Henry Barbosa Gonzalez (May 3, 1916 – November 28, 2000) was a Democratic politician from the state of Texas. He represented Texas's 20th congressional district from 1961 to 1999. Gonzalez was born in San Antonio, Texas, to parents who had immigrated during the Mexican Revolution. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and San Antonio College, earning his undergraduate degree. Later, he received a Juris Doctor from St. Mary's University School of Law. Upon graduation, he became a probation officer, and was quickly promoted to the chief office of Bexar County, Texas. Gonzalez served on the San Antonio city council from 1953 to 1956. He was then a member of the Texas state senate from 1956 to 1961. Gonzalez set the Texas Senate record by filibustering a set of bills on segregation for 22 straight hours. Most of the bills were abandoned (eight out of ten). He ran for governor in 1958, finishing second in the Democratic primary (the real contest for governor in a solidly Democratic state) to Senator Price Daniel. In January 1961, Gonzalez ran in the special election for Lyndon Johnson's Senate seat, finishing sixth. However, in September, 20th District Congressman Paul J. Kilday was appointed to the Court of Military Appeals. Gonzalez ran in the special election for the San Antonio-based district in November and won. He was unopposed for a full term the next year, and was reelected seventeen times. He never faced truly serious or well-funded opposition, running unopposed in 1970, from 1974 to 1978, 1982 and 1984. In fact, the 20th was (and still is) so heavily Democratic that Gonzalez faced Republican opposition only five times, winning easily each time. Gonzalez became known for his liberal views. In 1963, Congressman Ed Foreman called Gonzalez a "communist" and a "pinko" and Gonzalez confronted him. Gonzalez was referred to as a "communist" in 1986 by a man at Earl Abel's restaurant that was a popular San Antonio eatery. The 70 year-old representative responded by punching him in the face. Gonzalez was acquitted of assault for this incident. Gonzalez chaired the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations that investigated the deaths of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. He introduced legislation calling for the impeachment of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Gonzalez also blocked hearings into Whitewater until finally agreeing to hold hearings in 1994. In 1997, Gonzalez fell ill and he was unable to return to the House for over a year. Finally, he decided not to run for a 19th full term in 1998. He had long groomed his son, Charlie, to succeed him. Charlie Gonzalez won easily in 1998 and still holds the seat; between them, father and son have served 46 consecutive years in Congress (as of November, 2007). He was also an outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve System. On October 24, 2006, it was announced that Congressman Gonzalez's personal notes, correspondence and mementos would become part of the Congressional History Collection at the University of Texas at Austin's Center for American History.

We visited the beautiful campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. It was designed and founded by Thomas Jefferson.The black stuff at the top of the columns is there because the masonry is crumbling. "Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia in 1819. He wished the publicly-supported school to have a national character and stature. Jefferson envisioned a new kind of university, one dedicated to educating leaders in practical affairs and public service rather than for professions in the classroom and pulpit exclusively. It was the first nonsectarian university in the United States and the first to use the elective course system. Jefferson considered the founding of the University to be one of his greatest achievements. Undertaking the project toward the end of his life—after a long, illustrious career that included serving as a colonial revolutionary, political leader, writer, architect, inventor, and horticulturalist—he was closely involved in the University's design. He planned the curriculum, recruited the first faculty, and designed the Academical Village, a terraced green space surrounded by residential and academic buildings, gardens, and the majestic center-point—the Rotunda. The most recognizable symbol of the University, the Rotunda stands at the north end of the Lawn and is half the height and width of the Pantheon in Rome, which was the primary inspiration for the building. The Lawn and the Rotunda have served as models for similar designs of "centralized green areas" at universities across the United States. The University opened for classes in 1825 with a faculty of eight and a student body numbering sixty-eight. Jefferson took great pains to recruit the most highly qualified faculty, five of whom were found in England and three in the United States. Instruction was offered in ancient languages, modern languages, mathematics, moral philosophy, natural philosophy, chemistry, law, and medicine. The students came from the American South and West; interestingly, though, most were not Virginians. Jefferson opposed the granting of degrees on the grounds that they were "artificial embellishments." In 1824, however, the Board of Visitors authorized granting the master of arts degree. The doctor of medicine, or M.D., was awarded to the first graduates of the School of Medicine in 1828, and the bachelor of laws degree, or LL.B., was first awarded for law school graduates in 1842. The bachelor's degree was awarded beginning in 1849, but became the standard undergraduate degree and a prerequisite for the master's degree in 1899, bringing the University into conformity with other institutions of higher learning. The Ph.D. has been awarded since 1883."