[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 30, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                135TH BIRTHDAY OF NANNIE HELEN BURROUGHS

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 30, 2014

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me in celebrating the 135th birthday of Nannie 
Helen Burroughs and in recognizing her many contributions to our 
nation, and especially the District of Columbia. Ms. Burroughs was born 
on May 2, 1879, and in 1975, Mayor Walter Washington declared May 10 
``Nannie Helen Burroughs Day'' in D.C.
  Born in Orange, Virginia, Ms. Burroughs moved to Washington with her 
mother when she was five years old. In 1896, Ms. Burroughs graduated 
with honors from M Street School, now Dunbar High School. She proceeded 
to make immeasurable contributions to our city and country as an 
educator, civil rights advocate and religious leader.
  Ms. Burroughs was launched onto the national scene in 1900 with her 
speech at the National Baptist Convention in Richmond, Virginia, 
``Hindering the Women from Helping,'' about giving women a greater role 
in the church. Her speech led to the establishment of the Women's 
Convention to the National Baptist Convention and her selection as its 
secretary. Ms. Burroughs held this position until 1947, when she was 
elected president and served in that capacity until her death in 1961.
  Ms. Burroughs' signature achievement was the founding of the National 
Training School for Negro Women and Girls in the Deanwood Area of 
Washington, D.C. in 1909, where she served as its principal until her 
death in 1961. The school would later be renamed the Nannie Helen 
Burroughs School and remained in operation until 2013.
  Ms. Burroughs contributed to many other parts of the nation, 
including: establishing a Negro women's industrial club--the first of 
its kind--in Louisville, Kentucky in 1898; serving as keynote speaker 
at the first Baptist World Alliance Congress in London, England in 
1905; establishing Woman's Day in the Baptist Church in 1907, while a 
member of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in D.C.; giving the 
commencement speech at Tuskegee Institute in 1934--the first woman to 
do so; serving on the listeners' advisory panel of the National 
Broadcasting Company; and giving a radio address to the nation and 
soldiers fighting abroad men abroad in 1943. She was also a primary 
force in establishing the Frederick Douglass House Museum. Most 
recently, in 2012, Mrs. Burroughs was posthumously awarded membership 
in the American Automobile Association--a benefit which had been denied 
in 1930.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Nannie Helen 
Burroughs for a life of committed service to our children. Her legacy 
continues to offer a powerful example for how we should conduct our 
lives and strive to teach the next generation.

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