[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 16, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO CRANBROOK EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY

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                          HON. JOE KNOLLENBERG

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 16, 2004

  Mr. KNOLLENBERG. Mr. Speaker, today I am honored to pay tribute to 
the Cranbrook Educational Community, which celebrates its centennial 
year in 2004.
  On January 18, 1904, George and Ellen Booth bought a run-down farm in 
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, for a vacation site and possible home for 
their family. In 1922, the Booths and local parents joined together to 
form a school for neighborhood children that would become one of the 
world's leading centers for art and education.
  Cranbrook grew into that leading center because George and Ellen 
Booth were committed to personal growth and community service through 
art, architecture, science, and education. George Booth described this 
commitment at the dedication of Cranbrook School in 1927 when he said:
  ``We were unwilling to go through life with our aims centered mainly 
in the pursuit of wealth and with a devotion wholly to the ordinary 
opportunity for social satisfaction. We were not willing to leave all 
of the more enduring joys for our children or the joy of work in so 
good a cause entirely to our friends after we had passed on; rather did 
we wish, in our day, to do what we could and give tangible expression 
now to our other accomplishments by adventures into a still more 
enduring phase of life. We wished to see our dreams come true while we 
were, to the best of our ability, helping to carry on the work of 
creation.''
  Today, the Booths' dreams live on as the Cranbrook Educational 
Community thrives as a premier educational and cultural resource for 
Bloomfield Hills and its surrounding communities.
  The community's Institute of Science provides high-quality science 
education programs to children and families throughout southeast 
Michigan, while its Academy of art is the only graduate art program in 
the country devoted solely to fine arts education. Meanwhile, the 
Cranbrook Schools educate students in all grades while maintaining a 
reputation as one of the most challenging independent schools in the 
country.
  The Cranbrook Educational Community has been a tremendous asset for 
100 years to young and old alike in the pursuit of knowledge and 
enrichment. Cranbrook is an institution full of treasures and rich 
history that will allow it to continue to be a leader in education for 
the next 100 years to come.
  It is institutions such as the Cranbrook Educational Community that 
make this Nation great. I extend to all members of the Cranbrook 
community my congratulations as they celebrate their 100th anniversary.

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