Transcripts For CSPAN3 American Artifacts History Of African Americans In Congress - 20th Century 20240712

The house collection that have to do with that and a lot of history to cover. And the last African American to be elected in the 19th century leaves in 1901, george white of North Carolina. Then its a long time before another African American comes into the house, and that is oscar from illinois. We have a couple of very rare artifacts from oscar de priest from the 19 twenties and thirties. Before i launch into this because i love him so much. Matt, tell us a little bit about Oscar Depriest and how he got into congress. There is a period of almost three decades after George Henry White leaves congress where there is no African Americans who serve in either the house or the senate. That has everything to do with the jim crow laws that go on the books in the south. And the way that that changes overtime during those decades, there is a critical thing going on in the south where African Americans begin to leave the south and move northward as part of a multi decade movement that would later be called the great migration. And that begins, depending on which historian you talk to, 18 nineties, and runs through world war ii. It picks up momentum around world war i as there is a need in the north to fill industrial jobs and jobs that have been occupied by men who have now gone off to fight the war. And you see tens of thousands of African Americans doing north work for the first time, out of the rural south, out of agricultural jobs, to industrial jobs in chicago, st. Louis, cleveland, pittsburgh, new york. And overtime, the African American population in these cities increases. The African Americans in those cities are gradually recruited by the political parties. And Oscar Depriest is a perfect example of that process. He actually is born in the south. He and his family are part of a group called the exit dusters who moved to the midwest, to kansas. He actually goes to grade school insulin, a kansas. But he finds his way to chicago in the 1890s and he moves up through the political system. He becomes a chicago city councilman in the mid 19 teens. And his career has some peaks and valleys. By the 1920s, he is part of the republican political machine in chicago, as an alderman, a board alderman. And in 1928, the city congressman from chicago, a very powerful republican named martin madden, who was on the appropriations committee, passes away mid congress, in the fall elections, depriest runs for the seat and he wins. So in 1929, he comes to the house of representatives. One of my favorite things about Oscar Depriests career is this little tiny button that we have in the collection that is from his career. Its really small. It says depriest for congress, with a picture of him. One of the things i love most about it is they are very rare, probably not that many of them around in the first place, and very few survived. I think ive only seen maybe one or two others and existence. But if you think about this tiny little button, worn on someones lapel, looking for all the world like any other button, this actually represents a revolution, the attempt to elect an African American to congress for the first time in decades. So just the presence of this little inch and a quarter diameter piece of metal would have been a real statement on the part of whoever was wearing it. And i love that it has survived and that it has come back to the place that whoever owned this wanted depriest to end up, which was the u. S. Congress. And when he got here, he then found a lot of things that he was interested in, a lot that came to him that perhaps he didnt ask for in the way of how he was received, the issues he handled, all kinds of stuff like that. He does end up being sort of the surrogate representative for African Americans in general. Right . Absolutely. Must have been an interesting shift for him, because he had come up through the chicago political machine and while he had advocated for his constituency in chicago, which was largely African American on the south side of chicago, you didnt get the sense that he really embraced this role as a representative of African Americans generally, until he comes to congress and a couple of things happen right off the bat almost immediately that really forced him to make a very public role for African American political rights. He is symbolically, and in fact, the first African American to serve in a long time. But when he comes to congress, there is a bit of a firestorm in the press. It was tradition for the first lady, in this case, herbert hoovers wife, to have a tee for all the congressional wives, spouses. Nowadays, but wives back in the late 19 twenties. That caused consternation, because there were several Southern States that objected to the fact that the wives of their members of Congress Might actually have to have tea in the white house with an African American woman. There were even Southern States that had their legislatures pass resolutions asking hoover to make sure that this didnt happen. What hoover did was to divide the tea party into a couple of different sessions, and the one that jesse depriest, oscars wife, was invited to was a very carefully preselected small group of congresswomen who she knew would not object. This got out there in the press. Oscar depriest just pilloried the Southern State legislatures that had spoken out. And this is the first kind of roadblock that he runs into. Another one happens here in the house, right . Right about where this office is located. People dont want their offices to be next to him. Members say i will not serve, and they dont want to be serving with an African American. And when we were doing some research recently on the history of who had one office in the different house office buildings. In the Cannon House Office building, than just known as the house office building, it turned out that the place that Oscar Depriest was assigned was a bathroom. They ripped out the plumbing and just turned it into an office for him. One has to wonder. Did they choose that particular space because it could happen at the last minute and it would sidestep people objecting in advance . They thought just the bathroom was next door. Its definitely these things that bubble up from lots of primary Source Research that our offices do. But we learn these stories behind the stories. One other episode happens late in depriests career when a staffer is, essentially his chief of staff and a Family Member of the chief of staff, are asked to leave the house restaurant and move to a segregated room for African Americans to get lunch in an adjoining space. And depriest objected to this, unsurprisingly, and defended his secretary, his chief of staff. And he went after the chairman of what was then called the accounts committee in the house, Lindsey Warren of North Carolina who had dictated that the restaurant needed to be segregated. And he comes on to the house floor and the press pays a lot of attention to this. And his line, essentially, is if we cannot have farrar freedom, if we cant have a quality under the dome of the capital, then wherein gods name are we going to get it . And the house creates a special committee to investigate segregation in the restaurant, but the issue dies in that committee and the restaurant remains segregated well into the 20th century. Thats interesting because it kind of brings up for me, thinking about not just the experience of African American members in the 19th century and early 20th century, but whats the experience of African American staff there. The restaurant is a good example, because in the 19th century, the privilege and responsibility and job of running the house restaurant was given as a concession, was a franchise of running that. And in the 18 sixties, after the civil war is over, that is awarded to a famous africanamerican restaurant tour, George Downing. He is up in newport. He is very famous as a caterer up there. He comes down to run that restaurant and his experience as someone who is a businessman operating in that space and in the reconstruction period, there are some salient examples of African Americans being sort of the pioneers of being on staff. In the same way that the reconstruction period in African American members is they are very few in number but they managed to sort of be in positions that have not been created for them, but positions that do have some weight purpose in the house. And some symbolic importance. These individuals were put in those positions. One of them was william smith. He was appointed the house librarian in the 18 eighties. That is an appointed position. Its one of the most prominent positions in the institution. And at that point, he is one of the highest ranking African Americans in the federal government. And he had been brought along slowly. He first came to the house and worked in the library during the civil war. And he had been promoted by radical republicans like senator some tour, who helped push him along in his career. Another one who is appointed during reconstruction is the first African American page to serve in the house on the floor, alfred q powell of manchester, virginia. Thats just south across the james from richmond. And he is appointed by a member. He is part of the reconstructed virginia government. He is a carpetbagger from the. North a former Union Officer and he serves in a district that represents richmond and its environs. He is appointed in 1871 and serves about a year and a half in the house. And he is also, the other connection there, is that he is the great grandnephew of john mercer langston, who was in washington. I think he was serving as the dean or president of Howard University at the time, and later he will be in congress as well. There is this interesting kind of network of people who know other people that are able to move pieces around and make things happen. And then we get from George Downing in the 18 Sixties Running the house restaurant right up to the chief of staff for Oscar Depriest being refused service in the house. And Oscar Depriest, later in his career, he also champions these issues that need championing and are not necessarily related to his constituency. He then becomes a National Figure. And another object we have in the house that relates to that is a program from the speech she is giving in dayton, ohio, not very far from chicago. It doesnt even say what he is talking about. He is just sort of speaking and it happens at the local junior high school. There is a band and theres all kinds of terrific who haram the whole thing. He is being presented as a statesman which is important to the African American Community Living in dayton. Towards the end of his career, probably earlier in his congressional career also, is part of that whole notion of surrogate representation. The fact that you are representing people beyond the borders of your district or your state, you are a National Figure. But we dont really think of Oscar Depriest that much as a National Figure anymore. Of course, we do, but many people dont. But there are some who soon thereafter, the late 1940s, start to arrive and do become National Figures. Depriest leaves congress in 1935. Hes defeated for reelection actually by another African American from chicago, who is a democrat, arthur mitchell. And he is the first African American elected as a democrat to congress. And what you begin to see in that decade of the 19 thirties into the 19 forties, and you see it very clearly in this chicago district that depriest is from, is that there is a shift in African American allegiance away from the republican party, the party of lincoln, the party of reconstruction, to the Democratic Party during the new deal. And part of that is, it has to do with the fact that African Americans are recruited by democratic city leaders. There is the promise of greater political participation, which is that promise that pulled African Americans out of the south during the great migration to begin with. And also, the fact that they have a slightly greater voice in that new Deal Coalition that Franklin Roosevelt puts together, so they began to be drawn towards the Democratic Party. Mitchell is the embodiment of that. Mitchell, however, is completely the opposite of depriest. He chooses not to be a surrogate representative. He downplays the fact that hes an African American in congress. He doesnt want to push black issues, per se, as he told the press on numerous occasions. He serves for a couple terms and he is replaced by another member named william dawson, who was one of the longest serving African Americans in the house history. Dawson, again, another individual who started off as a republican and moved to the Democratic Party in chicago. And he is important because by the late 1940s, he chairs the committee that will become what we now call oversight and government reform. It was Government Operations back in the 19 forties. And he chairs that committee really, with the exception of a single term, for the rest of his career, so for two decades. He is another member who comes into the institution, and unlike depriest who challenges things frontally, he feels like he can make changes by fitting into the institution and trying to abject change from his position of power as the Committee Chairman. One of the interesting things about him is, in addition to being the Committee Chair and being part of the institutional approach to things, he then has a portrait of himself, as many Committee Chairman did, created. And its one of the first portraits of an African American in the u. S. Congress, which really raises it to a very elevated place in our estimation. William dawsons portrait, its the first African American Committee Chairman portrait in the house collection, and he is the first African American Committee Chair of a Standing Committee of the house. And its a wonderful portrait and that it really represents him as the embodiment of a Committee Chair. Its not one where there are lots of sort of other elements in there to sort of give you clues to who he is. Its really about the stature of the man. Hes standing alone. Hes standing in a very conservative blue suit. He looks like a member of congress. And thats something thats really important. Part of this, part of his approach and many peoples approach to working in congress, as members, is to be part of this important institution. And he uses that and becomes an incredibly long serving Committee Chair. So william dawson, as chairman of the Government Operations, was a member who had a legislative style that was very much a workhorse style. He was behind the scenes. He did not want to be in the media, very quiet, determined, but very lowkey. He contrasts his style of legislating markedly with the fellow who is here, represented here in these objects. This is a wonderful book we have by adam Clayton Powell, one of my favorite members of congress. This was published, marching blacks, published right after he is elected in 1944. He begins to serve in 1945. Adam Clayton Powell was definitely a man ready, with a program for progress. He is ready to tell you all about it. He was the pastor of a church in harlem. He represented a harlem district. And he serves a very long time in congress. This is from the beginning of his congressional career. This later, moving from the paper form to wax, is a recording he made called keep the faith, baby. Its a series of speaking meditations on a number of different issues. These really sort of bookend his career, which is very long. And he is no william dawson. He has a very different approach to how to do things. All human beings, black and white, rich and poor, equal in the side of god. Keep your faith in the life of your fellow man, even though he abuses you. When he abuses you, he makes himself a lesser man. A great man once said love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray, pray, pray, pray, pray for them that abuse you and persecute you. Keep your faith yuck. Up through the 1970s, powell was the person who kind of embodied civil rights in the house, civil rights and congress. He is elected in 1944. He and dawson are the only two members of congress for a number of congress is in the early 19 fifties, two very contrasting styles, whereas dawson is very behind the scenes. Powell is out front, talking to the media, pushing against segregation practices in the house restaurant. In the press galleries, in terms of accreditation of African American reporters, he is constantly pushing the envelope. Theres a great story that weve covered in our book black americans in congress, where sam or a burn, the revered, longtime speaker of the house from texas, has a conversation with powell when he first comes in and the gist of it is, freshman, listen quietly and learn. Dont go causing a ruckus. You can imagine powell, this new yorker from harlem listening to this texan explain to him the ways of the house and powell looked at him then said mister speaker, i have a bomb in both hands and i am ready to hurl them. But he had a great relationship with rayburn. According to rayburns account afterwards, he is constantly pressing the envelope in the house. He gets on to the education and labor committee, very influential committee, particularly by the 1960s when we go through a reform period during the kennedy and johnson administrations, and particularly at the start of the Great Society with lyndon johnson. Hes chairman of the committee and it pushes through 50 different measures related to education reforms. So a very substantive legislator, in addition to having a show horse kind of style, very flamboyant. One of the things that i think is interesting about him is those two aspects. Theres the part where he is known as mr. Civil rights, and he is very willing to champion civil rights on all levels, both legislatively and in the life of the house. I remember you telling me once about even something as seemingly minor as sitting in the House Chamber and where you sit in the House Chamber. That two came up for him. There is another story that one of his biographers tells. Seating in the House Chamber is open, as long as you respect the party block tradition, the democrats and the speakers, but when powell came in there was a very prominent southern member who told the press, this man was a chairman of a committee, he said i refused to sit next to a black man on the house floor. And so what powell did was follow him around for a day on the floor, this very Senior Member, and take a seat next to him anytime he sat down. He forced this very Senior Member to move around the chamber, which a lot of people took note of, including the press. Afterwards, powell told a reporter, im a baptist minister by training and i dont know where the tobacco ties that manner drown him. So powell had a good sense of humor. He serves for, oh boy, until the early 1970s. He is one of the longer serving African Americans and house history. You have to remember, when powell came into congress in the mid 19 forties, there was no large Civil Rights Movement that was happening outside of congress. There is nothing happening. And that doesnt happen until the 19 fifties with Martin Luther king and the southern christian leadership conference. Powell is very much the face of civil rights in the u. S. For more than a decade. But then once that movement begins happening outside of congress, as one of his biographers has told us, he begins to compete with it a little bit because he is no longer the face of civil rights. Over time, has attendants, his behavior becomes a little more erratic. The house in the late 1960s refuses to seek him. The Supreme Court rules that he is in fact titled to be seated. But by the late 1960s, he kind of has run the course of his career and leaves the house in the early 1970s. In some cases, we see that in the artifacts we have any house collection. In the case of this late artifact from 1967, keep the faith baby, is recording and which hes speaking over the heads of congress and directly to the people by producing this. Hes a great order. He was a terrific preacher. If you ever see a film clip of him preaching, its really quite something. He then releases this on jubilee records as another example of how hes inserting himself into the conversation. We have two artifacts in the collection that are similar in style and usage. But the small differences and them really show a change in African Americans serving in the congress over just a 15 year period, from the late fifties to the mid seventies. The late fifties object is a phantom. Its called the nations knee grow congressman. It was clearly printed in many large numbers. It was passed out for free. In the late fifties, it contains a big picture of the capital and for members of congress, four African American members of congress who served at that time in the house. Then, if you jump forward to the mid seventies, instead of four members of congress and a big old picture of the capital, it has gotten so crowded there that they have eliminated that. Language has changed. Instead, its black lawmakers in congress. There are over a dozen members there. It really shows a kind of before and after of a particular time in American History and congressional history. It kind of covers the sort of sixties and early seventies and the changes that happened for African Americans in congress. The big change that happens in the middle of that period is the passage of the Voting Rights act of 1965. Its extending protections to African American voters in the south and allowing them to register. This has some pretty big implications. Quite literally changing the face of congress over the course of the next decade. In 1965, there were just six African Americans serving in congress, all in the house. By the mid 1970s, that number has grown to 18 members. Over time, its an increasingly diverse lot. We get our first African American woman Shirley Chisholm in 1969. But more specifically to the Voting Rights act where they protect voters where they had a hard time previously registering because of locals, laws and state laws and disenfranchisement. We have the First Southern members elected since reconstruction. Andrew yang from georgia and Barbara Young from texas. As the numbers of African Americans in congress increase, one thing that this allows that courtroom to do is to create in issues caucus. In 1971, we had the formation of the Congressional Black Caucus. It is a group of roughly a dozen members at that point. But its able to exercise some power as a voting bloc and as a organization which educates members on issues that are important to the black community nationally. The black caucus becomes involved very early on in things like opposing apartheid in south africa. Building momentum to pass a federal holiday to commemorate Martin Luther kings birthday. So its operating at a legislative level. But inside the institution as well, its important to African American members because its doing things like getting them on to bigger and Better Committees and into positions where they can influence a broad range of legislation. One of my favorite parts of the house collection in our campaign buttons, especially as it relates to African American lawmakers, we have early it early 20th century ones for Oscar Depriest. As the numbers of them grow in congress, african members are African American members are represented by a variety in number of buttons. Some are i favorites are from ron dellums just because hes a fascinating member from the west coast. Then ultimately, he comes to cheer a committee of the house. In fact, we have a button right here. Ron dellums, our congressman. This is a Reelection Campaign of his obviously. Biden, he had already begun the in most interesting things he was doing in the ways that he was operating within the house. Dellums is elected to congress in the 1970 election. He comes into the house in 1971. He is a veteran. He had run on an anti war movement, running against the war in vietnam. He represents berkeley, california, which has a strong antiwar constituency. He wants to get on committees where he can begin to affect military policy. So he begins to lobby to get on to the Armed Services committee. Hes also a cofounder of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971. He uses the caucus to help move into a position where he can get on Armed Services. One of the serve one of the stories he told us in an oral history interview was going to carl albert, speaker of the house, and appealing to him to put him on Armed Services. This was in effect going around the Committee Chairman who was a southern dixiecrat from louisiana. He went in to make this pitch with his fellow Congressional Black Caucus colleagues bill clay and louis stokes. Bill clay playing Good Cop Bad Cop and stokes playing good cop. Walking into the meeting, he says we got all the members of the cbc, but we could not do anything for ron. Thats when we started to talk. Mister speaker, its a matter of principle, you know. Then bill clay, and if you dont put the brother on the committee, we are going to denounce this as a racist institution and call a press conference. ,. You have a good guy saying this is about principle, he knows these issues, its about fairness and justice. At a certain point, carl albert got up and said im going to see if i can get this name reconsidered. At that moment i knew i had one. So we walk out and i said its over. He says you really think so . I said the fact that the speaker said they were going to reconsider it, its done. Okay . An hour and a half later i get this phone call and im the first African American appointed to the house Armed Services committee. Incredible thing. Dellums gets on to the committee. He finds out from speaker albert that hes got the assignment, but thats only half the battle because he shows up on the day that the committee is being organized and he realizes that there is just one seat thats been put out for him at the day is and that seat is going to have to be shared with pat shrewd or. Another anti war candidate who came into congress and that session. The first day we organize. Pat schroeder who just one as a freshman freshman were on Armed Services. The both of us are at the bottom of the wrong, but theres only one chair available at the committee tables. Nobody wanted, they did not want another seat there. Theres just one seat. I looked at Pat Schroeder and introduced myself and said my name is ron dellums and im from california. Im honored to be here with you. My grandmother taught me not to let people make fun of you cheaply. If its okay with you, its cool with me, why dont you and i sit in this seat side by side together as if its the most normal thing in the world. She said, cool. So ron dellums and Pat Schroeder set on this one seat for the entire organizational meeting and never acted as if, you know, even though we wanted to scream, we said, no. We just let our silence and our behavior handle it. They did not want to do because we do not scream. So the next time a two seats where there, we made our point and moved on. The service of dellums on that committee reflects a wider period of reform in the house where the power of Committee Chairs is rolled back. And junior members, and a diversity of members, African Americans and women, they get bigger and Better Committee sign months. Within a congress, representative dellums is part of a group that helps remove that original chairman from the committee and put in another chairman. Eventually, by the end of his career, he chairs the Armed Services committee. So one of the other changes that is going on here is more African Americans are elected to congress in the decades, the 19 1970s, eighties and nineties, for the first time we see women represented in that group. The very first was Shirley Chisholm, was elected from a Brooklyn Center district in 1968. She comes into the house in 1969. Someone who very much as a kind of show horse legislative style. She is out talking to the press. Shes very much part of the feminist wave of Women Congress members. She serves alongside people. She eventually chairs on the house rules committee, which is a powerful committee in the house. But throughout her career, its another person who is a symbolic or surrogate representative, not just for African Americans, but for women. Following her threw out the next four decades are roughly 40 African American women who are elected to congress. Thats an impressive number when you look at that number relative to the number of African Americans who have served in congress from the beginning. Its a much larger percentage than, for example, caucasian women or Hispanic Women or Asian American women. So again, the kind of rising influence of women within that community and their role in congress. One of the things thats interesting about looking at women in congress and African American women in congress is seeing the roll on the National Stage. We have a couple of artifacts here that really illustrate that. Here is a cover of ebony magazine from 1969. Thats right when Shirley Chisholm first to office. Shes on the cover and it says new faces in congress. Mrs. Shirley chisholm is the first black woman on capitol hill. She, like many other members of congress, really become important National Figures, particularly in the African American press. For example, right around the time the Congressional Black Caucus is created, ebony magazine is able to put a lot of folks on the cover as that is created. It really becomes an important caucus. An important issues based group. But each of these individual people become important in different ways to different communities. Ivan burke is here seen on the cover of jet twice. Once in the 1960s when it says, women who might become congresswoman. She does not become congresswoman in 1967. But a little bit later on, she does, is elected to congress and brain much shows up on the covers of a lot of magazines. The face of not just black women in congress, but younger women in congress. Shes the first member of congress to have a baby while she is serving. She shows up on an ebony magazine governor sort of holding her little baby. Probably the first time there had been such a cover of a lawmaker holding a baby. Shirley chisholm also becomes a National Figure in ways that are shown by these two buttons that we have been a collection. They say nothing about her running for congress. They are all about her running for president. Surely is our girl for president. Shirley chisholm, for president to represent all americans. You can see the womans symbol around her face in the center of this and it really places her in with a feminist agenda and that was something that very much was important to her, and on the National Stage in the 1972 elections, she was very much putting together a very Interesting Group of people. And if you look at film clips of her at the democratic convention, its very interesting to see her, a really seasoned politician talking about her delegates and what she will do with them. They are very skilled politicians who also become, as you say, show horse approaches to things. So you see behind the scenes and in front of the scenes and you really see a lot of action going on in the seventies. I stand before you today as a candidate for the democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States of america. [applause] when they Congressional Black Caucus is founded in the very early seventies, one thing they do that really is striking as something that brings them to more prominence than just African Americans in congress is that they really place themselves in a national context. One example of that is this fantastic record album. Its the first annual benefit concert for the Congressional Black Caucus, and was held at the capitol center. It featured such fantastic people as cool and the gang. How can you not like that . And gladdest night in the pips. And it was very successful and really important, part and parcel of the black caucus being a real power. There are thousands of objects in the house collection of art and artifacts. These are just a few of them. You can learn a lot more about them on our website, which is history dot house. Gov. But even more importantly than going to the website and finding out about stuff, the thing that i think is important is these are all objects that really represent some incredibly long history of an incredibly long and important institution. Each and every one of these, from an object like ron dellums s our congressman, which is just text on a background, something that is far grander like a portrait or a picture of surely chisholm on the cover of a magazine, each of these is putting a bit of a human face on the history of the house of representatives. And it makes the Institution Just that much more accessible to all of us, so that we can really get a sense of who were these people, who were the people that represent us, who counts in american democracy, and what is our role in it as well. The history of African Americans in congress is an important one for us to preserve and tell. It really tells us a story of two different levels. One of them is the history of our institution and some of the dynamic people whove been a part of it, some of the unique personalities. And also how our institution of all, dads African Americans became part of that. And in that perspective as well, the other story thats being told here is the one of the African American experience nationally, post civil war, from reconstruction to jim crow to the great migration to increased political participation during the mid 20th century Civil Rights Movement and the revolution that that brought. So it is really telling two very different important stories that the house is both affected by and also affects. To see more photographs, artwork, and images of African Americans in congress, visit history dot house. Gov. The website is a collaborative project between the u. S. House of representatives, and the House Clerks Office of art and archives. Weeknights this month, we are featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan 3. Tonight, hey look back at a union prisoner war camp during the u. S. Civil war and all my, right new york, where almost 3000 confederate p. O. W. s died. Derek max field is the author of the unions most infamous p. O. W. Camp of the civil war. He talks about the conditions of the prison and some of the officers and charge. That starts at 8 pm eastern. Enjoy American History tv, this weekend every weekend on cspan 3. Next, legal and tax historian ajayi murrow try discusses his book making the modern american fiscal state, law, politics, and the rise of progressive taxation, 1877 to 1929. He explains how and why the United States shifted from generating most of its revenue from regressive consumption taxes to a more direct and progressive tax on income, with the passage of the 16th amendment. The National Archives center for the legislative archives hosted this event in december 2014. Thank you for attending todays researcher talk. I am richard macaulay. We are hosting this noon time series. Todays top is the last of 2014. Its a year when we have really been treated to some splendid presentations by some of the centers most significant researchers. That said, we end the year with a bang by i