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Congressional Record—House H801

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Congressional Record—House H801 January 22, 2007 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H801 higher education in Illinois and having Illinois State University has been a Whereas Martha Sharp was a social worker it housed in the Bloomington-Normal model for higher education institutions trained at the Jane Addams Hull House, a area. around this Nation for the last 150 community service organization in Chicago, In February of 1857, then-Governor Illinois, and the Reverend Waitstill Sharp years. I wish them all the best in their was a Harvard-educated lawyer and a Sunday William Bissell signed a bill, legisla- year-long celebration. I also want to school teacher who was inspired to become a tion creating Normal University, and thank the chairman of the committee, Unitarian minister; established the board of education for Chairman MILLER, and Ranking Mem- Whereas, after their arrival in Czecho- the State of Illinois as its governing ber MCKEON for allowing this bill to slovakia, the Sharps immediately grasped body. After Jesse Fell secured financial make it to the floor today. that they needed not only to help feed refu- backing totaling $141,000, future Presi- Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my col- gees, but also to assist Jews and opponents dent Abraham Lincoln, then acting as leagues to join me in wishing Illinois of the Nazi regime escape to safety elsewhere attorney for the board, drew up the in Europe; State University congratulations as it Whereas the Sharps refused to leave bond guaranteeing that Bloomington’s marks its 150th anniversary. Prague when, in March 1939, a month after citizens would fulfill their financial Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I have the Sharps’ arrival, the Nazis occupied commitments. no further speakers and would close Czechoslovakia, making the Sharps’ work Established originally as a teacher with just urging all my colleagues to more urgent, more complicated, and more education institution, then known as support this bill, and I yield back the dangerous; Illinois State Normal University, it has balance of my time. Whereas the Sharps insisted on continuing developed into a multipurpose univer- their life-saving mission by working out of Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speak- private residences even after April 1939, when sity, recognized around the world with er, I thank my colleagues from the degree programs in the bachelor’s, the Nazis ransacked the office of the Uni- great State of Illinois representing this tarian mission in Prague and threw the fur- master’s and doctoral levels. resolution, celebrating 150 years of Illi- niture into the street; Currently, approximately 20,000 un- nois State University, and I yield back Whereas the Sharps repeatedly risked their dergraduates and post-graduate stu- the balance of my time. own safety to exit and re-enter Nazi-occupied dents attend the university, supported The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Czechoslovakia, crisscrossed Europe to ob- by an outstanding university staff of tain the travel documents necessary to help question is on the motion offered by 3,200 employees. Jews and opponents of the Nazi regime es- I would also note that ISU today ben- the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. cape Czechoslovakia, and even escorted some efits from the support of over 65,000 DAVIS) that the House suspend the refugees by train through Germany to the alumni living and working around the rules and agree to the resolution, H. United Kingdom; Res. 57. Whereas the Sharps were determined to world. complete their 6-month mission, even after My colleagues today have shared The question was taken. The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the warnings that the Gestapo was searching for much about Illinois State University, them; but here is a few little-known facts. opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of Whereas the Sharps stayed in Czecho- The model for student teaching that those voting have responded in the af- slovakia until August 30, 1939, 1 day before today is used nationwide was invented firmative. Gestapo agents came to arrest Martha by Illinois State Normal University Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speak- Sharp, who had become known for her bold- teacher Cecilla Lauby, who today is 94 er, on that I demand the yeas and nays. ness at evading Nazi rules restricting travel; years old and still lives in the town of The yeas and nays were ordered. Whereas, upon the Sharps’ return in 1940 to The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- their family and the Wellesley Hills Uni- Normal. tarian Church in Massachusetts, their report One of every eight teachers in Illinois ant to clause 8 of rule XX and the to the American Unitarian Association graduated from Illinois State Univer- Chair’s prior announcement, further about the imminent danger posed by the sity. Illinois State University’s insur- proceedings on this question will be Nazis to refugees across Europe led to the ance program is so popular and re- postponed. Sharps being asked to establish a similar op- eration in France under the newly founded spected that Lloyd’s of London sends it f executives each year for management Unitarian Service Committee; training. And as others have noted, Il- PAYING TRIBUTE TO REVEREND Whereas the Sharps returned to Europe in linois State University has made the WAITSTILL SHARP AND MARTHA 1940 fully aware of the Nazi terror they SHARP FOR THEIR HEROIC EF- would face; Kiplinger list for the 100 top univer- Whereas the Sharps had a special interest sities in public education three FORTS TO SAVE JEWS DURING in saving refugee children, as well as artists, straight times. THE HOLOCAUST intellectuals, and political dissidents, and Illinois State’s physic’s program is Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I move to the Sharps and the Unitarian colleagues who ranked as one of the top in the coun- suspend the rules and agree to the reso- followed in their footsteps set up systems try. Illinois State’s first president, lution (H. Res. 52) paying tribute to and escape routes that functioned through- Charles Hovey, recruited a regimen of out World War II to assist approximately Reverend Waitstill Sharp and Martha 2,000 men, women, and children to gain free- teachers to fight in the Civil War. Sharp for their recognition by the Yad Illinois State is also the home of the dom; Vashem Holocaust Martyrs’ and He- Whereas the famous Jewish novelist, Lion Gamma Phi Circus, the oldest colle- roes’ Remembrance Authority as Feuchtwanger, who was one of the first Ger- giate circus in the United States, Righteous Among the Nations for their mans to have his citizenship revoked after which was founded in 1929. That circus heroic efforts to save Jews during the Hitler came to power and whose name topped today is one of two collegiate circuses Holocaust. the Gestapo’s ‘‘Surrender on Demand’’ list, in the United States. The Clerk read as follows: was one of the first people the Sharps helped Finally, I would note that Watterson in a dramatic and dangerous escape from Towers dormitory on Illinois State H. RES. 52 France; University, is considered one of the Whereas, on June 13, 2006, the Yad Vashem Whereas Eva Rosemarie Feigl, who was 14 tallest college dormitories in the world Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remem- in December 1940 when Martha Sharp helped brance Authority in Israel, an organization her and 28 other children reach safety in the and is the tallest structure between the dedicated to preserving the memory of Holo- United States, provided eye-witness testi- cities of Chicago and the City of St. caust victims, honored the Reverend mony that enabled the Yad Vashem Holo- Louis. Waitstill Sharp, and his wife, Martha Sharp, caust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Illinois State University has been a posthumously as ‘‘Righteous Among the Na- Authority in Jerusalem, Israel, to honor the model for higher education institutions tions’’ for risking their lives to save Jews Sharps as ‘‘Righteous Among the Nations’’; around this country over the last 150 during the Holocaust; Whereas, when the Sharps’ plans to set up years. I would like to note a very good Whereas the Sharps had to leave their 2- the first office of the newly formed Unitarian friend of mine, Illinois State Univer- year-old daughter and 6-year-old son in the Service Committee in Paris, France, failed sity’s current president, Dr. Al Bow- care of family and congregants in Wellesley, as a result of the Nazi occupation of France, Massachusetts, to answer a call from leaders the Sharps instead established an operation man, and congratulate him, his great of the American Unitarian Association to go in neutral Portugal, where throughout World staff and all of those affiliated with Il- to Czechoslovakia in February 1939 to pro- War II Lisbon remained the last hope for ref- linois State University as they mark vide humanitarian assistance for the tens of ugees seeking safe passage out of Nazi-occu- this great achievement. thousands of refugees crowding into Prague; pied territory; VerDate Aug 31 2005 02:58 Jan 23, 2007 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\K22JA7.019 H22JAPT1 hmoore on PROD1PC68 with HMHOUSE H802 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE January 22, 2007 Whereas the Sharps recognized that they scendants of the Reverend Waitstill Sharp On November 1, 2005, the United Na- were dependent upon a much larger circle of and Martha Sharp, and to the Unitarian Uni- tions General Assembly adopted a reso- friends and colleagues who made their her- versalist Service Committee of Cambridge, lution and designated January 27 as an oism possible, such as the people who cared Massachusetts. for the Sharps’ children, the members of the annual International Day of Com- The SPEAKER pro tempore.
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