[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 31 (Tuesday, March 5, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H955-H956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1210
                HONORING THE LIFE OF RALPH WALDO ELLISON

  (Mr. LANKFORD asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LANKFORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise to be able to pay honor to a man 
who deserves honor. March 1 would have been Ralph Waldo Ellison's--we 
know him as Ralph Ellison--100th birthday.
  Ralph Ellison is a proud son of Oklahoma City. He's a graduate of 
Douglas High School in Oklahoma City. He hopped trains to Tuskegee to 
go to Tuskegee College on a music scholarship.
  He's a musician, he's a sculptor, and he's the writer of the famous 
work, ``Invisible Man.'' It was the defining work of African American 
literature in the 1950s, and still continues today as being one of the 
defining works to be able to point our culture to not ignore racial 
injustice, social injustice, and economic injustice that still occurs 
in our Nation today.
  His work ethic, his passion for education, and his passion for 
justice is a

[[Page H956]]

great example to all Americans. I rise to be able to honor a great 
Oklahoma citizen, Ralph Ellison, and begin a one-year celebration of 
his 100th birthday.

                          ____________________