Daniel J. Boorstein, a historian and educator of Russian Jewish parentage, was sworn in yesterday as the 12th Librarian of Congress since the office was established 175 years ago. The oath of office was administered by House Speaker Carl Albert (D.Okla.) in the presence of President Ford and Vice-President Nelson A. Rockefeller.
Boorstein took the oath on the “Thomson” Bible that was once part of the library of Thomas Jefferson. Ford, the first Chief Executive to participate in the swearing in of the Librarian of Congress, told Boorstein that the office would enable him to “extend in new directions your life-long appreciation of America’s past.”
Boorstein, 59, was born in Atlanta, Ga. and was raised in Tulsa, Okla. He was a Rhodes Scholar and taught history at Harvard, Swathmore and the University of Chicago. He served four years as director of the National Museum of History and Technology of the Smithsonian Institution and was senior historian at the Smithsonian when Ford nominated him for his present position.
Boorstein, who won the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1973, was the son of the late Samuel and Dora Boorstein. His father was born in Grodno, Russia, came to Atlanta as a child in the 1890s and worked his way through the University of Georgia to become a lawyer. Daniel Boorstein will supervise 4600 employees as Librarian of Congress.
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