[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 15 (Monday, February 14, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S1356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 51--RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WRITINGS OF 
    DASHIELL HAMMETT TO AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE ON THE 75TH 
     ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF ``THE MALTESE FALCON''

  Mrs. FEINSTEIN submitted the following resolution; which was 
considered and agreed to:

                               S. Res. 51

       Whereas Samuel Dashiell Hammett was born in St. Mary's 
     County, Maryland, on May 27, 1894, and died in New York City, 
     on January 10, 1961;
       Whereas Dashiell Hammett joined Pinkerton's National 
     Detective Agency in 1915 at the age of 21 and worked for the 
     agency in Maryland, Washington, Idaho, Utah, Montana, and 
     California;
       Whereas Dashiell Hammett served the United States in the 
     Army Ambulance Motor Corps during World War I and, after 
     enlisting in 1942 at the age of 48, in the Aleutian Islands 
     during World War II, and is buried at Arlington National 
     Cemetery;
       Whereas Dashiell Hammett wrote ``The Maltese Falcon'' 
     (published on Febraury 14, 1930), 1 of the most widely-read 
     crime novels in history, which introduced the literary figure 
     Sam Spade, 1 of the most famous detectives in American 
     literature, and set San Francisco as the center of hard-
     boiled crime fiction;
       Whereas ``The Maltese Falcon'' has appeared in hundreds of 
     editions in 50 countries and over 30 languages and was 
     adapted into 3 movies, including a 1941 Warner Brothers film 
     directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, which 
     has been recognized by the American Film Institute as 1 of 
     the greatest movies of all time; and
       Whereas ``The Maltese Falcon'' turned mystery and crime 
     novels into a widely-recognized genre of literature and is a 
     classic novel of American literature: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) salutes Dashiell Hammett as 1 of the most notable 
     authors of hard-boiled crime fiction;
       (2) notes the 75th anniversary of the publication of 
     Dashiell Hammet's ``The Maltese Falcon''; and
       (3) recognizes ``The Maltese Falcon'' as a great American 
     crime novel.

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