N.H. LIBRARIANS' DAY
September 14, 2006

by Cathy Marciniak
Fuller Public Library, Hillsboro
(603) 464-3595 www.conknet.com/~fullerlibrary

Wet weather had only slightly dampened our spirits as we trekked 'round the capital in the warm drizzle, and waited outside in yet another security line to check our sopping jackets and umbrellas. But all that was forgotten late in the afternoon, when our persistence paid off and we were lead by our tour guide to the visitors' gallery of the United States Senate.

We had already seen many impressive works of art that day, including half a dozen fabulous Native American portraits by George Catlin at the American Indian Museum. However, to the right of the gallery doors we were about to enter hangs a large oil portrait of a stately gray-haired woman I instinctively recognized as the famous Senator from Maine, Margaret Chase Smith. Her glowing expression conveyed honor and integrity, and for the first time that day I had a reassuring feeling that these truly were hallowed halls.

Quietly taking a seat inside the heavy doors, we peered down from the darkened balcony to the Senate floor below, where we watched Barbara Boxer arguing (against her Republican colleagues) in favor of bombproof cargo containers in airplanes. How much smaller and more intimate this space seemed, and certainly much more glittering than my first impression of it. I imagined that old black and white movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, where my hero, Jimmy Stewart, playing the part of the naive freshman senator, stood on that same floor, filibustering a bill that corrupt politicians had hoodwinked him into supporting. "Hard-boiled" reporter Jean Arthur leaned over this same railing, passionately pressing him on as he wavered after hours of holding the floor. Well, maybe they were actually on a Hollywood set, and maybe the real decisions aren't made here, but it seemed real then, as it seemed real now, and I couldn't help think that for many of us that thrill is a citizen's highest calling. Too soon the spell was broken as we were whispered that our time was up.

Back home I went online to her library to read more about Senator Smith, and discovered that in 1950, she was the first senator to speak out against Joseph McCarthy's infamous communist-hunt. On that same Senate floor, in a speech called "Declaration of Conscience," she cautioned her colleagues not to "ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism - The right to criticize; The right to hold unpopular beliefs; The right to protest; The right of independent thought."

If you have ever considered making this trip, I strongly encourage you to wait no more. I have been told that each year the focus changes, and with so much to do and see, and the freedom to do as you please, you could go every year and still not see it all. Kudos and thanks to the State Library and to former Congressman Bass and his staff to make this trip possible.