When the House adjourned in 1874, artist Thomas Nast grieved over the reform and civil rights bills that had made little headway in the Congress. In his illustration for Harper’s Weekly, Liberty kneels in sorrow at the Speaker’s rostrum. Nast drew a ponderous, ornate House Chamber chair in surprising detail. Soon after, these chairs would be seen no longer in the House. That very Congress, they were replaced by lighter, more up-to-date versions.
