[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 49 (Monday, April 12, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E605]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E605]]


     IN HONOR OF ISAIAH THOMAS AND THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. MCGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 12, 1999

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in tribute to Isaiah Thomas, 
a colonial patriot, printer and publisher on the 250th anniversary of 
his birth and in tribute to the American Antiquarian Society in 
Worcester, Massachusetts, an internationally recognized library of 
American history and culture.
  Isaiah Thomas was a leading publisher of his day and was credited 
with more than 400 titles. The quality of his work received 
commendation from none other than fellow printer and patriot Benjamin 
Franklin. Thomas began his career as a printer's apprentice and 
established a printing operation in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1775 
when the British occupation of Boston drove him from that city. He 
served actively in the War for Independence at Lexington and Concord. 
Through his newspaper, ``The Massachusetts Spy'', and numerous other 
publications, the colonists of New England learned of the events of 
their day. Through his writings and publications, Isaiah Thomas played 
an important role in the revolutionary movement by informing and 
inspiring fellow patriots. Thus, on the occasion of the 250th 
anniversary of the birth of Isaiah Thomas, we gratefully acknowledge 
the contributions of this great colonial patriot, printer and 
publisher.
  I also rise to acknowledge the proud history and valuable 
contribution of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, 
Massachusetts founded in 1812 by Isaiah Thomas. The American 
Antiquarian Society is both a learned society and a major independent 
library which is internationally recognized as one of the finest 
repositories of early American printed materials in the world. The 
American Antiquarian Society library today houses the largest and most 
accessible collection of printed media and graphic arts materials 
printed through 1876 in what is now the United States, as well as 
manuscripts and other reference materials related to all aspects of 
American history and culture before the 20th century. As the American 
Antiquarian Society launches a capital campaign to make possible its 
continued mission, I rise to gratefully acknowledge its history, 
valuable contributions to scholarly research and the preservation of 
our history, and to commend its efforts to make possible similar 
resources for future generations.

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