     without a struggle.'''
       Greenberg, a Maryland resident for 24 years, led the effort 
     to form the county's Commission for Women in 1972. At that 
     time she was also working with the state's Commission for 
     Women to help women participate in the legislative process.
       Greenberg played a significant role in the passage of the 
     Maryland Equal Rights Amendment, the Equal Credit Opportunity 
     Act and Title IX, a federal law that requires federally 
     funded schools to provide equal opportunities in athletics 
     for male and female students.
       But overcoming barriers wasn't easy.
       ``So many people opposed civil rights and civil equity back 
     then,'' Greenberg recalled. She first had to win the support 
     of former Congresswoman Gladys Noon Spellman, who was 
     expelled from high school for running on the school's only 
     track, then designated for boys.
       ``People thought Title IX would defeminize females and 
     demasculinize males. Other congressmen said if it became law, 
     our daughters would have to shower with boys. But they were 
     missing the point. It wasn't just about athletic equity, it 
     was about learning to win and lose and letting others 
     experience the things that prepared them for life,'' 
     Greenberg said. ``The education girls receive determines 
     their employment and life-long existence.
       ``Our goal now is not just to put different genders, races 
     and cultures in a classroom, but to have them treated equally 
     within that environment,'' Greenberg said. She learned 
     cultural and religious sensitivity working with the county 
     school system's task forces on black male achievement and 
     multicultural education and serving on the regional board of 
     the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
       Greenberg founded the Maryland Women's History Project and 
     the Black History at Your Door Step Project to recognize 
     historical contributions of women and members of racial 
     minorities.
       ``In a 500-page social studies text-book, only seven pages 
     were dedicated to women. When women finally won suffrage, 75 
     years ago, the books said they were `given' the vote--not 
     that they achieved it through great struggle,'' Greenberg 
     said.
       ``We need to create respect for each other so we can 
     understand and value diversity.''
       Greenberg cautions against over-simplifying complex issues 
     facing today's multicultural society and she says finding 
     solutions is an ongoing challenge.
       ``Do we stand for what our country is about or what is 
     comfortable? We need to be able to have the courage to stand 
     up for our convictions,'' Greenberg said. ``We still see a 
     lot of inequity, but when people who share the same vision 
     work together, they become a powerful force in creating 
     change.''
     

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