[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 55 (Friday, March 24, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E683-E684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REAL FOUNDER OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS HAPPY WITH SELECTION OF SHRIVER
______
HON. ANDREW JACOBS, JR.
of indiana
in the house of representatives
Thursday, March 23, 1995
Mr. JACOBS. Mr. Speaker, if one were to say that President John F.
Kennedy launched the Peace Corps, one would be right. But if one were
to say that President John F. Kennedy thought up the Peace Corps, one
would be mistaken. The author was Hubert Humphrey.
If one were to say that the nobly civil minded Eunice Kennedy Shriver
brought her considerable talents to bear in order to launch the Special
Olympics nationally, one would be right. But if one were to say that
Ms. Shriver thought up the idea of a Special Olympics, one would be
mistaken. Judge Ann McGlone Burke is the author of the idea.
As Judge Burke has generously said, she is happy that Ms. Shriver is
being honored by the 1995 Special Olympics Silver Dollar Commemorative.
But it is worthwhile too for all Americans to know that Judge Burke
should also be honored as the author.
Real Founder of Special Olympics Happy With Selection of Shriver
(By Michel E. Orzano)
The woman who founded the Special Olympics in 1968 is
pleased that the games for mentally and physically
handicapped children and adults will be recognized with a
commemorative coin.
But her portrait won't be the one on the 1995 Special
Olympics silver dollar commemorative. That's because Anne
Burke of Chicago--former Chicago physical education teacher,
retired lawyer and judge--not Eunice Shriver Kennedy, is the
real founder of the games.
The law authorizing the coin permits the striking of
800,000 silver dollars and each will bear a $10 per coin
surcharge going to the Special Olympics. The Citizens
Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee rejected the idea of a
portrait of a living American but Secretary of the Treasury
Robert Rubin approved the design choice. Shriver will become
the first living American woman to have her portrait on a
coin and only the fifth living American to bear that
distinction.
Chicagoan Burke, who now serves as special counsel on child
welfare to Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, told Coin World that
she's pleased the program she started will benefit from the
coin. But as far as the claim of founder goes, that resides
with Burke.
In 1965, Burke, then Anne McGlone, was a young physical
education teacher who taught mentally retarded youngsters in
a special summer program sponsored by the Chicago Park
District. By 1967. she said, there were 10 locations
throughout the Chicagoland area with 150 children
participating in the free program.
Burke said she knew at the time there were probably more
people out there who could benefit from involvement in sports
and other activities because there wasn't mandatory education
for mentally retarded people. But, she said, she also knew
families of mentally retarded children and adults were often
very protective of them and shunned involvement in public
programs.
But by the end of the summer of 1967, after Burke and
participants put on the play ``The Sound of Music,'' Chicago
Park officials were so pleased with the response they
sanctioned her idea of a sponsoring a citywide track meet for
mentally retarded youngsters the following summer.
Once she was given the official green light, Burke turned
her attention to planning the event that fall and winter.
Burke said while refining the idea, a professor she was
working with at Southern Illinois University suggested she
contact the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation to request
funding for the proposed program.
Shortly thereafter, Burke wrote to Shriver, she said, who
was living in Paris with her husband, Sargent Shriver, then
ambassador to France. Burke said Shriver was intrigued with
the idea and suggested a meeting in Washington, D.C.
After meeting with Shriver, Burke said she re-wrote the
proposal including Shriver's suggestion to involve children
from other states and re-submitted her funding request. The
foundation responded with $25,000 for the program. Burke
invited Shriver to attend the 1st National Chicago Special
Olympics, which were held July 20, 1968. Children from 23
different states participated that year and, as Burke notes,
``The rest is history.''
She said she is still actively involved with the Special
Olympics program in the Chicago area. Her concern for
children has always seemed to touch her professional life as
a
[[Page E684]] teacher, mother and a lawyer. But she also
acknowledges the contributions Shriver has made to Burke's
original idea.
``Without the Kennedy Foundation the Games wouldn't be the
Games. There is no other family with the charisma or the
wherewithal to do this,'' Burke said. ``[Shriver] deserves
the recognition. What has happened has been incredible and it
[who's portrait appears] really makes no difference now.''
But Burke admits she is disappointed that Chicago, its park
employees and the late Mayor Richard J. Daly, never have been
recognized by the Kennedy Foundation nor Shriver for the
innovation shown in planning and hosting those first Games.
``We took the chances,'' Burke said, describing the view of
many at the time that such games might exploit the mentally
retarded. ``I think the other side [of the Special Olympics
coin] should recognize Chicago, not anyone's name, just
Chicago.''
When asked if she planned to buy any of the commemoratives,
Burke said she thought Shriver should give coins to each of
the first participants and employees of the Chicago Park
District who planned and hosted the first event.
the Burke connection
Dateline: The Chicago line . . . but it was Chicagoan Anne
(McGlone) Burke, during her tenure at the Chicago Park
District, who gave Shriver the idea for the Special Olympics
in a written proposal, and who organized the first Special
Olympics event, which was held in Chicago and attended by
Mrs. Shriver. Shriver bit, and the rest is history.
Conclusion: Shriver should be honored for giving the
Olympics a happy life, but it was Burke who gave it birth.
____
The Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.,
Foundation,
Washington, DC, July 23, 1968.
Mrs. Ann Burke,
Chicago Park District, 425 East 14th Boulevard, Chicago, IL.
Dear Ann: When the history of the Chicago Special Olympics
is written, there will have to be a special chapter to
recount the contributions of Ann Burke. You should feel very
proud that your dedicated work with retarded children in
Chicago has culminated in an event of such far reaching
importance.
We all owe you a debt of gratitude, but I know that what
means most to you is that the Olympics will continue and that
children all over the country will benefit from your idea.
My warmest personal thanks.
Sincerely,
Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
____
The Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr.,
Foundation,
Washington, DC, January 29, 1968.
Miss Anne McGlone Bruke,
Chicago Park District, 425 East 14th Boulevard, Chicago, IL.
Dear Miss McGlone: Thank you so much for your letter of
January 23d informing me about your plans to initiate a
National Olympics for retarded children through the Chicago
Park District. Both Mr. Shriver and Dr. Hayden have spoken to
me about your project and I think it is a most exciting one.
I sincerely hope that you are successful in launching it.
This is certainly a large undertaking and we know that you
will need a great deal of assistance of many kinds. When you
have been able to formalize your plans and put them into a
written proposal the Kennedy Foundation will be very happy to
send it out to the members of our physical education and
recreation advisory boards for their review and comment. All
requests to the Foundation for funds in these areas are
handled in this manner and I am sure that the suggestions
from these people would be very helpful to you.
Once again, let me say how delighted I am to know of your
plans. I will look forward to hearing from you again as they
progress.
Yours sincerely,
Eunice Kennedy Shriver.
____________________