Senatorial Colloquy on American History and Politics
-
-
-
-
Former Senator Birch Bayh, one of the most respected elder statesmen in American politics, returned to Washington College in Spring 2011 to teach a special extracurricular colloquy on American history and politics for Washington College students.As U.S. Senator from Indiana between 1963 and 1981, Senator Bayh won fame as a champion of civil rights and education, helping to draft the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act. He authored two successful amendments to the U.S. Constitution (including the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18), as well as the Equal Rights Amendment, which was not ratified. No other lawmaker since the nation’s founding has authored two constitutional amendments. Senator Bayh was the architect of Title IX, which ensured equal opportunity for female college students, faculty, and student athletes. He ran twice for the presidency, in 1972 and 1976, and his son Evan now occupies his father’s old seat in the Senate.The Senatorial Colloquy on American History and Politics - a non credited, extracurricular seminar will meet on March 22, April 5, and April 26, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. The Senator will lead discussions on such topics as women’s rights, civil rights, the Supreme Court, and electoral politics - and share firsthand stories from a career in which he has worked closely with everyone from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama. Each session will include an informal dinner with Senator Bayh.
Related Galleries
-
The “American Pictures” series at the Smithsonian continued with its fourth and final installment when memoirist, novelist, and musician James McBride explored a dynamic 1969 photograph of soul music legend James Brown performing at the Shrine Auditorium. The photograph that McBride chose to speak about, “Singer James Brown During a Performance at the Shrine” (1969) memorialized the legendary performer at the height of his career, bringing funk music to an audience eager to embrace the new sound. -
After going 151 years without an official trial, Adam Goodheart’s Chestertown’s America class finally brought his case to court to determine if Judge “Bloody” Carmichael was a traitor or a hero. -
The C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience brought ten students on a road trip to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Students took part in an all-day workshop on how to conduct research in federal records, taught by Archives staff and professional historians. Students and faculty from the University of Maryland, George Washington University, American University, and other institutions also participated in the event, which was organized by the Society for History in the Federal Government.
The day concluded with a private tour of the National Archives’ “treasure vault,” where students got up-close looks at some incredible documents that are not usually on display … including George Washington’s handwritten nomination of his first cabinet, James Madison’s draft of the Bill of Rights, Abraham Lincoln’s letter appointing Ulysses S. Grant to command the Union armies, FDR’s “day that will live in infamy” speech, and the original briefcase from the Watergate burglary.
