[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 28, 2014)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E849-E850] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] IN MEMORY OF EMANUEL RAYMOND LEWIS, LIBRARIAN EMERITUS OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ______ HON. STENY H. HOYER of maryland in the house of representatives Wednesday, May 28, 2014 Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to an extraordinary life, to an extraordinary individual, to a dear friend of mine for many, many years. Emanuel Raymond Lewis, Librarian Emeritus, the last and longest serving Librarian of the U. S. House of Representatives, prolific author, archivist, educator, humorist, historian, illustrator, psychologist, and recognized expert on military and naval history, died May 14 in Suburban Hospital, Bethesda, MD. He was the husband of my former Chief of Staff, Eleanor Lewis, an extraordinary individual in her own right, who had been Geraldine Ferraro's Chief of Staff and John Dingell's Chief of Staff as well. Dr. Lewis was appointed House Librarian in 1973, and served until January 1995 when the library, which predated the Library of Congress, along with the House Historical Office, was down-sized and placed under the Legislative Resource Center. The Library was the official custodian of all documents generated by the House. Ray Lewis was a man of the House, and so much more. Ray lived a life of vast experience--he was a genuine Renaissance man. He loved his work, and his scholarship and service to the House and to this country left us all enriched. During his tenure as an officer of the House, Dr. Lewis combined disciplined intellect with a deep interest in the House's history and the patience to guide House members and staff seeking historical understanding of this institution. During the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment hearings on President Nixon, Lewis provided critical historical references to guide the committee in its work. And he honored the tradition of the office he headed, authoring a history of ``The House Library'' and promoting the ties with the Senate Library and the Library of Congress' Congressional Research Service. Mr. Speaker, as I said, I knew Ray Lewis for much of the time I have served in the House of Representatives. I got to know him, his sense of humor, his sense of this institution, his sense of decency, his sense of excitement of what was going on here and around the world. And with Eleanor he traveled much of the world and, in each place, brought something new home with him to share with all of us. From his service as an officer in military intelligence from 1954- 1956, Dr. Lewis developed a life-long interest in the history of military architecture and technology in the United States, which culminated in the 1970 publication of ``Seacoast Fortifications of the United States'' published by the Smithsonian Institution Press. He wrote this work while a Post-Doctoral Research Associate 1969-1970 at The Smithsonian Institution. Initially an architectural student at the University of California at Berkeley, Dr. Lewis turned his early drawing talents to illustrate his book. Commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the Coast Artillery Corps, he transferred to Military Intelligence when the Corps was abolished shortly after his commission. As commander of a group of Soviet military defectors--Lewis was a native Russian speaker--he was assigned responsibility for testing security at military bases. He retired as a Captain. Dr. Lewis researched military documents in the National Archives, and traveled extensively to fortification sites around the country for his book, the first comprehensive work on the subject of coastal fortifications in a century, now used by the U. S. National Park Service in training their employees. This seminal work examined the prominent role played by these fortifications in American defense policy prior to World War II. Lewis was accompanied on these travels by his future wife, Eleanor, and the couple referred to the time as `their forting days in lieu of their courting days.' Travel would become a constant in their lives together--his proposal of marriage included an unusual vow--``marry me and I will take you to Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara''--and he did. Over forty-five years they would visit every continent, and more than 100 countries. Eleanor, as I said, was my Chief of Staff, and she is still a very dear and close friend. She and Ray were partners in life for over four decades. They were partners, as well, in intellectual pursuit and in love of this country and this institution. [[Page E850]] Dr. Lewis published widely in military and naval-related journals including ``Military Affairs,'' the ``U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings,'' ``The Military Engineer,'' ``Capitol Studies,'' ``U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings;'' ``Military Engineer,'' ``Dictionary of American History,'' Encyclopedia of the United States Congress;'' and ``Warship International.'' Editors of the latter publication honored his work in their annual ``Best Articles of the Year'' on three separate occasions. In 1969 working for System Development Corporation of Santa Monica, CA, considered the world's first computer software company, Dr. Lewis co-authored ``The Educational Information Center: An Introduction,'' a general guide to the process of establishing an educational information center. Born to Siberian immigrants in Oakland, CA, November 30, 1928, Dr. Lewis attended the University of California at Berkeley (BA/MA) and the University of Oregon (PhD). While enrolled at the University of Oregon he studied with a grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH). He became a tenured psychology professor in the Oregon University System for a half-dozen years. Dr. Lewis was among the first psychology professors to participate in the creation of the Oregon State Board of Psychologist Examiners, and the first Oregon professor to teach on campus through television. Dr. Lewis had a life-long love of public spaces and actively worked to preserve parkland. On May 27,1937 at age 8, he joined his parents and his brother Albert, now deceased, in walking across the Golden Gate Bridge on opening day. He donated specimens unearthed at forts to national and state parks, including Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon. To honor his father, Jacob A. Lewis, Dr. Lewis donated ten acres to the city of Hayward, CA--the ``J.A. Lewis Park'' is now part of the Hayward (CA) Area Recreation and Park District. The elder Lewis had donated the same land area--ten acres--in San Francisco to build Congregation Ner Tamid. In 1965, Dr. Lewis prepared ``A History of San Francisco Harbor Defense Installations: Forts Baker, Barry, Cronkhite, and Funston'' for the State of California Division of Beaches and Parks. This work, which evolved into Dr. Lewis' later book on coastal fortification, was instrumental in the formation of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) in 1972. In 1971 Dr. Lewis was called to testify before a subcommittee of the House Interior Committee during hearings on creating the GGNRA. Dr. Lewis was well-known to House Members and especially staff who sought his help in researching issues before the Congress. He was regarded as a friendly curmudgeon who could be relied on to quickly locate helpful historical information. The time he saved those staffers, however, was all too frequently consumed in conversation about whatever matter Dr. Lewis happened to be engaged in researching at the time. His curiosity and love of learning spanned a wide range of interests. Those interests were manifested in his personal collection authentic African spears, including several purchased in Umhlanga, South Africa, which were used in the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War; the muzzle of a 16-inch gun from the USS Indiana now on display at the Navy Museum in Washington, D.C.; a 1954 MG which was best of show in the 25th Anniversary of the ``Concours d'Elegance'' June 29, 1997 in Forest Grove, Oregon; and Soviet Field Marshal memorabilia. Side interests included the study of California geography, and Native American tribes--the House Librarian was once called upon by Vice President Spiro Agnew for advice on the authentic pronunciation of tribal names. It was fitting that the House Librarian--in the tradition of Jefferson--held thousands of books in his personal collection. Ray's passions for travel and collecting items of interest came together when it came to trains. It's hard to know whether his collection of train models, especially those of the Southern Pacific Daylight, came from the time he spent riding the rails, but we know he loved traveling by train. His adventures included a cross-country excursion from Washington, DC to San Francisco, as well as passage on the Trans-Siberian Railway from Khabarovsk to Moscow. Along with his trips on the Canadian and Pacific Railways, Ray's rail experiences, like so much of his life, were full and adventurous. For all his scholarly activities, Lewis took great pleasure in hanging out with some of the legendary cultural figures of his time-- jazz greats Louis Armstrong and Dave Brubeck, as well as comedy giants Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl at San Francisco's ``Hungry i.'' An engaging and enthusiastic raconteur, Lewis could entertain with stories of juicy irony from the day's news, or of his time playing slots with Frank Sinatra in Reno, Nevada when the singer was obtaining his divorce from Ava Gardner. His own performing exploits--he sang and played guitar--ended with producing musicals and comedies in graduate school. Born with a rare cholesterol disorder, Dr. Lewis first entered NIH in 1964 as an in-patient, and was involved in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institutes' research protocols that led to the discovery of the statin drugs. Dr. Donald S. Fredrickson, named by President Gerald Ford to become head of the National Institutes in 1974, was Lewis's doctor; Lewis was a research patient in Dr. Frederickson's 1967 paper describing the classification of lipoprotein abnormalities in five types. This became known as the ``Frederick classification,'' later adopted as a standard by the World Health Organization in 1972. A devoted atheist, Dr. Lewis became a minister in the Universal Life Church, Inc., in the 1960s--he liked to joke that he could marry you or bury you--your choice. In 1999, he experienced a lifetime thrill when he met the Dalai Lama at a dinner in Washington, D.C. The Lewises had recently visited Lhasa, Tibet and at the dinner presented the Dalai Lama with photographs of Norbulingka, the summer palace from which he escaped the Chinese in March 1959. Ray Lewis, to the end of his life, digested life, welcomed life. Tennyson wrote, in his poem Ulysses: `I am a part of all that I have met;/yet all experience is an arch whichthro'/gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades/for ever and forever when I move./How dull it is to pause, to make an end,/to rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!' That was Ray Lewis's philosophy. He saw life as an ever-expanding opportunity to enrich himself and others with his intellect and his excitement for what could be done in this House. His knowledge, his intellect, his humor, his engaging personality truly shined upon us all. Ray was my friend. He was an American to be admired by us all, a good citizen, a great American, a man of the House. I join in expressing my sympathy to Eleanor, their son Joseph, and the extended Lewis family for their loss but also to all of us for our loss of a good and decent man who made such an extraordinary contribution to this country and to all who serve it in the People's House. ____________________