Hyde donates memorabilia to Loyola
This story, republished from our archives, first ran March 27, 2007.
The brown leather chair Henry Hyde sat in during President Clinton's impeachment trial has a new home.
The memento, given to Hyde by the U.S. Senate, is part of a large collection of documents and memorabilia donated to Loyola University by the 16-term retired Republican congressman from DuPage County.
The school, which counts Hyde as a graduate of its law school, will house the congressman's political treasure trove in its new Center for Public Service, due to open soon in the new library building on Loyola's Rogers Park campus.
The former Wood Dale lawmaker, who now lives in Geneva, said politicians get "mixed reviews" from the public, but he'd never met a young person who visited Washington, D.C., whose opinion wasn't changed after seeing congressmen in action.
Loyola had some of Hyde's voluminous donation on display Monday: a Hyde bobble-head doll, a piece of the Berlin Wall from his staff, photos of Hyde with seven presidents dating back to Dwight Eisenhower, and books of clippings from the Daily Herald and other papers. Hyde said his favorite item in the collection is a sword he received from Loyola years ago for his decades in public service.
Luminaries including Comptroller Dan Hynes, state Rep. Patti Bellock, former Republican governor candidate Ron Gidwitz, former Attorney General Neil Hartigan and former Illinois Senate President Phil Rock turned out for the late-afternoon announcement.
The man who succeeded Hyde in Congress, Wheaton's Peter Roskam, sent a letter calling Hyde "without a doubt one of my heroes."
Hyde's papers will join those of former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, the one-time Ways and Means chairman who served time in prison a decade ago as part of the House post office scandal. Rostenkowski said he's known Hyde since the two would carouse on Rush Street.
"There was nobody better than Henry at having a good time," he said.
Hyde said he hopes his contribution to the Loyola center will encourage students to pursue public service careers.
"You can't bring yourself to throw (the material) away, yet you need a place to store it," he said.