Davenport's Jim Leach, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, visiting Davenport's Saint Ambrose University

The German American Heritage Center is proud to share the importance of civility in our community by bringing Jim Leach, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, to Davenport's Saint Ambrose University on Saturday June 16th at 12p.m. Leach's visit is part of the American Civility Tour, a 50-state tour he launched in November 2009, shortly after starting his four-year term as NEH chairman.

During his visit, Leach will deliver a public lecture at 12 p.m. in the Galvin Fine Arts Center at SAU titled "Civility, With A German Immigrant Accent." In addition to his key comments on civility in American discourse, Leach will refer to the always lively, sometimes rowdy role of German immigrants in the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln. The event is free and open to the public.

Leach's Civility Tour seeks to call attention to the need for civility in public discourse. He worries that America's leaders and citizens have increasingly resorted to extremist rhetoric, abandoning civil debate and discourse for name-calling, and provocative actions. We must reverse that trend, he says, if we are to continue to earn the respect of each other and the nations around the world.

"Civilization requires civility," Leach says. "Words matter. Little is more important for the world's leading democracy in this change-intensive century than establishing an ethos of thoughtfulness and decency of expression in the public square."

Leach began his four-year term as NEH chairman in August 2009 after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 years. As a congressman representing southeastern Iowa, he chaired the Banking and Financial Services Committee, the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He also founded and co-chaired the Congressional Humanities Caucus.

Please visit gahc.org or call 563-322-8844 for more information. The Galvin Fine Arts Center is located at 518 W Locust St. in Davenport.

This event is sponsored by the German American Heritage Center, Quad City Times, St. Ambrose University, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.