Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/99748
CHANGE AND CONTINUITY 1 9 78–1 99 3 T HE HISTORY OF THE Society in its second 15-year span was marked both by change and continuity. In spite of staff changes, a new congressional charter, and litigation over the sales tax issue, the Society retained a clear focus on its mission. Existing programs such as the We, the People guidebook, the calendar, the symposia series, and the mural project continued unabated. New programs and publications were added in the fields of congressional history and the study of the art and architecture of the Capitol. As the period drew to a close the Society chose a new leadership team to direct the organization into a challenging future. Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill signed the Society's Congressional charter in 1978. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES IN RECOGNITION OF THE services the organization had performed, Congress awarded the Society a Congressional Charter by an act of Congress signed by President Jimmy Carter on October 20, 1978. Public Law 95–493 was passed unanimously and provided "certain and important authori- ties to preserve and improve the Capitol, research, publish, create items, medals, and material of historical interest and to cooperate with congressional committees and federal agencies in the work of the Society and the distribution of its products." The Congressional Charter reiterated the Society's founding purposes, but it also added a key provision in section 3 paragraph (d), by requiring the Society "to mutually cooperate with the standing The Society's executive secretary, Cornelius W. "Con" Heine, like President Schwengel, provided expert guided tours of the Capitol to Society members and groups. 34 THE CAPITOL DOME WINTER 2013