Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58441
eye out for announcements on the Society's web site calendar of events (www.uschs.org) and our blast emails. If you're not on our email list, you can sign up through the home page of the web site, or email us at uschs@uschs.org. Founding members of the United States Capitol Historical Society posed for a photograph following the July 31, 1962 organizational meeting. Representative Schwengel and Senator Hayden are seated at center. 1962: The United States Capitol Historical Society Founded Fifty years ago John F. Kennedy was in the second year of his presidency, the Beatles released their first single, Wilt Chamberlain scored a record 100 points in a professional basketball game, Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was executed in Israel, the first Walmart store opened, film star Marilyn Monroe died, the Cuban Missile Crisis threatened to turn the Cold War hot, and the United States Capitol Histor- ical Society was founded. On July 17, 1962, fifteen men and women met in the United States Capitol to establish the United States Capitol Historical Society. The meeting had been called by Representative Fred Schwengel, who had represented Iowa's First District since 1955. The meeting marked the beginning of a new historical society, but it was also only part of a chain of events 2 THE CAPITOL DOME that began with Representative Schwengel's initial interest in history. Fred Schwengel's interest in history antedated his congressional service. As a college student- athlete in Missouri three decades earlier, he had heard the famous American poet and biographer Carl Sandburg speak about Lincoln. That experience stimulated his interest in Lincoln, Republican poli- tics, and American history. As a businessman in Davenport, Iowa, he continued to build a collection of books, pamphlets, and art relating to Lincoln that is today housed in a special collection at his alma mater, Northeast Missouri State University in Kirksville. In Congress he initiated the commemo- ration of the sesquicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth in 1959, and he played key roles in the congressional celebrations of the centennials of the 16th President's first and second inaugurals. He was also a member of the Civil War Centennial Commission. Given Fred Schwengel's interest in history it was logical for him to seek out like-minded colleagues. Soon after his arrival he sought to join a historical society but found that none existed in Congress. Research indicated that there had been a short-lived American Historical Society (1835-1840) on Capitol Hill, whose president had been Congressman John Quincy Adams, but none had been organized since that time. He held several conversations with friends in the history community, including Allan Nevins, Carl Sandburg, and University of Maryland History Professor Walter Rundell. Schwengel had SPRING 2012