A Witness to History
This historic space northeast of Statuary Hall once served as an office for Speakers,
Clerks of the House, and Committees. A witness to over two centuries
of history, the Lindy Claiborne Boggs Congressional Women’s Reading Room has
hosted numerous celebrated figures, including Speaker Henry Clay and President John Quincy Adams. Since 1962, the suite has
belonged to the Congresswomen of the House.
A Room for Congresswomen
In the 1950s, the number of women in Congress more than doubled. Their growing numbers
brought to light the lack of women’s restroom facilities anywhere near the
House Chamber. In 1958, women in Congress began to press for a retiring room of
their own. Edith Green of Oregon was the first to officially suggest
a “ladies retiring room.”
In 1961, Speaker Sam Rayburn assigned a room to the women Members.
But this was not a workable solution, as seventeen women shared a single lavatory,
far from the Chamber. The following year, the Congresswomen’s petition for
control of room H-235, later the Boggs room, was granted, giving them additional
space and a new powder room. Representative Frances Bolton showed a particular interest
in outfitting the space, taking the lead in acquiring furniture and choosing upholsteries.
While not as close to the Chamber as the Members’ Retiring Room, adjacent
to the Speaker’s Lobby, the Congressional Ladies Retiring Room, as it was
first officially called, was a great improvement in convenience for the women. In
1991, room H-235 was renamed the Lindy Claiborne Boggs Congressional Women’s
Reading Room to honor Boggs’s fifty-year association with Congress. It was
the first—and, so far, the only time—a room in the Capitol was named
for a woman.
Today, the room serves as a gathering place for Congresswomen as well as a place
for rest and refreshment. Its walls are now lined with photographs of all the Congresswomen
who have served in the House.
Lindy Claiborne Boggs Congressional Women’s Reading Room, 2010Image courtesy of the Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
Edith Green notepad, 1954Collection of the U.S. House
of Representatives
Maud Elizabeth KeeImage courtesy of the National Archives
and Records Administration