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Nineteenth-century news illustrations of important events in the Chamber often included the young Pages in the crowds they depicted. Striking in this 1881 example is how small and inconspicuous the boys seem in context, milling about the rostrum and the well during the counting of the electoral vote from the 1880 Presidential election. In an age of black-and-white prints, the accompanying article was took pains to describe the colorful scene. Women were rarely seen on the floor of the House, but the interest in witnessing the event that the sofas, cloakrooms and even seats of the Members were occupied by women who "increased the brilliancy and picturesqueness of the scene."
History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives, “Washington, D.C. - The Official Count of the Electoral Votes for President and Vice President, in the Hall of the Representatives, February 9th,” https://history.house.gov/Collection/Listing/2007/2007-292-002/ (January 20, 2021)
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