Juniors attend Clinton's second Inauguration

Staff Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Forty-one Greensboro high school students, braving freezing temperatures and the crush of large crowds, attended the 53rd Presidential Inauguration here Jan. 20.

The Ben L. Smith High School students witnessed President William Jefferson Clinton take the oath of office for the second time, becoming the first Democrat since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to receive the oath after winning a second full term. Harry S. Truman and Lyndon Baynes Johnson received a complete term after finishing for deceased presidents.

The Smith students heard Clinton give a 22-minute speech after taking the oath of office five minutes later than the consitutionally-mandated hour of noon. In his remarks, the Arkansas Democrat hammered home themes of personal responsibility, national unity and the American Dream as more than 200,000 crowded the west end of the Capitol and the east end of the Mall. The Greensboro students watched Clinton, who was about a quarter of a mile away from their vantage point, and gazed at massive television screens that were interspersed throughout the Mall and Capitol areas.

�From the height of this place and the summit of this century,� Clinton said in concluding his remarks, �let us go forth. May God strengthen our hands for the good work ahead, and always, always bless our America.�

Students line parade route

Then the crowd began its trek down Pennsylvania Avenue to find a spot to watch the Inaugural parade. Smith students found openings along Pennsylvania on 10th and 12th Streets NW to watch the processional, which was delayed by a long presidential luncheon. Approximately three hours after the official inauguration, Clinton, his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton drove by the Greensboro students in their limousine. The Smith contingent was able to see the first family through tinted glass as the Clintons waved to the citizens on the street. Clinton and his family did walk the last block of the parade route, which was reserved for Washington�s biggest political players and was secured tightly by the Secret Service, National Park Service, Military and District of Columbia police.

Parade includes FAMU band

The parade included scores of bands, floats and armed service units, as well as other major federal government dignitaries, including Vice President Al Gore and his family, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Virginia Senator John Warner, who was the chairman of the Inaugural committee. Bands from Florida A&M University and Southern University were the clear crowd favorites.

Other highlights of the trip included visits to the Capitol, Arlington National Cemetery, Howard University, the National Cathedral, the Frederick Douglass House, Ford�s Theater, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial, the Air and Space Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the Vietnam and Korean war memorials, the Iwo Jima Memorial, the Museum of American History, the National Archives, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, Georgetown and Lafayette Park. The Washington Monument was closed on Inauguration day.

�Great Opportunity�

�It was a great opportunity for these young people to see our nation�s capital and witness a historical event,� said Yvonne Woodward, a Smith English teacher and one of seven chaperones on the trip. �We were very happy with both their curiosity and their behavior in an atmosphere that required patience and good manners because of the long lines and bitter cold. It was a successful trip in every aspect.�

The trip was limited to students who take American history and literature at Smith, and the trip to Douglass� house, Cedar Hill, was clearly a favorite. Students, many of whom had read excerpts from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass before the trip, took an up-close look at Cedar Hill, with its clear view of the Capitol Hill neighborhood and the Anacostia River, and watched a video about the writer�s exceptional life in the historical site�s visitors center. Students were also able to review editions of Douglass�s paper, the North Star. It was one of the first papers owned and operated by an African American. The paper was published from 1847-60 in Rochester, N.Y. Thereafter, Douglass spent the rest of his life as a civil servant in Washington. Another highlight was a chance to see the newest edifice in Washington�s Mall area: the U.S. Holocaust Memorial. Students toured the �Daniel�s Story� exhibit and saw how a teenager much like themselves suffered horribly at the hands of Nazi genocide.

Lincoln Memorial

The students braved single-digit temperatures to see the Lincoln Memorial. They were able to read the words of the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural speech.

On the final day of the trip, the Smith group visited the grave of John F. Kennedy at Arlington National Cemetery. Kennedy, assassinated Nov. 22, 1963, is one of only two presidents who lies in Arlington. The other is William Howard Taft.

The Smith group, who sacrificed their Martin Luther King three-day holiday weekend to attend the Inauguration, stayed in the metropolitan Washington area for three nights. The Greensboro Jaycees provided financial aid for qualifying students.

�The success of the trip set a precedent for further educational ventures like this one,� Woodward added. �The students� excellent deportment will lead to more trips like this in the future.�

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