HR 120 (LSB 6284YH (3) 89)

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 120

BY  JACOBSEN

A Resolution honoring the Danville Station Museum Anne Frank Connection.

   WHEREAS, in the fall of 1939, a Danville, Iowa, teacher, Miss Birdie Mathews, initiated a pen pal exchange for her class and student Juanita Wagner picked the name of a girl her own age who lived in Amsterdam named Anne Frank, and student Betty Wagner selected her sister, Margot Frank; and
   WHEREAS, the efforts of Miss Mathews, who encouraged her students to reach beyond the world of Danville to children on the other side of the world, should be recognized as an example to teachers everywhere; and
   WHEREAS, with tireless energy and devotion, the residents of Danville established the Danville Station Museum; and
   WHEREAS, the Danville Station Museum displays the exchange of pen pal letters between the two Danville children and the two Dutch children; and
   WHEREAS, the Danville Station Museum Anne Frank Connection exhibit of Anne and Margot Frank letters stands as a testament that the horror of the Holocaust should never be forgotten and that we are all one human community; NOW THEREFORE,

   BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, That the House of Representatives recognizes the members of the Danville Station Committee for their efforts in creating the Danville Station Museum Anne Frank Connection as a memorial for all Iowans to remember that ordinary people can do extraordinary things; and

   BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourages all Iowans to visit the Danville Station Museum Anne Frank Connection and contemplate its message.