United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
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History, Art & Archives of the U.S. House of Representatives

Skip the Record and Go Straight to the Journal

by History on April 24, 2013

Researchers often ignore the House Journal in favor of its flashier cousin, the Congressional Record. If laws were sausages, the Congressional Record would report the grinding process of making them. The House Journal by contrast has—with a few minor formatting adjustments—remained a constant over the span of House history, as a simple recapitulation of House actions as required by the Constitution.

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Categories: Institution, Records & Research, House Practice & Traditions

What Killed the Political Ribbon?

by Art on April 17, 2013

Ribbons that declared "The Winner." Ribbons for the "Peter J. Dooling Association." Ribbons mourning a dead Speaker of the House. Once, they were all the rage. Then, in the 1890s, a single innovation changed everything. Political ribbons went from reigning supreme as the most portable, wearable, and popular campaign decoration to being a deposed monarch of politicking, exiled to conventions and party dinners. What happened?

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Categories: Art & Artifacts, Elections

Were There Any Witnesses? Segregation in the House Visitors’ Gallery

by History on April 9, 2013

Were African Americans in attendance to witness the legislative debates that shaped their freedom? Well, yes and no. The nation barred them from citizenship and service as Members of Congress until the adoption of the 14th Amendment in 1868, but barring African Americans, slave or free, from the Capitol has a murkier history.

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Categories: Exhibitions & Publications, War, Firsts & Milestones, House Chamber, Minorities in Congress

Robert V. Remini (1921–2013), Former House Historian

by History on April 3, 2013

The Office of the Historian learned late last week that Robert V. Remini died on March 28 at the age of 91. Remini, who served as Historian of the House from 2005 until 2010, was the award-winning biographer of nineteenth-century political giants such as Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster.

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Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov