For Release: Friday, October 13, 2006
Contact: Obama: Tommy Vietor or Robert Gibbs, (202) 228-5511
Durbin: Sandra Abrevaya, (202) 224-7115
Costello: David Gillies, (202) 225-5661
Clay: Steven Engelhardt, (314) 890-0349
PRESIDENT SIGNS INTO LAW LEGISLATION TO HONOR THE LEGACY OF KATHERINE DUNHAM
Washington - U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Congressmen Jerry Costello (D-IL) and Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO) today announced that their legislation to honor the lifetime achievements and legacy of Katherine Dunham by naming a post office in East St. Louis in her honor has been signed into law.
Born in Glen Ellyn Illinois on June 22, 1909, Katherine Dunham was one of the first African Americans to attend the University of Chicago where she eventually earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in Anthropology. Dunham achieved broad critical acclaim both in the United States and abroad for her performances starring in, directing and choreographing multiple musicals, operas and cabarets.
Ms. Dunham used her fame to focus the public's attention on social injustices around the world. At the age of 82, Ms. Dunham undertook a 47-day hunger strike to help shift public awareness to the international relationship between America and Haiti, ultimately assisting in the return of Haiti's first democratically elected president.
In 1967, Dunham moved to East St. Louis, where she helped open a performing arts training center and established a dance anthropology program at the inner-city branch of Southern Illinois University that was eventually named the Katherine Dunham Centers for the Arts and Humanities.
"Katherine Dunham used her talents to entertain, inspire and change the lives of thousands of people," Obama said. "I hope that naming this facility after her will help future generations come to know how proud Katherine Dunham made all of us."
"Katherine Dunham was not only a world-renowned dancer, choreographer, teacher, and social activist, she was a pioneer," Durbin said. "As one of the first African Americans to attend the University of Chicago and the first black choreographer at the Metropolitan Opera, Ms. Dunham paved the way for the educational and artistic advancement of fellow African Americans. Forty years ago, Katherine Dunham gave a special gift to the residents of East St. Louis by opening the Performing Arts Training Center, an African-American cultural center for the community. With the passage of this bill, we commemorate Ms. Dunham's exemplary service to East St. Louis, to the African American community, to the nation that she loved and to the world of dance."
"I am pleased that our bill is now law," said Costello. "Katherine Dunham is truly an international figure; an innovator in both her art and life, and her association with the City of East St. Louis is a source of great pride for our region. This is a small, but enduring, tribute to her legacy."
"Katherine Dunham was a unique American treasure," said Clay. "Her life and artistic brilliance celebrated the beauty and dignity of all humanity. Miss Dunham was also a beacon for justice and human rights around the world. The passage of this legislation honors a remarkable American whose legacy will inspire future generations, in East St. Louis, and around the world."
Ms. Dunham passed away on May 21, 2006. The legislation will name the post office on Missouri Avenue in East St. Louis, the "Katherine Dunham Post Office Building."
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