IV
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 458
Recognizing and commending Mary Baker Eddy’s achievements and the Mary
Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 26, 2002
Mr. SMITH of Texas (for himself, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. LEACH, and Mrs.
LOWEY) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Government Reform
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Recognizing and commending Mary Baker Eddy’s achieve-
ments and the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Better-
ment of Humanity.
Whereas the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment
of Humanity will officially open on September 29, 2002,
in Boston, Massachusetts, thereby making available to
the public the Mary Baker Eddy Collections, one of the
largest collections of primary source material by and
about an American woman;
Whereas the namesake of the Library, Mary Baker Eddy,
achieved international prominence during her lifetime
(1821–1910) as the founder of Christian Science and was
the first woman in the United States to found and lead
•HCON 458 IH
a religion that became an international movement with
members in 139 countries;
Whereas historians compare Mary Baker Eddy to nineteenth-
century women reformers like Elizabeth Cady Stanton
and Susan B. Anthony, who took leadership roles at a
time when women infrequently did so;
Whereas Mary Baker Eddy founded and served as the pastor
of her own church, the First Church of Christ, Scientist,
in Boston, and established a publishing organization that
produces numerous publications, including ‘‘The Chris-
tian Science Monitor’’, an international daily newspaper
that has won seven Pulitizer Prizes;
Whereas in recognition of the numerous achievements of
Mary Baker Eddy, the Women’s National Hall of Fame
inducted her into its membership in 1995 for having
made ‘‘an indelible mark on society, religion, and jour-
nalism’’;
Whereas the Mary Baker Eddy Library, a facility of 81,000
square feet, provides a place for people to come together
to explore ideas and offers on-site and online educational
experiences, programs, and exhibits;
Whereas the Mary Baker Eddy Collections consist of more
than 100,000 documents, artifacts, photographs, and
other media that chronicle the development of Mary
Baker Eddy’s ideas and offer an unequalled resource to
scholars in women’s history and mind-body medicine;
Whereas the Library’s initiative to make the previously un-
published materials in the Mary Baker Eddy Collections
available to the public is exemplary of, and in full accord
with, the intent of the provisions of title 17, United
•HCON 458 IH
States Code, relating to the publication of previously un-
published materials; and
Whereas the Mary Baker Eddy Library will establish an In-
stitute for the Rediscovery and Preservation of the His-
tory of Women in Seneca Falls, New York, the birthplace
of the first Women’s Rights Convention, in order to
showcase new research on the forgotten histories of
women and offer educational programs for students:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), 
That 
the 
Congress 
recognizes 
and
commends—
(1) Mary Baker Eddy for her outstanding
achievements and contributions, particularly her con-
tributions to the advancement of women’s rights as
a public figure and role model in the early stages of
the women’s rights movement; and
(2) the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Bet-
terment of Humanity, which will open to the public
on September 29, 2002.
Æ