111th Congress, 2nd Session
Subjects – Oral History
Longtime House Press Gallery employee Benjamin C. West
December 27, 1926
On this date, Benjamin C. West, the longtime Superintendent of the House Press Gallery was born.
A gunman in the House Gallery in 1932
December 13, 1932
On this date, 25-year-old Marlin Kemmerer, a department store clerk from Allentown, Pennsylvania, brandished a gun in the visitors’ gallery on the west side of the House Chamber, demanding 20 minutes to speak on the nation’s economic depression.
The Declaration of War against Japan
December 08, 1941
On this date, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, addressing the nation in a Joint Session in the House Chamber, asked Congress to declare war against Japan for the surprise attack against American naval facilities in and around Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, a day earlier
The House declaration of war against the Axis Powers
December 11, 1941
On this date, the House approved a declaration of war against Axis Powers Germany and Italy—just three days after Congress had declared war against Japan.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s final address to a Joint Session
March 01, 1945
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made his last appearance before a Joint Session of Congress to report on the Yalta Conference
Deputy Clerk Harry Newlin Megill assumed Clerk of the House South Trimble’s responsibilities
August 02, 1946
Due to the poor health of House Clerk South Trimble, Deputy Clerk Harry Newlin Megill assumed his responsibilities on August 2, 1946, when the House approved H. Res. 753, authorizing the “appointment of an acting Clerk.”
The first meeting of the House in its temporary quarters in the Ways and Means Committee room
July 05, 1949
On this date, the House of Representatives called to order its first meeting in its temporary quarters in the Ways and Means Committee room.
Four Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire onto the House Floor
March 01, 1954
Four Puerto Rican nationalists, armed with handguns, opened fire onto the House Floor from the back row of the south gallery.
Frank Mitchell, the first African-American Page
April 14, 1965
On this date, Frank Mitchell became the first African-American Page in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Majority Whip Hale Boggs’ support of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
July 09, 1965
On this date, Representative Hale Boggs of Louisiana took to the House Floor to make a stirring speech in favor of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The first professional woman photographer for the U.S. House of Representatives
April 01, 1972
On this date, Dolly Seelmeyer became the first woman photographer for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Felda Looper, the first female Page
May 21, 1973
On this date, Felda Looper became the first woman to serve as a Page for the U.S. House of Representatives.
The first African-American Capitol Police woman
October 15, 1973
On this date Arva “Marie” Johnson became the first African-American woman to serve on the Capitol Police force.
