On the recordJanuary 5, 2011
I wish to say a few words about Elizabeth Ridgway, an Illinoisan, educator, and hard-working employee of the Library of Congress who recently passed away. Elizabeth died on December 23, 2010, at the young age of 41. In her role leading the Library's Educational Outreach Division, Elizabeth advocated for America's teachers and worked to provide them with better and expanded resources. In this capacity, she was responsible for administering the Teaching with Primary Sources program. In 2005, I secured authorization language to establish Teaching with Primary Sources to share with students and teachers the educational treasures of the Library of Congress. Many Illinois educators and educational facilities have participated in this program since its inception and, under Elizabeth's guidance, have been instrumental in the expansion of the program. The numerous programs she directed now reach tens of thousands of teachers nationwide, providing them with important classroom materials, workshops, online and graduate courses, mentoring and grants. Countless students across our nation are benefitting from the Library's collections as a result of Elizabeth's work.
