Last week marked the 115th anniversary of the death of Mathew Brady. Many of our readers probably never have heard of Mathew Brady, yet we know some of his photographs very well. Today’s Highlighted Site of the Week, Mathewbrady.com, is dedicated to him.

Born in 1822, Brady is credited with being the father of photojournalism. He took his camera and gear right into the battlefields of the Civil War and took thousands of pictures. So much of what we know about the war we owe to Mathew Brady. In addition to photos of the battles, he created portraits of officers on both the Union and Confederate sides including Ulysses S. Grant, William Sherman, General Custer, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson. Brady photographed other notables including King Edward VII of England, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and Edgar Allen Poe.

According to the site, Brady photographed 18 United States Presidents, and the most famous from the list would have to be Abraham Lincoln. This is what makes Mathew Brady so familiar to all of us – it was his photographs that were used for the Lincoln five-dollar bill, for Lincoln postage stamps, and the Lincoln penny.

There is a sad irony that Brady, someone so important to our country, had a difficult life and – according to the web site – died alone and penniless in 1896.

Mathewbrady.com is a fitting tribute to this historic photographer. The site offers a biography of Mathew Brady and a history of the processes of photography. Far and away the best feature, however, is the gallery of portraits, which is simply amazing.

Perhaps we all have come to take for granted that we have easy access to 24-hour news with visual coverage from anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice. But for those of us who follow government news and world events, in a way it all started with Mathew Brady. I urge everyone to take a few moments to visit Mathewbrady.com and learn a bit about this truly great American treasure.

One of the pages of the U.S. Senate Web site lets you have a seat at the Senate Chamber desks. Rich with artistry and history, the Senate Chamber Desks site is smart a virtual tour.

Following the “Burning of Washington” in the War of 1812, in which the U.S. Capitol Building was partially damaged, there was a re-building of the Capitol. The new Senate Chamber needed to be refurnished, so in 1818  Vice President Daniel Tompkins hired cabinet-maker Thomas Constantine to construct 48 mahogany desks and armchairs:

“The Senate purchased 48 mahogany desks for its chamber in 1819, adding desks as new states joined the Union. To date, more than 1,600 senators have occupied these historic desks.”

The desks have been altered over the years to meet the senators’ needs. Writing boxes were added to the top of the desks. Microphones and speakers underneath were added in the 1990s to assist senators in hearing the floor proceedings.

On the Senate Chamber Desks Web site, you can find out about how the desks are numbered, and how the seating arrangement is decided with the beginning of each new Congress.

The history you will find here is priceless: There is the time during the Civil War that Isaac Bassett (who worked in the Senate Chamber) had to stop Federal soldiers from chopping Jefferson Davis’ desk to bits for being a traitor. Did you know that many senators have been carving their names in the desk drawers since the early 1900s? One inscription in the desk of South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond noted that he “spoke 24 hrs. 18 mins. from this desk in 1957,” commemorating his record-breaking filibuster against the Civil Rights Act.

There is also the fun and famous “Candy Desk,” a tradition started in 1965 by Senator George Murphy of California as a service to his fellow senators. According to the site, the tradition has carried on: “In every Congress since that time a candy desk has been located in the back row of the Republican side, on the aisle and adjacent to the Chamber’s most heavily used entrance.”

Enjoy this look into the Senate Chamber! And with that I bid you good day.
The photos used here are courtesy of the U.S. Senate Web site.

There is a great deal of discussion surrounding what this new Congress will bring. There has also been some attention surrounding the oath of office, with two House Members apparently voting without having attended the official swearing-in. Here is a nice piece by Politico describing the situation.

The United States Senate Web site offers a great history of the oath of office. On the Web site of the Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives, there is also a description of the oath for House Members. For those who need a refresher, you will find a nice primer on the U.S. Senate Web site called, “What Happens When a New Congress Begins.”

Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution states that “members of Congress shall be bound by an oath to support the Constitution.” But it does not offer a text for such an oath. From the first congress in 1789, the oath that was used was short and simple: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States.”

For many years, this oath was deemed sufficient. But the oath we are accustomed to hearing is much longer and goes as follows:

“I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

The Senate Web site describes the reason for the change that occurred over 70 years after that first congress:

“In April of 1861, a time of uncertain and shifting loyalties, President Abraham Lincoln ordered all federal civilian employees within the executive branch to take an expanded oath. When Congress convened for a brief emergency session in July, members echoed the president’s action by enacting legislation requiring employees to take the expanded oath in support of the Union. This oath is the earliest direct predecessor of the modern oath.”

In honor of the 112th Congress, here is a link to C-Span’s coverage of the 112th Congress. Have a wonderful weekend!

Photo of Vice President Richard Nixon administering the oath of office to Senator Gale McGee in 1959, and the United States Senate in session in their new chamber (1859) courtesy of the U.S. Senate Web site.

Each year, many Americans decide to break free of the past and start anew by striving toward promising goals – New Year’s resolutions. USA.gov has listed the most popular New Year’s resolutions chosen year after year by people around the nation. From getting fit to managing debt, smoking less to finding a better job, the site not only lists popular resolutions, but also serves as a resource to a plethora of information assisting in achieving these resolution goals.

Each resolution bullet point is also a hyperlink to another site serving to educate Americans about their new, challenging goals. For example, by clicking on the “Getting Fit” link, USA.gov transfers to fitness.gov, the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition. There are news highlights, videos, photos, research links, and even grants available. The “Managing Debt” link transfers to ftc.gov, the Federal Trade Commission, which explains how to self-help yourself out of “knee deep” debt. The site expands upon business information, consumer information, creditors, debt collectors, loans, and counseling.

Regardless of what resolutions are popular each year, what matters is choosing the ideal resolution for you. With each New Year comes a chance to grow personally and professionally and to see yourself as an empowered individual from Day 1 – literally. On govloop.com, government innovators from all levels can list their New Year’s resolutions online and view their peers’ resolutions. From a professional point of view, this blog might help spark some innovative resolution ideas for your New Year. In any case, whether you are a resolution revolutionary or have never had or believed in New Year’s resolutions, use January 1, 2011 as Day 1 of something new, innovative, and empowering for you.

In honor of the holidays, we highlight two Web sites featuring two national holiday traditions. One is a Christmas tree tradition associated with the White House, and the other a Christmas tree associated with the United States Capitol.

The National Christmas Tree event at the White House and its Web site are both hosted by the National Park Foundation. This has been a tradition with the White House since Calvin Coolidge was President:

According to the site: “In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge walked from the White House to the Ellipse to light a 48-foot fir tree decorated with 2,500 electric bulbs in red, white and green, as a local choir and a “quartet” from the U.S. Marine Band performed. 86 years later, this American holiday tradition continues to bring citizens together to share in a message of hope and peace.”

That first tree was donated by the President of Middlebury College in Vermont. You can find much more about the tradition of the tree lighting since that first ceremony. On the National Christmas Tree site you can visit Santa, get safety tips, decorate your own virtual tree, and see a timeline of National Christmas tree pictures from the 1920s forward. This year, the National Tree lighting ceremony was on December 9 and featured performers such as B.B. King, Sarah Bareilles, and Maroon 5.

The National Park Foundation has not neglected our beloved social media – they have a Twitter account, a Facebook page, a picture-rich Flickr account, and a YouTube account where you can visit Santa’s Workshop at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C.:

On the rival Web site, you can see that this year’s Capitol Christmas Tree came all the way from Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming! The tree has a celebrated travel route, including scheduled stops. Kids could track the progress of the tree via a Google map. The Capitol Christmas Tree has an official song, “The Cowboy Chrismtas Tree Song,” which can be downloaded for your mp3 player.

This year the tree lighting at the U.S. Capitol was on December 7. According to the Architect of the Capitol Web site, this tradition began in 1964 1964, at the request of Speaker of the House John W. McCormack. The Architect of the Capitol Web site has a list of trees used for the displays over the years.

A great deal of hard work and loving-care went into decorating the tree: “The people of Wyoming will make the 5,000 ornaments used to decorate the tree. The ornaments will be 9 to 12 inches tall and must be made to withstand 3 weeks of harsh winter weather.”

Photo of the National Christmas Tree at the White House courtesy of Chris Greenberg on Wikipedia, the photo of the Capitol Christmas Tree by the Office of Senator Patrick Leahy on Wikipedia, and the Santa video courtesy of the National Park Foundation hosted on YouTube.

In the 1980s, Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd (who passed away last June) offered over 100 addresses about the history of the U.S. Senate. In honor of the Senate’s bicentennial, the speeches were gathered and edited into four volumes called The Senate: 1789–1989: Addresses on the History of the Senate.

Among those essays, there is a landmark work regarding the history of lobbyists and lobbying. The Senate’s Web site hosts the text of the speech at Senate.gov.

Senator Byrd’s speech whipsaws between praise and suspicion of lobbying and perhaps typifies America’s ambivalence toward the profession. He begins his speech with a quote from an 1869 newspaper article, which conjured the image of lobbying as a “dazzling reptile … a scaly serpent of the lobby…” Yet Byrd also acknowledges the necessary service they provide: “It should be clear from my remarks that Congress has always had, and always will have, lobbyists and lobbying. We could not adequately consider our work load without them.”

According to Senator Byrd, lobbying has been employed from the first days of Congress. “During the First Congress, Pennsylvania Senator William Maclay wrote in his diary that New York merchants employed ‘treats, dinners, attentions’ to delay passage of a tariff bill,” said Byrd.

Byrd’s speech is rich with history, describing efforts of groups such as the Bank of the United States in the 1790s, Samuel Colt in the 1850s, and the famous “King of the Lobby” Sam Ward during the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.

While Byrd did stress the need for government to be vigilant against the abuse of the democratic system by special interests, it would be wrong to think the senator was not sympathetic to the work of lobbyists, or appreciative.  He ended his speech with the following:

“They spend many hours and considerable shoe leather trying to convince 535 members of Congress of the wisdom or folly of certain legislation. They face vigorous competition. They still bear the brunt of press criticism and take the blame for the sins of a small minority of their numbers. But they have a job to do, and most of them do it very well indeed. It is hard to imagine Congress without them.”

For his many efforts to promote the history of the United States Senate, Senator Byrd received the American Historical Association‘s first Theodore Roosevelt-Woodrow Wilson Award for Civil Service and the Friend of History Award from the Organization of American Historians.

For all of you arm-chair American historians, this Highlighted Site of the Week should make you smile. Give it a read!

I did an informal survey here at our office and asked: “Do you you know when the first woman was elected to U.S. Congress?”  The answers ranged from “I have no idea” to  “sometime in the 1960’s.” To be honest, I wasn’t sure either and that bothered me. Something that important is something I should know, so I found a great Web site called Women in Congress. Hosted by the U.S. Office of the Clerk, Women in Congress charts the progress of women from having no representation prior to 1917, to having a Speaker of the House of Representatives exactly 90 years later.

In 1917, Jeannette Rankin was the first woman to be elected to Congress. A Republican from Montana, Rankin was an activist for the woman suffrage movement and she was a pacifist – she was the only representative to vote against the United States’ entry into both World War I and World War II. “I may be the first woman member of Congress, but I won’t be the last,” Rankin said when she was elected.

Rebecca Latimer Felton was the first U.S. Senator, serving in 1922 at age 87 years. She was described as “outspoken, determined, and irascible!”

Every one of the bios in Women in Congress has an important story to tell. “Battling Mary” Norton, who served from 1925 to 1951, fought for the rights of the working class. Norton personally campaigned to get the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 out onto the floor for a vote, and it passed. The law set a minimum wage of 25 cents an hour, established the 40 hour work week, and outlawed child labor (can you imagine). What a heroic woman. She said, “I’m prouder of getting that bill through the House than anything else I’ve done in my life.”

Barbara Jordan was a Democratic Representative from Texas from 1973 to 1979. A leader in the Civil Rights movement, Jordan suffered from multiple sclerosis. She championed the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 and the renewal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Many will remember seeing her on television giving a powerful speech before the House Judiciary Committee supporting the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

Women in Congress offers historical essays, fascinating artifacts, and lots of educational resources. Now everyone can become an expert on the role women in Congress. I know I have no excuse!

Photos Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Cities in Crisis: We just came back from the Capitolbeat 2010 Conference in Phoenix, where many of the session offerings were discussing the alarming budget situations in the state governments. The effects of the recession are felt  especially in the cities. We are in Akron, where our city faces tremendous pressure to address ever-growing needs with ever-shrinking resources. That equation is even more true in Cleveland, and surely is the case in Detroit and many other cities.

Code for America’s Answer: There are many urban renewal efforts out there – but I would like to hold up a very exciting one: Code for America. With its call to connect city governments with web 2.0 talents, Code for America’s idea could bring about a revolution. Any government can run more efficiently and Code for America believes that what we have learned from the social media revolution can be applied to city governments to “become more transparent, connected, and efficient.” Brainstorming, collaboration, experimentation, and new technology – this is what they will bring to address city infrastructure and operations.

“Code for America was founded to help the brightest minds of the Web 2.0 generation transform city governments. Cities are under greater pressure than ever, struggling with budget cuts and outdated technology. What if, instead of cutting services or raising taxes, cities could leverage the power of the web to become more efficient, transparent, and participatory? We believe there is a wealth of talent in the web industry eager to contribute to the rebuilding of America. Code for America gives them the means.”

“Every movement needs heroes.” Code for America is accepting applications from the “best of the best” in web 2.0 coders to become fellows in their program. Fellows would commit to an 11-month program writing code to solve a specific need in a city. (The program would give them a crash-course in city government.) Fellows would receive a stipend in the amount of $35,000, travel expenses, and healthcare benefits. Then they are turned loose to come up with technological magic.

The Cities’ Commitment: Four cities are participating in the 2011 project: Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Seattle. Each city committed $250,000 to the project. Companies are encouraged to help underwrite the time the fellows spend on the project, and individual donations big or small are greatly appreciated. Applications from other cities are being accepted for the 2012 calendar year.

Code for America offers everything you need to help promote the program to your city government and to your employer.

I am really excited about this program and I plan to spread the word. I would love to see Cleveland participate. As Code for America’s site says: “It’s time to stop wondering, and start coding. It’s time to make it happen.”

I know Halloween has passed, but this week I invite all of you to hang out in a graveyard – a political graveyard, anyway.  You won’t find ghosts and goblins at The Political Graveyard Web site, but you will find a trove of political figures past and present – everything the political enthusiasts and experts of American history and politics could need for hours of fun.

The Political Graveyard claims to be “the Internet’s most comprehensive free source for American political biography, listing 217,078 politicians, living and dead.” I believe it. The site was created by Lawrence Kestenbaum, who has put a great deal of time, intelligence, and loving care into the project.

If you already know a politician you would like to look up, say – Theodore Roosevelt, former U.S. Rep. James Traficant, or Harold Stassen, the former Governor of Minnesota who ran for president of the United States nine times, you could use the Alphabetical Index of Politicians. But The Political Graveyard offers many other lists from which to choose that show far more imagination. Consider browsing through the lists of politicians who lost the most elections, who died in office, who survived assassination attempts, or those who participated in dueling!

You can find politicians who were Rhodes Scholars, played professional sports, been up in space, or were born in slavery.  Or how about the ones who received a Nobel Prize, a Pulitzer Prize, or an Olympic Medal?

Gender, religious background, occupation (yes the lobbyists are listed), and ancestry groups are there. Freemasons, Rotary,  Elks, Knights of Columbus, and Knights Templar. It is all there.

Pure fun! Well, I think I have found a new pastime …

Screen captures courtesy of Lawrence Kestenbaum and The Political Graveyard.

VOTE411.org, hosted by the League of Women Voters Education Fund, has everything you could possibly need regarding voting and the coming elections. With VOTE411.org, no one can use the excuse that they did not have enough information to vote. Not sure about where to go to vote? VOTE411.org can tell you where your polling place is. Overseas during the elections? No problem, they have a Military and Overseas Voter page. You can learn about absentee voting, early voting, election dates, information about candidates, and ID requirements tailored to your state!

My favorite thing on VOTE411.org is the “Build Your Ballot” feature. Just type in your street address, city, and zip code, and Build Your Ballot will tell you all about your U.S. Congress District and your State Upper and Lower House Districts. From there it will tell you exactly what races will be on your ballot.

If you are the type who likes to see into the future, Google 2010 U.S. Election Ratings has map overlays showing the predictions of CQ Politics, Rothenberg Political Report, Real Clear Politics, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and the Cook Political Report. All in one place. You can look at the trends for the U.S. races as well as drill down into the states.

You can always go to Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight blog. Silver not only gives you a color-coded map of the states, but also a set of percentages for the probabilities of race outcomes.

You say you want more? How about trying a search of “U.S. 2010 election predictions” on YouTube? YouTube serves up a mix of serious television news coverage clips, to the silly Politizoid animated video.

There. That should keep even the most election-obsessed people busy… lots of hand-wringing to do.

Vote sign photo by Tom Arthur on Wikipedia.

“That was easy!”

This is the phrase that has launched a new movement and Web site – Challenge.gov – encouraging the American people to take on challenges presented to them from some of the nation’s largest agencies, including NASA, the National Institutes of Health, and the Social Security Administration.

Why create such a Web site?

“This is a fundamental shift in power,” Vivek Kundra, federal chief information officer, said at the Gov 2.0 Summit conference announcing Challenge.gov, along with Aneesh Chopra, White House chief technology officer. “This engages the American people to be co-creators to solve some of the toughest problems America faces.”

Ranging from challenges involving emerging designers and architects turning a mid-century federal office building into a model of environmental efficiency, to creating original music and/or music videos that celebrate healthy and inspirational living, people of all ages can participate and become developers in this “national science fair” for America.

One challenge proposed by the site is called “How do I become president?” with the solutions being judged on an 8-10 year-old basis. A sister site, “Kids.gov,” started this challenge because it was continually asked the question “How can I become the President when I grow up?” The winners of the challenge, set to be announced on November 29, 2010 will be featured on Kids.gov. Their best overall “infographic” will be printed as posters and distributed to schools and libraries across the country.

Not everyone has the opportunity or desire to work for the federal government or hold public office, but with this new Web site they can play a vital role in helping improve our country while at the same time putting some cash in their pocket. —– Chickasha Express Star – Sep 27, 2010

With the 2008 presidential election, the relationship between social media and elections undoubtedly changed. Campaigns utilized Facebook and Twitter as a powerful campaign tool. But the change was also felt in the way the average person, through social media, was able to stay connected to the candidates and to generate their own political campaign content on YouTube, blogs, etc.

Recognizing the unfolding revolution, Andrew Rasiej and Micah Sifry founded a Web site in 2007 called techPresident, reporting on the 2008 presidential campaigns. Through charts, graphs, and blog posts, techPresident kept track of every promotion and attack ad that hit the internet. From Hillary Clinton’s “Let the Conversation Begin” promotion in January 2007, and ads attacking John McCain, to techPresident’s favorite videos of 2007 list showing the top “voter generated” videos in December 2007.

But the election came and went, so techPresident decided to change its focus to how the White House and the public interact on the web, plus going forward they are covering the use of social media in presidential, legislative, and state races.

The same team runs a sister Web site called the Personal Democracy Forum, which claims a broader focus:

Technology and the Internet are changing democracy in America. This site is one hub for the conversation already underway between political practitioners and technologists, as well as anyone invigorated by the potential of all this to open up the process and engage more people in all the things that we can and must do together as citizens. We value your input and ideas.

You can get involved on these sites, too! You can vote for your favorite campaign video, see which politician has the most Facebook supporters, check the job board for listings for a job with a campaign or PAC, follow the techPresident Tweet stream, or stay on top of campaign events on techPresident’s calendar.

Best of all, they want your input: “Got tips, leads, or suggestions for techPresident? By all means, send them in.”

The Library of Congress hosts a Web site of historical collections called American Memory. One of that site’s hidden gems is “I Do Solemnly Swear…”: Presidential Inaugurations. The Library of Congress has pulled 2,000 digital documents from their many divisions and includes transcripts of the speeches, as well as “diaries and letters of presidents and of those who witnessed inaugurations, handwritten drafts of inaugural addresses, broadsides, inaugural tickets and programs, prints, photographs, and sheet music.”

Would you like to see the hand-written copy of George Washington’s first inaugural speech? How about a photo from Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration? The site offers a series of 12 videos ,with Marvin Kranz, historical specialist in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress giving commentary.

Did you know the oath each president recites is in accordance with Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution?

I love finding out about firsts and mosts, so I was delighted by the fun page of Precedents and Notable Events. George Washington had the shortest inaugural speech at 135 words and William H. Harrison had the longest with 10,000 words! The inauguration of James Polk was the first to be covered by telegraph, James Buchanan’s the first to be photographed, William McKinley’s the first to be filmed (silent movie), Herbert Hoover’s the first to be covered by talking newsreel, Harry Truman’s the first to be televised, and – you probably have guessed – Bill Clinton’s was the first to be broadcast live on the internet.

So have fun. I do solemnly swear you’ll love “I Do Solemnly Swear …” : Presidential Inaugurations!

Proclaiming itself to be the “Facebook for Government,” GovLoop is a Ning-based social network for people who work in government. With more than 30,000 members, GovLoop has a great deal to offer someone working in government. Do you want to host a blog, but don’t know how? GovLoop can host it for you, and it currently lists an impressive 7,020 blog posts.

There are lots of discussion groups and even a photo hosting service for pictures from government events, which they call “Govarazzi.” Govloop offers advice for better government management – everything from preparing staff for retirement, finding the latest information on cyber security and open government laws,  and how to survive government performance audits.

Rich with information on the intersection between government and the latest of social media, you will be dazzled by what is offered: a Government-Related Twitter Hashtags Directory; a small but growing database of Federal Government New Media Contacts; and a list of Web 2.0 Governance Policies And Best Practices ranging from the United States Airforce to the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Governor of Massachusetts, and the City of Seattle! (And many more.)

GovLoop was founded in May 2008 by Stephen Ressler, who worked for Homeland Security. The group has become so successful that they co-hosted an event last July called Next Generation of Government Summit to “bring together rising government leaders at the federal, state, and local level.”

While you will find all kinds of valuable information for government work, it’s not all serious stuff. Among the 828 groups found on GovLoop, you will find Gov Gourmet, encouraging members to “feel free to discuss your latest restaurant find, that new recipe, food fad, or celebrity chef.” You will also find Italians in Government, Librarians in Government, and even Cats in Government (for cat lovers who want to talk about their cats).

You have to be a member to get to some of the good stuff, but there are lots of resources available to non-members as well.

Fascinating…