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aid and counsel can be given to private and public agencies within the States whose purpose it is to stimulate the growth and appreciation of the liberal and fine arts.

There is abundant proof of an enormous hunger for all aspects of the fine arts. Little theaters, small orchestras, small art schools are all struggling to emerge from their chrysalis, and we can help them establish themselves with just the little encouragement that a grant to the States would be. Countries abroad have all known the need to sponsor and give aid so that the theaters and operas of their lands could get their initial support. Our own country, via the State Department's educational exchange and cultural exchange has done magnificient work in bringing to the attention of the world, our enormous cultural inheritance and development. The scale is still a small one, however, and our needs are great.

It is my hope that this Congress will act without delay on these proposals.

Mr. THOMPSON. Our next witness will be the Honorable Frank Chelf of Kentucky.

STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK CHELF, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF KENTUCKY

Mr. CHELF. Mr. Chairman, in his 1955 message on the state of the Union former President Dwight Eisenhower said that—

In the advancement of the various activities which will make our civilization endure and flourish, the Federal Government should do more to give official recognition to the importance of the arts and other cultural activities.

At that time General Eisenhower recommended the establishment of a Federal Advisory Council on the Arts.

This measure has been before this committee for the ensuring 6 years, and it will be appreciated if this measure, which Congressman Thompson and Senator Hubert H. Humphrey have continuously sponsored, is reported favorably to the floor for consideration by the House. The budget was estimated by the previous administration to be $50,000 a year.

It passed the Senate in 1956 and reached the House floor from this committee last year.

It even got on the Consent Calendar at that time.

Another measure which should have the support of this subcommittee is the bill which Congressman Frank Thompson, Adam Clayton Powell, Carroll D. Kearns, Emanuel Celler, Senator Joseph Clark and I have cosponsored.

This is H.R. 2227 and H.R. 4174 and related bills.

This would provide a total sum of $5 million and establish a Federal-State grant-in-aid plan to aid the arts.

This money would be used to help the several States inventory existing programs and assist those now underway and help develop new programs.

President Kennedy during last fall's campaign wrote in a statement printed in Equity magazine, which is published by the AFL-CIO Actors' Equity Association that

I am in full sympathy with the proposal for a federally supported foundation to provide encouragement and opportunity to nonprofit, private and civic groups

in the performing arts. When so many other nations officially recognize and support the performing arts as part of their national cultural heritage, it seems to me unfortunate that the United States has been so slow in coming to a similar recognition.

The United States is almost the only nation in the world today which does not support the fine arts as a national policy.

Every nation and people aids those things which it honors, and certainly it is time that we here in our country gave some concrete evidence that we believed in the importance of those activities which make our civilization endure and flourish.

It is ironic that many of the countries around the world which have been assisted in their economic recovery by the $80 billion which we have contributed through the mutual security program and the Marshall plan have been enabled thereby to aid the fine arts.

I include as part of my remarks a letter I have received from Mrs. Thomas D. Winstead, chairman, Fine Arts Department, Kentucky Federation of Womens Clubs. I include some items bearing on my bill to make the National Cultural Center Act permanent.

(The matters referred to follow :)

Hon. FRANK CHELF,

House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

RINEYVILLE, KY., January 13, 1961.

DEAR MR. CHELF: I was most interested to read about the bill you recently introduced in Congress which would enable each State to receive up to $100,000 of Federal funds for supporting cultural activities.

This is a wonderful, worthwhile action you have undertaken and this department wishes to commend you highly for such a far-reaching project. It is all too true that in a nation abounding in all of the necessities and a good many of the luxuries of the good life, we are sadly lacking in resources for the advancement of sustained cultural programs. Would that we had more Congressmen with the insight and courage to do something about it.

I am sure I speak for all of the 15,000 members of the Kentucky Federation of Women's Clubs when I say we are back of this all the way and most willing to do anything we can to assure the passage of this bill.

Sincerely,

Mrs. T. D. WINSTEAD,

Chairman, Fine Arts Department, Kentucky Federation of Womens Clubs.

[H.R. 5617, 87th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To amend the National Cultural Center Act so as to make it permanent and to provide for a living memorial to past Presidents of the United States, including Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 3 of the National Cultural Center Act (72 Stat. 1699) is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 3. The Board shall provide, by construction, alteration, or otherwise, for the establishment, on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution, of a National Center of the Performing Arts which shall be designated as such and dedicated as a living memorial to past Presidents of the United States including Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt. Such center shall be located on a site or sites in the District of Columbia selected by the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution (hereafter in this section referred to as the 'Regents') and shall consist of such auditoriums, libraries, and art galleries as will encourage and assist in advancing and in raising the standards of the performing arts for children and adults, in the professional, educational, amateur, and recreational fields, in the Nation's Capital as well as throughout the Nation. Such facilities as may be suitable, or which can be made suitable, and which are owned by the Federal Government, or which are in private ownership and which may be offered the Regents or the Board on reasonable terms,

shall be utilized for the purposes of this Act. The Regents shall select such facilities and sites. The Board shall provide for the establishment of such center on such site or sites as may be selected by the Regents from among the following: "(1) the area in the District of Columbia bounded by the Inner Loop Freeway on the east, the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge approaches on the south, Rock Creek Parkway on the west, New Hampshire Avenue and F Street on the north;

"(2) suitable sites at the Naval Gun Factory in the District of Columbia; "(3) suitable sites in Potomac Park;

"(4) suitable sites fronting on, or near, the Mall;

“(5) real property (including existing improvements thereon) fronting on Lafayette Park in the District of Columbia;

"(6) any real property (including existing improvements thereon) in private ownership which may be offered the Regents on reasonable terms or which they may acquire on reasonable terms through solicitation or otherwise; and

"(7) other sites (including improvements thereon) in the District of Columbia determined by the Regents to be suitable.

The Board shall acquire by purchase or otherwise such real property as may be necessary to provide for the establishment of the National Cultural Center of the Performing Arts and related facilities."

SEC. 2. Such Act is further amended by striking out "National Cultural Center" each place it appears therein (except section 7) and inserting in lieu thereof "National Center of the Performing Arts."

SEC. 3. Section 7 of such Act is repealed.

[From the Congressional Record, Mar. 24, 1961]

CONGRESSMAN FRANK CHELF'S PLAN FOR A LIVING MEMORIAL TO PAST PRESIDENTS HAS GROWING SUPPORT

(Extension of remarks of Hon. Harris B. McDowell, Jr., of Delaware, in the House of Representatives, Friday, March 24, 1961)

Mr. MCDOWELL. Mr. Speaker, our distinguished colleague, the gentleman from Kentucky [Mr. Chelf], has introduced an extremely interesting bill, H.R. 5617, to provide for a living memorial to past Presidents of the United States, including Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Theodore Roosevelt. Congressman Chelf has said that "unless plans for a living memorial or memorials are vigorously pushed, the Nation's Capital will be overrun with statuary and resemble a graveyard."

It has been pointed out by such publications as the New York Times that there are enarly 200 statues to statesmen, many of them nearly forgotten, in the confines of the Federal City.

The major newspapers in the Nation's Capital have grown increasingly critical of the memorials proposed for our past Presidents, and the suggestion is being heard more and more frequently that living memorials for our past Presidents make a lot more sense than many of the plans for memorials currently being considered.

I include as part of my remarks a letter which was published in the always informative and readable "Letters to the Editor" column of the Washington (D.C.) Evening Star :

"LIVING MEMORIAL

"Representative Frank Chelf, Democrat, of Kentucky, deserves the thanks of a grateful and patriotic public for his significant new bill to make the National Cultural Center permanent. Such a step is long overdue. Haste makes waste, and if we have more time to examine the plans for the center, and to raise the money, everyone, including the donors, will be more satisfied and the results will be more enduring.

"At the same time, Chelf has taken steps to provide that the National Cultural Center shall, with its various facilities, such as auditoriums, libraries, and art galleries, be a living memorial to all past Presidents.

"His reasoning is sound. He points out that 'unless plans for a living memorial or memorials are vigorously pushed, the Nation's Capital will be overrun with statuary and resemble a graveyard.'

"The danger is real enough, heaven knows. Many people and publications have noted that, at last count, there were about 200 statues to statesmen, many of them forgotten, in the confines of the Federal City.

"It is hard to understand how anyone could object to making a great auditorium, library, or art gallery a memorial to one or more of our great Presidents. It may be predicted with certainty, however, that backers of the memorials to Woodrow Wilson, the two Roosevelts (FDR and Theodore) and to other Presidents will find persuasive reasons for not combining their memorials with others in truly great memorials to all past Presidents.

"The backers of the National Culture Center can reasonably counter, however, that the center is a concept big enough and important enough to honor all our Presidents.

"It is to be hoped that President Kennedy will support this new and significant plan by Mr. Chelf and that Congress will enact it into law. For the Chelf plan, if enacted, could really put some steam into the drive for the National Cultural Center. "THOMAS A. WAGGONER."

[From the Congressional Record Appendix, Jan. 16, 1961]

A PLAN TO BRING TOGETHER MEMORIALS TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT, WOODROW WILSON, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, AND OTHER PAST PRESIDENTS HAS GROWING SUPPORT

(Extension of remarks of Hon. Frank Thompson, Jr., of New Jersey, in the House of Representatives, Monday, January 16, 1961)

Mr. Thompson of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, the major newspapers in the Nation's Capital have grown increasingly critical of the memorials proposed for our past Presidents, and the suggestion is being heard more and more frequently that living memorials for our past Presidents make a lot more sense than many of the plans presently being considered.

In the Washington (D.C.) Daily News, January 10, 1961, Peter Edson, the widely syndicated columnist for the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) wrote:

"A plan to bring together memorials to Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and other great Presidents as part of the proposed National Cultural Center is being talked up here.

"The idea has grown more or less spontaneously from general public criticism of the abstract art designs prepared for the two Roosevelt memorials in the last 6 months."

Then Mr. Edson goes on to say:

"With both of these examples of futuristic art on the pan, considerable feeling exists that something more living, more creative and more useful to more people, something which contributes more to their enjoyment of life, would better memorialize the spirits of the two great progressive Presidents."

Frederick Gutheim, in the Washington (D.C.) Post and Times Herald makes the following suggestion:

"Competition has, however, greatly clarified the complex issues posed by a modern memorial, but the Roosevelt Memorial Commission should regard this as an exploratory exercise on the basis of which it can recommend to Congress and not as the answer to its quest."

A leading New Jersey newspaper, the Trentonian, Trenton, N,J., inquires: "May we respectfully urge that you use your good offices to help stay the infliction of such a garish monstrosity upon our Nation's beloved Capital and the memory of the man it would seek to honor? At the same time, most Americans, we feel sure, would welcome dedicated effort by you and other culturally minded people to impose upon bright-eyed planners and designers a proper respect for the traditional in a part of our country where tradition must be held sacred."

A writer in the Washington (D.C.) Evening Star, January 13, 1961, reports: "Apropos of the new interest in making the monument to F. D. R. a living memorial by incorporating it in the National Cultural Center, Mrs. Biddle said that her husband originally had suggested making the memorial into a living one and had met with objections from some of the Congress.

"How anyone could object to making an auditorium in the Center a memorial to a President of the United States, with his greatest words engraved, not on some outdoor stones for a comparative few to see, but on the walls within where hundreds would see them at one time, is hard to understand.

The

"Each section of the Center could be devoted to a President's memorial. beautiful outer terrace facing Roosevelt Island could be Theodore Roosevelt's memorial. The grand salon in the center of the building might be F. D. R.'s memorial. The concert hall could be Mr. Truman's. And one of the sweeping plazas Mr. Eisenhower's."

The Chairman of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, Neill Phillips, in a recent letter to Horace M. Albright, a member of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, noted that living memorials are becoming more and more popular, and he pointed to the National Cultural Center as "a most important example of a living memorial" and suggested one of the Center's units be named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt.

THE PARK OF THE PRESIDENTS

Mr. Speaker, it would be only fair to report here that there is a second proposal to commemorate our Presidents, and this plan would rename Lafayette Square "The Park of the Presidents."

The proponents of this plan are powerfully influenced by the tremendous financial support which the Federal Government has given and is giving to the famous Independence National Historical Park in downtown Philadelphia.

Over 100 bills were introduced in both the House and the Senate during the 85th Congress which would have preserved Lafayette Park.

During the 86th Congress, many distinguished Members of Congress also introduced bills to preserve the historic buildings on Lafayette Square.

President-elect John F. Kennedy introduced S. 3280 on March 24, 1960, and he was quickly joined by Senators Paul Douglas, Wayne Morse, Ernest Gruening, Michael J. Mansfield, Thomas C. Hennings, Jr., and Hubert H. Humphrey. Companion bills were introduced by a number of Members of the House of Representatives, and Senators Eugene J. McCarthy and John Sherman Cooper worked hard to save these buildings.

President-elect Kennedy said at that time that "the Dolly Madison House, the Benjamin Tayloe House, and the Belasco Theatre have long served as an inspiration to generations of Americans who have visited their Capital City."

If Lafayette Square were renamed "the Park of the Presidents," if it were extended the same protective care which the Federal Government has extended to Independence National Historical Park, if the buildings on Madison Place and Jackson Place were preserved for the benefit of future Americans, then, indeed, according to this plan's proponents, this would be a worthy memorial in perpetuity to all our past Presidents.

I include here as part of my remarks articles which indicate the lively interest of the major newspapers in the Nation's Capital in this subject of living memorials to our past Presidents:

[From the Trenton (N.J.) Trentonian, Jan. 6, 1961]

LETTER TO CONGRESSMAN THOMPSON

DEAR CONGRESSMAN: Undoubtedly it has come to your attention, as it has to ours, that the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Commission is considering plans to decorate an acre of precious Washington. D.C., land wih a cluster of eight concrete slabs as a memorial to President Roosevelt. The slabs would serve to preserve, in a way, famous quotations from his speeches.

The respect you enjoy as a leading advocate of our country's cultural advancement has been well and justly earned. In view thereof, it is our conviction that your keen sensibilities may well be as offended as are those of others by this proposal, which already has been described as ridiculous and worse.

We feel sure that it is hardly necessary to point out to you that such pretentiousness is not in keeping with the late President's personality, nor with his humanitarian concern for those afflicated as he was, nor with the high place he holds as a great wartime leader of this Nation and the free world.

It may also have occurred to you that selection of an appropriate memorial to President Roosevelt might be tabled for a while in order to avoid having it become bogged down in controversy. With good reason, history usually does not pass judgment upon a man until he has been dead for at least 25 years.

70259-61--23

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