by
Art on January 24, 2020
Carpets have played an important role in interior design for both private and public buildings. Over two centuries, flooring decisions in the House have swung back and forth between form (symbolism, aesthetics, and glamour) and function (practicality, cost, and durability).
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With the second session of the 116th Congress (2019–2021) now underway, we thought it might be a good time to highlight the considerable work the offices of History, Art and Archives have put online in the past year. This Edition for Educators focuses on the wealth of new material made available in 2019.
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Two Champ Clarks stand side by side. The Speaker on the right is a near-perfect replica of the Speaker on the left—except for his ghostly white pallor and his abrupt ending below the chest.
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2019 was a very busy year for everyone in the Offices of History, Art and Archives. On top of dozens of additions to our website’s resources, the office again published 43 blogs covering all manner of subjects. As we reflect on the past year, we’ve selected eight favorites for our readers to revisit heading into 2020.
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Photographs from the House Collection capture the fun of snowball fights outside the Capitol, a tradition for House and Senate Pages.
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“I was involved, deeply involved, in a deception.” With those words to a congressional committee, the house of cards built by the producers and sponsors of popular televised quiz shows tumbled at last.
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Congressional mobile offices emerged at the intersection of U.S. politics and love for automobiles.
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by
Art on November 18, 2019
Photographers hauled their equipment to the top of the Capitol's giant new cast-iron dome and captured the city as it transformed from Civil War chaos to Gilded Age glamour. This 1875 image showed a city that still looked something less than glamorous.
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This Edition for Educators focuses on some of the House Members who served in the United States military before turning their careers to serving in Congress.
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When first-term Representative Leon Sacks of Pennsylvania introduced H.R. 6546 on April 21, 1937, the Earth did not stop spinning. Time did not stand still.
But it almost did.
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“Sometimes you sit here and think you hear the funniest things a’ going on,” the infamous House Doorkeeper William “Fishbait” Miller once told an interviewer, Miller’s broad smile casting doubt on whether he actually believed what he said. “Wonder, if those sounds I keep a‘hearin’ are chicken ghosts?”
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This month’s Edition for Educators focuses on the often-complex process of attaining statehood through the lens of the House of Representatives.
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