For Release: Friday, September 29, 2006
Contact: David Gillies (Costello): (202) 225-5661
               Steven Engelhardt (Clay): (314) 890-0349

KATHERINE DUNHAM POST OFFICE BILL PASSES HOUSE

Washington - U.S. Congressmen Jerry Costello (D-IL) and Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO) announced today that legislation they introduced in July to honor the lifetime achievements and legacy of Katherine Dunham by naming a post office in East St. Louis in her honor has passed the House of Representatives.  The bill will next be considered in the Senate, where Senators Dick Durbin (S-IL) and Barack Obama (D-IL) introduced companion legislation.

"I am pleased that the House has moved swiftly to pass this legislation," 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.  I look forward to it becoming law in the near future."

"I am proud that Katherine Dunham will have a U. S. Post office named in her honor. Miss Dunham truly left her imprint on the hearts of St. Louisans," said Clay. "She is well deserving of this tribute for having been a great American who dedicated her life to showing the world that African American heritage is rich and beautiful.  Through the gift of dance, Miss Dunham encouraged and inspired all people to overcome their troubles and embrace hope and happiness."

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.

Ms. Dunham passed away on May 21, 2006. The legislation would name the post office on Missouri Avenue in East St. Louis, the "Katherine Dunham Post Office Building."

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