Skip to main content
Support
Event

The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction

Donald A. Ritchie, U.S. Senate Historian; Donald Wolfensberger Director, Congress Project, Woodrow Wilson Center

Date & Time

Thursday
Jul. 22, 2010
4:00pm – 5:30pm ET

Overview

U.S. Senate Historian Donald A. Ritchie will discuss his new book, The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction which combines his insider's knowledge of Congress with 30 years of experience as a Congressional historian to provide a behind-the-scenes tour of Capitol Hill. Joining Ritchie on the panel will be Donald Wolfensberger Director of the Congress Project at the Wilson Center.

Donald A. Ritchie is the historian of the U.S. Senate where he conducts oral history interviews, prepares historical documents for publication--such as the previously closed hearings conducted by Joseph McCarthy--and provides research and reference services for senators, scholars, and the media. He has served as president of the Oral History Association and on the councils of the American Historical Association and the International Oral History Association. His books include Press Gallery: Congress and the Washington Correspondents (which won the Richard Leopold Prize from the Organization of American Historians); Reporting from Washington: The History of the Washington Press Corp; Electing FDR: The New Deal Campaign of 1932; and most recently, The U.S. Congress: A Very Short Introduction.

Donald Wolfensberger is director of the Congress Project at the Woodrow Wilson Center and author of the Procedural Politics column in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. Prior to joining the Wilson Center he spent much of his career in the House of Representatives, including as Chief of Staff of the House Rules Committee. Wolfensberger's major publications include Congress and the People: Deliberative Democracy on Trial as well as Democracy and the Internet (co-editor).

Tagged

Hosted By

Cold War International History Project

The Cold War International History Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. Through an award winning Digital Archive, the Project allows scholars, journalists, students, and the interested public to reassess the Cold War and its many contemporary legacies. It is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program.  Read more

Thank you for your interest in this event. Please send any feedback or questions to our Events staff.