The Dirksen Congressional Center
The Dirksen Congressional Center promotes research and scholarship to advance the public understanding of the U.S. Congress. Named for Everett McKinley Dirksen (1896-1969) and located in his hometown of Pekin, Illinois, The Center is a non-profit, non-partisan organization. Dirksen served in the U.S. House from 1933-1949, the U.S. Senate from 1951-1969, and as Minority Leader of the Senate from 1959 until his death in September 1969.
Published with permission from Tiffany White, Executive Director.
Everett McKinley Dirksen (1896-1969)
Born in Pekin, Illinois, Dirksen served as an artillery officer during World War I and opened a bakery after the war. After serving on the Pekin City Council, he won election to the House of Representatives in 1932. He won election to the Senate in 1950, unseating Senate Majority Leader Scott W. Lucas. In the Senate, he favored conservative economic policies and supported the internationalism of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Dirksen succeeded William F. Knowland as Senate Minority Leader after the latter declined to seek re-election in 1958.
Dirksen was born in Pekin, Illinois, was the son of German immigrants from East Frisia (Ostfriesland), Antje (Conrady) born in Loquard, and Johann Friedrich Dirksen, born in Jennelt Everett's parents gave him the middle name "McKinley" for President William McKinley. He had a fraternal twin, Thomas Reed Dirksen (named for Thomas B. Reed), and another brother, Benjamin, named for President Benjamin Harrison. Johann Dirksen, who worked at the Pekin Wagon Works as a design painter in addition to farming, had a debilitating stroke when Everett Dirksen was five years old, and he died when Everett Dirksen was nine. He had been Antje's second husband; with her first husband, Beren Ailts (d. 1890), she was the mother of two sons, Everett Dirksen's half brothers Thomas and Henry.
Dirksen grew up on a farm managed by his mother on Pekin's outskirts, in a neighborhood called Bonchefiddle, Low German for "Beantown", because frugal immigrants grew beans for the family dinner table in their front yards instead of decorative flowers. He attended the local schools, graduated from Pekin High School in 1913 as the class salutatorian, and helped support the family by working at a Pekin corn refining factory. A visit to the Minnesota home of one of his half brothers led to Dirksen's attendance at the University of Minnesota.
Dirksen dropped out of college to enlist in the United States Army. On January 4, 1917—his twenty-first birthday—Dirksen joined the Army. Offered the opportunity to remain with the Army of Occupation because of his fluency in German, Dirksen declined, received his discharge, and returned to Pekin.
After the war, Dirksen invested money in an electric washing machine business, but it failed, after which he joined his brothers in running the Dirksen Brothers Bakery. He expressed his artistic side by writing a number of unpublished short stories, as well as plays with former classmate Hubert Ropp. In addition, Dirksen was active in the American Legion, and appearances on its behalf gave him the opportunity to hone his public speaking skills.
His political career began in 1926, when he was elected to the nonpartisan Pekin City Council. He placed first in field of eight candidates vying for four seats. At the time, the top vote getter also received appointment as the city's commissioner of accounts and finance, and Dirksen held both posts from 1927 to 1931.
Dirksen was a Freemason and was a member of Pekin Lodge #29 in Pekin. In 1954, he was Grand Orator of the Grand Lodge of Illinois. He was honored with the 33rd degree in 1954.
In August 1969, chest x-rays disclosed an asymptomatic peripherally located mass in the upper lobe of the right lung. Dirksen entered Walter Reed Hospital for surgery, which was undertaken on September 2. A right upper lobectomy removed what proved to be lung cancer. Mr. Dirksen initially did well, but progressive complications developed into bronchopneumonia. He suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest and died on September 7, 1969, at age 73.
Dirksen lay in state at the United States Capitol rotunda followed by burial at Glendale Memorial Gardens in Pekin.
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To claim a find of this virtual geocache, send me a message or email with answers to the following questions:
- How many long tall windows face the parking lot at the Dirksen Center?
- Who is the artist that signed the bust sculpture of Senator Dirksen outside the Center.
- Optional: Send a selfie picture of you and the bust of Senator Dirksen.
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