[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 28 (Wednesday, March 13, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S1852]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HISTORICAL PUBLICATION AWARD

  Mr. DASCHLE. Madam President, I am very pleased to note that a recent 
Senate publication has won a prestigious award. At its forthcoming 
annual meeting, the Society for History in the Federal Government will 
present its George Pendleton Award to Senate Historical Editor Wendy 
Wolff and the Senate Historical Office for the book entitled Capitol 
Builder: The Shorthand Journals of Montgomery C. Meigs, 1853-1861. The 
Pendleton Award is given annually for ``an outstanding major 
publication on the Federal Government's history produced by or for a 
Federal history program.'' It commemorates former U.S. Senator George 
Pendleton, who sponsored the 1883 civil service reform act that bears 
his name.
  As an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Montgomery Meigs 
supervised construction of the current Senate and House wings and the 
Capitol dome. During this project, Meigs kept a detailed journal of his 
activities, written in an obscure shorthand and only recently 
transcribed. This publication provides rich new information on 
construction of the Capitol extension, and on politics and life in mid-
nineteenth-century Washington.
  The Meigs transcription and publication project has been a 
collaborative effort among a number of congressional offices over the 
past decade, including the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the 
House, the Architect of the Capitol, and the Library of Congress. 
William Mohr, a retired Senate Official Reporter of Debates, translated 
the shorthand, with financial support provided by the Senate 
Bicentennial Commission and the U.S. Capitol Historical Society.
  This project has been guided through to completion by the Senate's 
very able historian, Dr. Richard Baker, and his dedicated staff. The 
idea originated in 1991 when Joe Stewart was Secretary of the Senate. 
It was Joe Stewart who ensured that the resources were made available 
to bring this fascinating history to the American public. It should be 
noted that Dr. Baker is the first Senate historian and he has set a 
high standard indeed for every Senate historian who will follow in his 
footsteps. We in the Democratic Caucus have been pleased to listen to 
Dr. Baker's ``history minutes'' each Tuesday at the start of our 
regular weekly conferences. He has given us a deeper appreciation of 
the challenges previous Senators faced, the rich traditions of the 
Senate, and also the humor exhibited in past times. His stewardship of 
this project has been justly rewarded by the awarding of the George 
Pendleton Award to the Montgomery Meigs Journals.
  Copies of this 900-page book are available from the Government 
Printing Office and the Senate Gift Shop. I highly recommend it to my 
colleagues and to anyone else who treasures the Capitol.

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