LAWMAKER PROMINENT IN LINCOLN EVENTS

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP91-00965R000200080022-7
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RIFPUB
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K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 12, 2016
Document Release Date: 
September 12, 2000
Sequence Number: 
22
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NSPR
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PDF icon CIA-RDP91-00965R000200080022-7.pdf137.47 KB
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Approved For Release 2001/07/27 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000200080022-7 The Washington post Times Herald Prominent in Lm~ker s ~~.__n _._YenS By JejLj1 "cite ~- 11 "If some little girl would write me a letter now, I'd be tempted to grow a beard,+' Rep. Fred Schwehgel (R-Iowa) said the other day. Schwengel, who admits to having "lost" himself to Abra- ham Lincoln years ago, has so far resisted any temptation to grow a beard. But he's. been so immersed in Lincolnia the last year that he doesn't know what he would do if he got that letter from a little girl. Lincoln started growing a beard after 11-year-old Grace Bedell of Westfield, N. Y., told him he would look better with one. Although Schwengel hasn't grown a beard, he has shown his loyalty to Lincoln in an- other way:, his daughter Doro- thy, was born on Feb.. 12. She will be 22 this Feb. 12, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lincoln. As president of the Lincoln sums up so much of America." .The Joint Session on Feb. 12 will be the second called to honor Lincoln. The first came on Feb, 12, 1866, on the first observance of Lincoln's' birth- day after his assassination. Then George Bancroft, the eminent historian, delivered a 21/2-hour address. Sandburg to Pay Tribute This year, when the two Houses of Congress assemble at 11 a. in., Carl Sandburg, the Harris and Ewing Photo REP. FRED SCHWENGEL. .. immersed in Lincolnia session of Congress, the Iowa k . Congressman has been wor ing for nearly a year to pre- pare for the Lincoln Sesqui- centennial. Will Be Toastmaster He will be toastmaster at a banquet Feb. 11 at the Statler, and he has helped line up an all-star cast for the joint ses- sion of Congress the next day. The $20-a-plate dinner is being cosponsored by the Lincoln Sesquicentennial Commission. For the banquet, Schwengel still hopes to have President Eisenhower and former Presi- dents Hoover and , Truman sitting together at the banquet table. Mr. Truman has indi- cated that he. may keep a dental appointment rather than attend. He has not met with President Eisenhower since they shook hands briefly at funeral services for Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson in September, 1953. "Having all three of them together would have tremen- Group of the District and chairman of the Committee on Arrangements for the Joint ird that "we fairly captured it," and asked the band to play the sprightly strain. From the joint session, Vice President Richard Nixon and House Speaker Sam Rayburn will. go to the. Great Hall of the Library of, Congress to open the biggest display of important L i n colniana as- Sandburg will lecture on Lincoln at 8:30 that evening in the Library's Coolidge Audi- torium. The tribute will be sponsored by the Gertrude Clarke Whittal Poetry and Literary Fund. . The sesquicentennial com- mission has just published the first issue of a 4-page news letter, the "Intelligences;` de- scribing Lincoln celebrations new Lincoln penny, with the Lincoln Memorial replac- ing the present wreath on one, side. Schwengel first became in- terested in Lincoln and his times when he was a student' at Northeast Missouri Teach-1 ers College in Kirksville. Then I he went into teaching, but he didn't have "enough money-to begin ' collecting" until he shifted to the insurance busi- ness. Since then, he's been a col- lector and student of Lincoln., This year he heads the 300-I, member Lincoln group here the largest in the Nation. eminent Lincoln biographer and trubadour poet, will pay the tribute to Lincoln. Fred- eric March, the actor, will read the Gettysburg Address,-and the Army Band will play A i WN' 1 For Release 2001 After all, Schwengel points out, "Dixie" was one of the President's favorite tunes. He t0R000200080022-7 The sesquicentennial will also bring a new Lincoln