“It sounded like a package of firecrackers were lit and set off, but with the ricochet, in my mind, it identified it as a shot, so I hit the floor very quickly,” House Page and future Representative Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania recalled. When the House convened on March 1, 1954, no one would have imagined the danger awaiting Members and staff. Within a matter of moments, normal House proceedings turned to uncertainty and chaos. During the past decade, the Office of the Historian interviewed eyewitnesses to the House shooting. Sixty years later, we can glean what happened through the eyes of four of these interviewees.
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In 1870, Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi and Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina became the first African Americans to serve in Congress. Since that time, a total of 140 African Americans have served as U.S. Representatives or Senators. Learn about the many accomplishments and historic firsts among African-American Members of Congress for Black History Month.
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by
Art on February 14, 2014
The oldest object in the House
Collection is also one of the smallest. It’s less than an inch across, but the
man who owned it was a giant figure in American history.
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He belonged to the Royal Family, fought against usurpers of the throne, languished in prison, and went into exile from his native land before settling in Washington. There he lavishly entertained the capital elite. His was the stuff of romantic adventure novels like
The Prisoner of Zenda,
The Count of Monte Christo, or
The Riddle of the Sands. And yet, Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole served as the Delegate from Hawaii from 1903 until his death in 1922. Known as “Prince Cupid” for much of his life, the name captured his flamboyant lifestyle.
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In the early morning hours of February 6, 1858, a fight erupted between South Carolina Fire-Eater Laurence Keitt and Republican abolitionist Galusha Grow of Pennsylvania on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. As Members from each side joined the fray, Wisconsin Representative John F. Potter, the “Western Hercules,” snatched the toupee from atop Mississippi Representative William Barksdale’s head and the House erupted in laughter at the absurdity. “Horray, boys! I’ve got his scalp!” shouted Potter with perfect rhetorical flourish. Or so we thought.
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