United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
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“The House of Representatives, in some respects, I think, is the most peculiar assemblage in the world,” Speaker Joe Cannon of Illinois once observed. Behind the legislation and procedure, House Members and staff have produced their own institutional history and heritage. Our blog, Whereas: Stories from the People’s House, tells their stories.

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Displaying 1–12 of 70 results

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In the Bag

by Archives on August 6, 2019
Detail of Ruth Bryan Owen's Bag
“Representative Ruth Bryan Owen has designed a handbag for business women,” the Chicago Daily Tribune reported. In 1931, the Congresswoman’s pocketbook made the news. Her choice of accessory became a subtle statement about gender expectations in Congress.
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Categories: Members of Congress, Women & Minorities on the Hill, Photographs

House Pages Shoulder the Weight of History: The Story Behind an Iconic Image

by Oral History on March 1, 2019
Sixty-five years ago, four members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party opened fire on the House Chamber from the visitors’ gallery, wounding five Members, and causing mayhem across the Capitol. In the midst of the terror, others on the floor responded by assisting those wounded in the attack. Photographs snapped in the aftermath captured these efforts, including an iconic image of three young House Pages carrying a wounded Member down the steps of the Capitol. Perhaps more than any other image, that photo came to embody both the violence and the solemnity of the day.
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Categories: Congressional Staff, Photographs

Congressional Eagles

by Archives on November 19, 2018
Edith Nourse Rogers
In the early 1920s, one Member of Congress flipped and looped over the Capitol in a biplane. But after famous pilot Charles Lindbergh took Representatives up for a ride in 1928, aviation soared in the Washington imagination.
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Categories: Members of Congress, Photographs

House-Brewed Home Brew

by Archives on October 24, 2018
John Philip Hill and Guests at the Franklin Farms Party
Representative John Philip Hill tried very hard to get arrested by the Commissioner of Prohibition.
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Categories: Members of Congress, Legislation, Photographs

Slam Dunk: Doughnuts and the House

by Archives on September 17, 2018
Dunking a Doughnut into Coffee
Doughnuts have long been a favorite Washington breakfast. Crullers cooked up debate both on and off the House Floor.
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Categories: Members of Congress, Photographs

The Cowboy of Congress

by Archives on August 16, 2018
Percy Gassaway
The Congressman stuck both index fingers down into his cowboy boot and yanked it up under his pant leg, getting ready for another day at the office.
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Categories: Members of Congress, Photographs

An Ode to Poetry at the Capitol

by Archives on July 2, 2018
Consultant in Poetry Elizabeth Bishop Writing with a View of the Capitol
During a Joint Meeting honoring the bicentennial of Congress in 1989, Minority Leader Robert Michel suggested that what Congress needed during the celebration was “not more congressional prose, but the fiery, living truth of great poetry.”
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Categories: Capitol Campus, House Chamber, Photographs

Becoming the Board of Education

by Art on June 18, 2018
Nicholas Longworth and John Garner
Board of Education. Doghouse. Cabinet Room. Sanctum sanctorum. Or, as Speaker Sam Rayburn modestly called his tiny hideaway where informal legislating happened, “the little room.”
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Categories: Capitol Campus, Speakers of the House, Photographs

“As the Game Goes So Goes the Election” . . . or Not

by Archives on June 11, 2018
James Mead at Bat
“As the game goes so goes the election,” predicted the cover of the 1932 Congressional Baseball Game program.
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Categories: Practice & Customs, Photographs, Artifacts

Photo Mystery Update

by Archives on May 31, 2018
Composite Image of Photos with Mystery Men on the Reverse
This month, we asked for your help solving a photo mystery.
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Categories: Photographs, Announcements

Photo Mystery

by Archives on May 1, 2018
Mystery image on the reverse of a photograph
We have a photo mystery, and we’re asking for your help.
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Categories: Photographs, Announcements

The Famous Umbrella of Ernest Ackerman

by Archives on April 10, 2018
Ernest Ackerman with Umbrella
Ernest Ackerman stood outside on a staircase. A black umbrella, clasped in his right hand and leaning against his shoulder, unfurled behind him. But, as you might notice, it wasn’t raining.
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Categories: Members of Congress, Photographs
Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov