This stereoview shows the Chamber from a visitor’s viewpoint—a perspective frequently represented in this media. The galleries that ring the Chamber are empty in this image, but were often packed with spectators. Sections were reserved for the press, diplomats, and women. They were also informally segregated by race, but not at the time this stereoview was made. While African Americans in 1827 had been barred from entering the Capitol grounds unless they had specific business, by 1864 newspaper accounts mention Black and white visitors watching the proceedings side by side in the galleries.
