United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
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Joshua Reed Giddings

Portrait painting of Joshua Reed Giddings, half length, in a coat and necktie, seated, his right arm resting on a table with two books/tiles/collection/2/29597.xml
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Portrait painting of Joshua Reed Giddings, half length, in a coat and necktie, seated, his right arm resting on a table with two books
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Date

1859

Artist

Caroline L. O. Ransom

Dimensions

40 1/2 × 33 3/4 in. (102.9 × 85.7 cm) Framed: 50 1/4 × 42 1/4 in. (127.6 × 107.3 cm)

Accession Number

2017.077.000

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

Joshua Giddings was a renowned anti-slavery leader during his 20 years in the House, but did not live to see slavery abolished in the United States. He died in 1864, in the midst of the Civil War. Three years later, Congress purchased his portrait from artist Caroline Ransom for the then-enormous sum of $1,000. The House installed the portrait in Statuary Hall, where Giddings began his congressional career. Ransom had a long career, and her second congressional portrait, a painting of early Speaker John W. Taylor, arrived at the Capitol four decades later.

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Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov