The large rostrum chair, seen here draped in black following Speaker Sam Rayburn’s 1961 death, has been in use since his speakership. In the modern era it is brought to the rostrum once each Congress to witness the opening of the new legislative session. The custom of draping the Speaker’s chair in black dates to the 1870s. The newer tradition of placing flowers and a gavel on the rostrum following a Speaker’s death dates to 1936, when Nicholas Longworth died in office.
