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The Censure of Fernando Wood by the House of Representatives, at Washington, D.C., Jan. 15th

Page from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, February 1, 1868, with two prints. One print shows the House Chamber with a Member standing on the floor near the rostrum. The Speaker holds an open book and gestures. The print is captioned, “The Censure of Fernando Wood by the House of Representatives, at Washington, D.C., Jan. 15th.—See Page 314.” The second print shows “The New U.S. Steam Frigate Wampanoag, Capt. J. W. A. Nicholson, Commander.—See Page 314.”/tiles/collection/6/6751.xml
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A print showing the House Chamber with a Member standing on the floor near the rostrum. The Speaker holds an open book and gestures. The print is captioned, “The Censure of Fernando Wood by the House of Representatives, at Washington, D.C., Jan. 15th.—See Page 314.”/tiles/collection/6/6752.xml
Download this image
Page from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, February 1, 1868, with two prints. One print shows the House Chamber with a Member standing on the floor near the rostrum. The Speaker holds an open book and gestures. The print is captioned, “The Censure of Fernando Wood by the House of Representatives, at Washington, D.C., Jan. 15th.—See Page 314.” The second print shows “The New U.S. Steam Frigate Wampanoag, Capt. J. W. A. Nicholson, Commander.—See Page 314.”
A print showing the House Chamber with a Member standing on the floor near the rostrum. The Speaker holds an open book and gestures. The print is captioned, “The Censure of Fernando Wood by the House of Representatives, at Washington, D.C., Jan. 15th.—See Page 314.”
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Date

1868-02-01

Artist

Albert Berghaus

Publication

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper

Publisher

Frank Leslie

Dimensions

15 7/8 x 10 11/16 in. (40.3 x 27.1 cm)

Accession Number

2009.130.001

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

Tammany Hall Democrat Fernando Wood stood at the Speaker’s rostrum to be censured for “unparliamentary language” in 1868. He reportedly referred to a piece of legislation as “a monstrosity, a measure of the most infamous of the many infamous acts of this infamous Congress.” No stranger to inflammatory speech, Wood, a supporter of the Confederacy, had suggested in 1861 that New York, where he was at the time serving as mayor, secede from the United States and declare itself a “free city.”

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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