The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO STEVE LIVENGOOD FOR 25 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE U.S. CAPITOL
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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HON. HALEY M. STEVENS
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Ms. STEVENS. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the contributions of Steve Livengood to the U.S. Capitol Historical Society and his decades of service educating the public about the history of this institution.
Congress chartered the United States Capitol Historical Society
(USCHS) to ``foster and increase an informed patriotism'' in our nation's citizenry. Steve Livengood is a leader in executing that important mission. Those across the Congressional community and around the country have benefited from Steve's expertise. For a quarter-
century, Steve provided continuing education and talks about the Capitol and Congress, giving briefings before every Presidential Inauguration, as well as offering background information and perspective to tourism professionals and the press. Additionally, Steve is considered the go-to expert on Capitol Ghosts and is one of the few people to publicly admit that he has seen the ghost of John Quincy Adams in Statuary Hall.
Since 1996, Steve has served as a full-time Capitol tour guide, volunteer coordinator, and director of other public programs for USCHS. He led tours for notable entertainers such as Harrison Ford, Robert Duvall, and Martha Stewart; foreign dignitaries like the Attorney General of Italy, the President of Hungary, and at least one current crowned head of a prominent European country. Steve also guided tours for titans of industry such as the President of The Ford Motor Company, Indra Nooyi, President of PepsiCo, and several hedge-fund managers through the halls of the Capitol. When the Capitol was closed to public tours after the 9/11 attack, Steve organized the first regular public tours around the Capitol grounds to allow visitors an opportunity for a guided interpretive tour despite the building's closure.
Steve's contributions to USCHS extend far beyond leading tours. He served as the co-organizer of the We the People Constitution Tour program for DC Public School students, which helps Washington middle schoolers experience the Constitution as embodied in the buildings and work of their city. Furthermore, Steve wrote the We the People Constitution Tour Program's Capitol script and personally led tours for upwards of ten thousand students over roughly fifteen years. When COVID-19 closed the Capitol to visitors, Steve helped to develop the Society's virtual learning series exploring the history of the Capitol and the Capitol Hill neighborhood--a series now attended by Congressional staff and alumni, as well as history buffs from around the country.
Steve became a member of USCHS in 1973 and participated in many of their programs over the following two decades. His involvement increased dramatically in 1993 when he began serving as a USCHS volunteer tour guide. Fondly remembering the tours he'd given as a college student, Steve quickly became one of the most active tour volunteers for the Society. As the Society grew, Steve jumped at the opportunity to take a tour program position. Steve became the Society's first employee dedicated solely to organizing the tour program, later taking on such additional responsibilities as sales of USCHS calendars to Members' offices in the House and Senate.
Steve Livengood's passion for the Capitol began when he was just twelve and his parents tasked him with planning an educational vacation. Over the next two years, he arranged for his family to visit Washington, D.C. During the trip Steve became so enamored with the city that he chose D.C. as his college home, attending American University to study Political Science and Government.
While enrolled at American University, Steve leveraged a Kansas connection into volunteering with his Congressman Joe Skubitz. He spent Saturday mornings working on the second floor of the Cannon House Office Building doing such things as rubberstamping ``From the Office of Congressman Joe Skubitz, Kansas 5th District'' on copies of the official Capitol guidebooks to be distributed to constituents and other visitors.
During spring break, the staff offered Steve a paid opportunity. From 1965 until his graduation in 1968, Steve worked part-time in Mr. Skubitz's office and full time during the summer of 1967. His favorite task was giving tours of the Capitol building for constituents and visitors.
After a short, involuntary tour in Southeast Asia, Steve ventured to Emory University where he received a Master's in recent social history. Along with his studies, he served as Speaker in the Emory University Student Legislature and student body Vice President.
Steve returned to Washington in 1973 for his dissertation research, titled ``Scandals in the 1938 Senate Elections and the Passage of the Hatch Act.'' Steve worked for various groups organizing many programs and meetings on Capitol Hill for political and policy organizations before he came to work for the Society. Steve Livengood dedicated his career to the belief that the United States Capitol is the Temple of Democracy for the world, and that Congress is the most important example of how to implement a representative democracy. Steve Livengood proudly claims that the United States government serves as the best example of government for all of humankind. We salute his 25 years of service to the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, and look forward to many more years of tours and public history lessons.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 49
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