[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 27 (Tuesday, February 10, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H1086]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING DR. JEANA BRUNSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, I would like to take this 
opportunity to recognize the life and work of Dr. Jeana Brunson. Dr. 
Brunson was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, a city located on the 
resplendent coast of the Gulf of Mexico which is best known for being 
the home of the first and true Mardi Gras in the Americas.
  Dr. Brunson would remain in Mobile until she earned her bachelor's 
degree in studio art from the University of South Alabama. She then 
moved from her beloved Mobile to the University of Texas in Austin 
where she earned her certification as a teacher. Her pursuit of 
academia then took her to Lubbock, Texas, where she would earn her 
master's degree in museum science from Texas Tech University while also 
serving as a research assistant for the costume and textile division 
for the Museum of Texas Tech.
  Her work in Lubbock earned her a position of cataloger and curatorial 
assistant for the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka, Kansas, and then 
on to the curator for the Camden County Historical Society in Camden, 
New Jersey.
  The position of registrar for the Museum of Science in Tallahassee, 
Florida, finally brought her to the place which she has been calling 
home for the past 20 years. She quickly moved up the ranks as she 
proceeded from registrar to curator to senior curator. During her time 
as head of research and collections, she earned her Ph.D. in historic 
costume and textiles. Finally in 2001, she was able to enjoy the 
fruition of her labor and the realization of her dreams when she became 
the director and chief curator for the Museum of Florida History in 
Tallahassee, Florida.
  From this post in Tallahassee, Madam Speaker, she has been able to 
collect political materials, women's suffrage materials, garments, and 
assorted other pieces of historical significance for a new exhibit to 
be produced in 2013 honoring the accomplishments of the women of my 
home State of Florida.
  Among the honorees will be another great woman of Florida and a 
person whom I have always admired, a constituent of my congressional 
district but a person who belongs to our entire State and to our 
Nation, Roxcy Bolton. Roxcy Bolton is a pioneer among Florida's women. 
She was inducted into the Florida Women's Hall of Fame for forcing 
police and prosecutors to make rape crime a priority as well as 
illustrating to health departments the need for rape treatment centers. 
In fact, the rape treatment center in our public hospital in Miami-Dade 
Florida is named after Roxcy Bolton.
  Dr. Brunson also has traveled across the country earning prestigious 
positions and meritorious accolades for her fine work. Each stop has 
had its pitfalls and its windfalls, but she has never succumbed to the 
temptation of acquiescence in the face of adversity. The lessons that 
the good doctor learned on this long road have been to the benefit of 
our entire Nation. As the director and chief curator for the Museum of 
Florida History, Dr. Brunson has become the steward of Floridian 
culture. She has worked tirelessly to preserve the work of courageous 
women, like Roxcy Bolton, so their stories can be preserved for the 
benefit of our next generation.
  I pray that we may all learn from the examples set by Dr. Jeana 
Brunson, that we may never let our passions be eroded by our 
difficulties, and that we may persevere and never falter in the pursuit 
of our dreams.
  Congratulations, Dr. Brunson.

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