[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 75 (Monday, May 24, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1069]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO NAT ROSS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 24, 1999

  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a great 
civil rights and women's rights leader, an outstanding individual who 
has devoted his life to his family and to serving the community, Mr. 
Nat Ross. For the past 60 years, he has played a major role in 
virtually every significant movement for civil rights, empowerment, and 
social and economic justice. Mr. Ross will turn 95 on June 25.
  Born to immigrant parents who labored as garment workers, Nat Ross 
started on his path to the American Dream when he was awarded a 4-year 
scholarship to Columbia University. There he was deeply influenced by a 
faculty that included John Dewey, who would become Franklin Roosevelt's 
``Brain Trust''. Nat dedicated himself to education and to two emerging 
social issues, civil rights and women's rights. He graduated Phi Beta 
Kappa in 1927.
  Nat began his career as a printing salesman with Lincoln Graphic 
Arts, becoming an expert in direct mail marketing. In the 1930's he 
served in the civil rights movement, volunteering in Alabama in the 
midst of the infamous ``Scottsboro Boys Case''. There he would meet 
Johnnie West, who served as a war correspondent during World War II. 
They were married for 55 years until her passing.
  Mr. Speaker, Nat's second career started in 1967 when he started 
teaching Direct Marketing at New York University. Under his leadership, 
the New York University Center for Direct Marketing was born and is now 
considered the prominent program in this field. Nat also founded the 
Direct Marketing Idea Exchange, a discussion club including the most 
prestigious talents in the business. In 1984 he was named to the Direct 
Marketing Association's Hall of Fame.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in wishing a happy 95th 
birthday to Nat Ross.

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