Columbia Point institutions join up on Census outreach

The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate will work with John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and the Massachusetts Archives & Commonwealth Museum to encourage students to visit Columbia Point to learn about the 2020 Census of the United States. 

As part of the initiative, each partnering organization will embed new educational content about how the Census works into its civic education programs for students through the end of the school year. It’s estimated that the effort will reach approximately 20,000 students visiting the Dorchester venues through June 2020.

“This initiative highlights the strong relationships among Columbia Point’s civic institutions while bringing attention to the important role that the Census plays in the determination of congressional representation, federal funding, and other vital functions,” said Alan Price, director of the JFK Library complex.

The EMK Institute will integrate information into its Senate Immersion Module program and Senator-in-Training tours, and its informational display on Congress. Staff at the Library and Museum are incorporating discussion of the Census into the Library’s marquee federal budget simulation program, as well as civil rights programs and other educational programming.

“Participating in the Census is one of the most civic and least partisan activities in which all of the people who live in the United States can engage,” said Gina Perille, chief operating officer of the EMK Institute.

The Massachusetts Archives & Commonwealth Museum will incorporate a Census component into all of its on-site educational programming that highlights its purpose, impact, and benefits. 

“This collaboration will have a powerful, positive impact across the Commonwealth and beyond,” said Michael Comeau, executive director of the Archives facility.


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