United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
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Visitor’s Gallery Pass

A white pass reading, “Member’s Pass. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., June 6, 1917, Admit Mrs. J.D. White to the Visitor’s Gallery, for Session, Jeannette Rankin, M.C. Montana”/tiles/collection/6/6736.xml
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A white pass reading, “Member’s Pass. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., June 6, 1917, Admit Mrs. J.D. White to the Visitor’s Gallery, for Session, Jeannette Rankin, M.C. Montana”
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Date

1917-06-06

Maker

Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Dimensions

2 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. (7 x 11.4 cm)

Accession Number

2006.184.000

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

Jeannette Rankin signed this gallery pass just two months after she became the first woman to serve in Congress. For many years, gallery passes were steel engravings like this one, featuring a personification of Liberty. She wears a liberty cap and holds the House Mace, the symbol of the institution’s authority. With Rankin's election, women moved from allegorical to actual presence in Congress.

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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