A Top-Level Tour of Capitol Hill

On April 17, students in the “Politics in America” class visited the Librarian of Congress, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), and Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.

The group of 13 students, 11 from NCS and two from St. Albans, were accompanied by Social Sciences Teachers David Sahr, Mathematics Teacher and Senior Class Sponsor Dolores Hamilton, and Director of Admission Polly Fredlund.

Our group first toured the Library of Congress, then met with Dr. James Billington, the Librarian of Congress. He was appointed by Ronald Reagan and has served since that time. He explained his role to the students and took questions. He is responsible for the library’s collection and during his tenure he has vastly increased the holdings of the library. He has also overseen the digitization of the library’s collection, most of which is online and available to the public.

At the Capitol we met with Rep. John Lewis (D-GA). He is the last surviving speaker from the 1963 March on Washington. He marched and worked with Dr. King and has spent his entire life fighting for equal rights. He was the chairman of the SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) at the height of the movement, 1963-66.  He spoke at length with the students and took many questions. One student asked how he felt when Obama was elected for the first time, and Lewis said he cried. He said he was “very moved” and was elated. He said it “sends a strong message about the distance we have come” as a nation. Another student asked his view on same-sex marriage. Lewis said, “races don’t fall in love and get married, individuals fall in love,” and so just as he supported interracial marriage, he supports same-sex marriage.

The last speaker was the Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.  In a private room at the Court, he spoke for more than a half hour with the class and took many questions. He asked what they were working on at NCS and STA, and he responded to questions about his role as the Chief Justice. He said the case that is most important to him as a judge is Marbury v. Madison, but the case that has had the biggest impact in the last century is Brown v. Board of Education. He downplayed his role as a leader on the court, and emphasized his work as one of nine people trying to understand the law and how to apply it. – David Sahr