[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 118 (Friday, August 3, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1398-E1399]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   TRIBUTE TO DR. ED BRIDGES, DIRECTOR OF THE ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF 
                          ARCHIVES AND HISTORY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 2, 2012

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Dr. Ed C. Bridges, longtime 
Director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, which is 
the oldest state archives agency in the United States. After 30 years 
of service in this position, Dr. Bridges will be retiring at the end of 
the current fiscal year.
   Dr. Bridges is a graduate of Furman University, where he achieved 
both the Woodrow Wilson and Danforth Fellowships. He went on to receive 
his Masters and Doctorate in History from the University of Chicago. 
This fervent pursuit of knowledge eventually translated into a lifelong 
career.
   Before holding his current position as Director, Dr. Bridges wore 
many hats in the academic world; including, teaching at the high school 
level in South Carolina, teaching at the

[[Page E1399]]

collegiate level at the Georgia Institute of Technology, doing contract 
research at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and serving 
six years at the Georgia Department of Archives.
   Outside of his academic work, Dr. Bridges has also participated in 
numerous state and community activities. He has served as President of 
the Alabama Historical Association, as a member of the Alabama 
Historical Commission, on the Governor's Mansion Advisory Board, and 
many more. He received the Alabama Humanities Foundation's Annual 
Humanities Award and was inducted into the College of Communications 
Hall of Fame at the University of Alabama. Dr. Bridges expertise is 
also recognized beyond the State of Alabama, having represented the 
United States in archival exchanges with both the former Soviet Union 
and the People's Republic of China, and as vice chairman of the 
Information Policy Task Force of State Governments.
   Ed Bridges embodies the very best qualities of a true scholar, one 
who knows that knowledge means nothing without the will to pass it on 
to others and to future generations. Dr. Bridges has done this and more 
though his outstanding career.
   On behalf of the people of Alabama and my colleagues in the Alabama 
Delegation, I would like to extend my personal appreciation to Dr. 
Bridges for his service to Alabama's past, present, and future through 
his stewardship and tremendous leadership of the Alabama Department of 
Archives and History. I would like to wish him, his wife Martha and 
their family the very best in their future endeavors.

                          ____________________