[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 124 (Thursday, September 28, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H7890-H7891]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 KATHERINE DUNHAM POST OFFICE BUILDING

  Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5929) to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 950 Missouri Avenue in East St. Louis, Illinois, as 
the ``Katherine Dunham Post Office Building''.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 5929

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. KATHERINE DUNHAM POST OFFICE BUILDING.

       (a) Designation.--The facility of the United States Postal 
     Service located at 950 Missouri Avenue in East St. Louis, 
     Illinois, shall be known and designated as the ``Katherine 
     Dunham Post Office Building''.
       (b) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, 
     document, paper, or other record of the United States to the 
     facility referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be 
     a reference to the ``Katherine Dunham Post Office Building''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Marchant) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their 
remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Katherine Dunham was born in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, in 1909, and from 
a very early age, she was passionate about the arts. She attended 
Chicago University and went on to earn a master's and doctoral degree 
in anthropology. In 1931, she opened her first dance school, and in 
1948, she participated in a tour that was the first to bring African 
American dance to the European public.
  Upon returning from Europe, Dunham directed a production on Broadway, 
and in 1963, she became the first African American to choreograph for 
the Metropolitan Opera. Perhaps one of the most defining moments of her 
career, however, was receiving the Albert Schweitzer Music Award for a 
life's work dedicated to music and devoted to humanity at New York's 
Carnegie Hall.
  In recognition of her countless achievements and contributions to the 
arts, I urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 5929.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield such 
time as he might consume to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello), 
the sponsor of this resolution.
  Mr. COSTELLO. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Illinois for 
yielding the time and thank him for his cosponsorship of this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight in support of H.R. 5929, the Katherine 
Dunham Post Office Designation Act. Katherine Dunham was a legendary 
dancer, choreographer, and social activist. Katherine Dunham always 
said she wanted a useful legacy, a legacy that was more than being a 
dancer. She truly achieved that goal.
  Katherine Dunham was born on June 22, 1909, in the Chicago suburb of 
Glen Ellyn. She was one of the first African Americans to attend the 
University of Chicago, where she eventually earned

[[Page H7891]]

her bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in anthropology. She 
achieved broad critical acclaim both in the United States and abroad 
for her performances, borrowing movements and rhythms from the 
Caribbean and South America, while also adhering to classical ballet. 
Her technique is still taught and bears her name.
  Ms. Dunham used her fame to focus the public's attention on social 
injustices around the world, including enduring a 47-day hunger strike 
at the age of 82 to help shift public awareness to the international 
relationship between America and Haiti. Further, she received many 
awards and recognition for her work such as the Presidential Medal of 
Arts, Southern Cross of Haiti, the Kennedy Center Honors, the French 
Legion Honor and the NCAAP Lifetime Achievement Award.
  In 1967, Ms. Dunham moved to East St. Louis, Illinois, where she 
helped open a performing arts training center and established a dance 
anthropology program at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville. 
The center in East St. Louis was eventually named the Katherine Dunham 
Center for the Arts and Humanities.
  Honoring Katherine Dunham with this post office designation is 
fitting and appropriate, not only to Katherine and her family, but the 
residents of the city of East St. Louis and the congressional district 
that I am privileged to represent. East St. Louis is a community that 
has suffered hard times, but through it all, Katherine Dunham and her 
center served as a focal point for revitalization and hope for the city 
and its people.
  Mr. Speaker, Katherine Dunham touched the world, not only through her 
artistic gifts, but with her conscience as well. Through her, we grew 
as a Nation. Just as she challenged the norms of dance, she challenged 
all of us to confront the important issues of our time. Renaming this 
post office for Katherine Dunham is a small gesture, but it is one way 
to say thank you for her continuing contributions to the people of East 
St. Louis, which she was proud to call home.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 5929, 
and I thank my friend from Illinois.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  If I just might close, I am pleased to join with my colleague from 
Illinois in this legislation. Katherine Dunham was an academician, a 
scholar, an activist, an anthropologist, a great dancer, a 
choreographer, a culturess, I do not know of many things that she was 
not, a businesswoman, a person who brought life and spirit wherever she 
was, and she was fortunate to live to a ripe old age.
  All of us who have studied her, had the opportunity to see her, to 
know about her, our lives have indeed been enriched, and I am pleased 
to join in the sponsorship and urge passage of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MARCHANT. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support the passage 
of H.R. 5929, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Marchant) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 5929.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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