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There are many other stirring passages in that speech of Governor Youngdahl's underlining his view that "The human being is an individual whose values cannot be measured adequately in terms of materialism, usefulness to the state, physical fitness or mental capacity."

As you meet with the governor of your state or petition your legislature you will do well to reread Governor Youngdahl's words so that you may "hold fast to that which is good" and keep alive these stirring, and so timely, remarks.

The third in the line of great historic documents in NARC is an address entitled "Research and the National Association for Retarded Children" given at the Chicago Convention by our beloved friend Dr. Grover Powers whose presence here tonight is a singular honor to all of us. It was not just research Grover Powers was talking about that day but the impact of research on NARC and the impact of NARC on research; and to those among you who still claim that they do not understand what our research program is all about and to those of you who are challenged in your communities to explain and defend why NARC should have a research program and should seek support for it, may I suggest that you discover anew the strength of his clear and cogent arguments and the persuasiveness of his programmatic challenge. At the close of his address, Dr. Powers left this thought with us:

"You have heard, no doubt, that "Rome was not built in a day" and the problems of mental retardation, as old as human life itself, will not be solved in a day -- indeed, not in generations. What is important at this point is that you build a solid foundation for the magnificent work you have begun and so wisely carried forward. Your support of basic research is a large and essential stone in that foundation. Faith is another. In pointing out the characteristics and qualifications of the research worker I noted that he must have "faith in ultimate accomplishments and in discoveries of meritorious value." So must we all be imbued with faith in this great enterprise which we are undertaking, not just for mentally retarded children and their families but for the health and well-being of our total society."

Do I need to point out to you again what already has been brought home to you at this Convention by others, that the faithful and generous giving of some of our units notwithstanding, we are falling more and more behind in our support of research, of that "Large and essential stone" in the foundation of our work.

One of the bitterest pills I had to swallow as your Executive Director was to see letters of acknowledgement go out to units which had sent in for support of research paltry sums of money that hardly compared with what was spent for coffee and doughnuts at the monthly unit meeting. Dr. Powers has given us the most distinguished Research Advisory Board in existence in the field of mental retardation. We cannot afford to default on our obligation to support their work, and I have no patience with people who use weasel words and dilatory tactics to negate this obligation while mouthing pious phrases about the importance of research!

Next on my honor roll list is one of NARC's earliest and most unique publications prepared by the Publicity and Public Relations Committee in 1954. "Blueprint for a Crusade" was not fancily made up on glossy paper but between its modest covers there was, to my mind, more basic information, more guiding philosophy, more practical advice than we have ever put into one volume.

I am well aware that the wizards of Madison Avenue have succeeded in selling us that constant change to new gimicks provides the only assurance of progress but in my work I still found in 1963 good reason to consult my desk copy of this 1954 publication.

The author of the next document is also here tonight as one of our honored guests, my distinguished predecessor, Dr. Salvatore G. DiMichael, fondly known to us as just "DiMike." I had planned to have available at the Convention copies of his address, "speaking for Mentally Retarded Children to America." We have them at NARC Headquarters and you may want to write for one. If you watch it you will be amazed how much up-to-date his comments still are today, how keenly he identified in 1955 potential major weaknesses which still plague us today in our organization, how far we still are from achieving the total comprehensive program for all the retarded he presented. Because his speech is so all encompassing, it would be futile to try and pick out some highlights, suffice it to say I received much stimulation and guidance from this broad and bold program Dr. DiMichael laid out, but it also kept me humble to be reminded how short a distance we had travelled on the route mapped out many years ago.

The sixth document I want to single out was created in 1958 and though its official name is "Report of the Unit Relations Study Committee" it became known as "The Fettinger Report" in tribute to the wise imaginative statesmanlike leadership John Fettinger provided as Chairman of that Committee. The Committee came to life at a propitious moment in our history. The early years of Sturm and Drang of our Association had been followed by the stabilizing two years during which Clifford MacDonald had built for us in masterly fashion a sound organizational structure. The time was ripe then to develop a statement of basic policies, a philosophical frame of reference if you please, which could guide the National Association and its member units toward a more effective fulfillment of their respective responsibilities.