[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 177 (Wednesday, December 19, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13697-S13698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     MARGARET MEAD'S 100TH BIRTHDAY

  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I ask that the following 
statement, and the excerpt from the Mead Centennial press release, be 
printed in the Record in honor of Margaret Mead's 100th birthday:

[[Page S13698]]

  On December 16, Margaret Mead would have celebrated her 100th 
birthday. As one of New York's Senators, I am proud that Margaret Mead 
called New York home for so many years. New York State has such a rich 
history of women who have made a difference at home and throughout the 
world.
  As my colleague Senator Chuck Hagel stated so well, Margaret Mead 
``was an American patriot who dedicated her life to understanding the 
people and nations of our world. She respected the distinctiveness of 
various cultures . . . Margaret Mead took her responsibilities of 
citizenship seriously by sharing her knowledge with those engaged in 
public service.''
  On the occasion of the Margaret Mead centennial, I hope that more of 
today's youth will be exposed to the lifework of this great woman, and 
will be inspired to learn about cultures around the world. She devoted 
her life to studying other cultures, and to encouraging Americans to 
develop a desire to learn about other cultures.
  The following excerpt from a Mead Centennial 2001 press release 
captures Margaret Mead's accomplishments, and their relevance to our 
country today:


 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARGARET MEAD: IN THE 21ST CENTURY HER IDEAS RING TRUE

  ``How to describe Margaret Mead? Physically, she was short and pudgy, 
walked with a light, firm step, wore a distinctive cape and carried a 
tall, forked walking stick. As an American icon, anthropologist, 
futurologist, environmentalist, feminist, curmudgeon, and `grandmother 
to the world,' she stood for many different things in people's mind. 
Above all she stood for the need for Americans to understand other 
cultures. Since September 11, it has become clear that this is an idea 
that urgently needs to be reinforced.
  As a young scientist, Mead traveled to Samoa, New Guinea, and Bali in 
the 1920s and '30s to study more `primitive' societies, wanting to see 
what she, as an American and a westerner, could learn from cultures 
that were so different from our own. Mead's theories about adolescence, 
sexuality, aggression, gender roles, and education opened up new ways 
of thinking about our own society. In later years, she studied more 
contemporary cultures, but always with an eye toward learning about how 
better to understand ourselves and to interact in what was rapidly 
becoming a multicultural world. Mead's ideas and thoughts are 
inextricably interwoven in our fabric today, many decades after her 
first studies of cultures, and nearly a quarter century after her 
death. While some still attract lively controversy, many of the 
concepts we take for granted today in any discussion of cultural 
difference, community, peace, gender, or human rights--were brought to 
the forefront by Mead in the '30s, '40s, and '50s.
  More than thirty books, dozens of films, and thousands of articles 
later, her ideas continue to thrive and inspire. Her famous admonition, 
`Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can 
change the world,' has become the motto of hundreds of community action 
groups. For the Centennial, more than a dozen of her books have been 
reissued with new and timely introductions. Many organizations and 
individuals across this country and around the world are taking time to 
remember Mead and reacquaint themselves with what she stood for, her 
work, and its implications for the future. The Institute for 
Intercultural Studies (IIS), founded by Mead in 1944, continues under 
the guidance of Mary Catherine Bateson, author, cultural anthropologist 
and Mead's only child. The Institute's mission, an increasingly 
important one, is to advance knowledge by creating and funding projects 
that are likely to affect contemporary intercultural and international 
relations. The IIS maintains a website, www.mead2001.org.
 `If my mother were alive today, I know she would be on-line, using 
the internet to communicate rapidly, to gather and discuss ideas, to 
bring people together,' says Bateson. `It is the continued interchange 
around her ideas that we hope to foster in commemorating her 100th 
birthday.' Happy birthday, Margaret Mead--and let intercultural and 
international understanding reign in this new century.''

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