[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 105 (Wednesday, September 8, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1544]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       THE EUGENE O'NEILL FOUNDATION 30TH ANNIVERSARY RECOGNITION

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                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 7, 2004

  Mr. MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
30th anniversary of The Eugene O'Neill Foundation, Tao House, in 
Danville (Contra Costa County), California, and the unrelenting work 
this organization has accomplished in realizing its mission of 
celebrating the life and works of the only American playwright to 
receive the Nobel Prize and four Pulitzer Prizes.
  The all-volunteer foundation is headquartered at Tao House, which was 
the residence where O'Neill and his wife Carlotta lived from 1937 to 
1944. It is here that O'Neill wrote his last six plays, including the 
classics ``A Moon for the Misbegotten,'' ``A Long Day's Journey into 
Night,'' and ``The Iceman Cometh.'' O'Neill's works helped shape 
American theater as we enjoy and appreciate it today.
  I am honored to have played a role three decades ago in helping the 
foundation realize its goal of preserving Tao House, which is on a 158-
acre ranch bordering the Las Trampas open space in the rolling hills 
west of Danville, with a commanding view of the San Ramon Valley and 
Mt. Diablo. Our collective efforts resulted in the house and property 
achieving designation as a National Historic Site under management of 
the National Park Service. It has also become a valuable resource 
center that is shared and enjoyed by hundreds of scholars and visitors 
today and for future generations.
  The foundation has brought worldwide attention to Contra Costa County 
and its cultural activities through development of Tao House into a 
center for literary, performing, and visual arts and a resource center 
for scholars studying O'Neill and the American theater, as well as 
historians and producers of film and television documentaries on 
O'Neill.
  The library at Tao House houses a rare collection of O'Neill 
memorabilia that has been amassed through the efforts of individual 
board members and donations from close friends of Eugene and Carlotta 
Monterey O'Neill. The priceless collection includes photographs, 
letters, signed and annotated editions of O'Neill's plays, and personal 
clothing.
  In 1991, the foundation established a program for encouraging 
creative expression in talented high school students. Through the 
program, students learn about O'Neill and are given an opportunity to 
spend time in the environment that O'Neill found so inspiring. 
Instruction in art, photography/video, writing and drama is provided by 
college professors and actors.
  Five years later, the foundation initiated the Playwrights' Theatre 
in the Old Barn on the Tao House estate, where staged readings of plays 
are presented on Sunday afternoons. Prominent Bay Area directors and 
actors take part. The name of the series honors O'Neill's Playwrights' 
Theatre, formed in 1916 in New York City by the Provincetown Players 
who committed themselves to fostering American playwrights.
  Each year, Bay Area artists are selected to create new works in the 
natural setting of the Tao House estate. Works are displayed during the 
O'Neill Festival in the Danville Fine Arts Gallery.
  This month September 2004, the foundation will present its fifth 
annual Eugene O'Neill Festival, a community celebration that includes 
performances of O'Neill works, lectures and seminars by authorities on 
O'Neill, discussions with prominent actors, authors and O'Neill 
scholars, and exhibits.
  While a tribute to the great literary genius O'Neill, the festival is 
also a fitting tribute to the Eugene O'Neill Foundation and its 30th 
anniversary. The foundation represents not only a significant resource 
and asset in the cultural life of America, but for actors, artists, 
authors, playwrights, scholars and visitors from throughout the world.
  I invite my colleagues to join me in congratulating the foundation 
staff on its 30th anniversary.

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