United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
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“The House of Representatives, in some respects, I think, is the most peculiar assemblage in the world,” Speaker Joe Cannon of Illinois once observed. Behind the legislation and procedure, House Members and staff have produced their own institutional history and heritage. Our blog, Whereas: Stories from the People’s House, tells their stories.

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Displaying 1–12 of 34 results

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"The Battle of the Portraits"

by Art on July 18, 2018
Four Portraits of Speaker Henry Rainey
Newspapers called it “the battle of the portraits.” As many as 16 artists entered the fray of the late Speaker Henry Rainey’s official portrait commission, a tradition in the House of Representatives.
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Categories: Members of Congress, Speakers of the House, Committees, Art

Arcaded Street

by Art on May 14, 2018
Hannah, Apple Seller in the Capitol
You could buy a coffin, a deer skin, or a slice of pie as you strolled the Capitol 150 years ago. “It is a grand, vaulted, arcaded street,” one visitor enthused, “and during the session filled with a jostling, hurrying throng.”
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Categories: Capitol Campus, Art, Artifacts

Suffragette City

by Art on February 26, 2018
Victoria Woodhull Testifying Before a House Committee
The notorious Victoria Woodhull, spiritualist, stockbroker, and presidential candidate, testified on women’s suffrage before a House committee in January 1871. When her image appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, she became the subject of the first known image of a House committee hearing.
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Categories: Minorities on the Hill, Committees, Art

Old D.C. from Above

by Archives on January 2, 2018
Aerial View of Capitol Hill, Facing North
Taken from hot-air balloons, airplanes, kites, blimps, and tall buildings, early aerial views brought a futuristic new perspective of Washington, D.C., to the public.
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Categories: Capitol Campus, Photographs, Art

Veteran-Artists in the House Collection

by Art on November 7, 2017
Two artists’ paths were different, but their careers converged in unlikely places—World War II combat and House committee hearing rooms. William Draper and Brummett Echohawk both served in the military during the war, and later completed chairman portraits for the House of Representatives. In honor of Veterans Day, we present their stories.
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Categories: Art, War

John Marshall, One of a Kind?

by Art on September 21, 2017

Chief Justice John Marshall, the man who single-handedly shaped the constitutional role of the judicial branch of the U.S. government, was one of a kind. But his portrait in the U.S. Capitol? Not so much. The imposing painting, more than 10 feet tall, is based on an earlier Marshall portrait. It’s a painted copy. A copy of a copy of a copy, in fact.

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Categories: Members of Congress, Art

Sit and Stay for a Portrait

by Art on August 29, 2017

A Capitol dome, an American flag, and a “part bichon frise and part some other things?” Such symbols of leadership and personality occupy prominent positions in House committee chairman portraits.

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Categories: Members of Congress, Practice & Customs, Art

Congressional Bicycles

by Archives on May 11, 2017
Group Ride up Capitol Hill
“The latest fad among our national statesmen is the Congressmen’s Bicycle Club,” reported the San Francisco Chronicle in 1892. Ever since, Representatives have gone from teetering atop high-wheeled penny-farthings to racing on road bikes. Members of Congress have spun gleefully around the capital, mixing both politics and fun into the ride.
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Categories: Members of Congress, Practice & Customs, Photographs, Art

"The Most Gallant Lady from Massachusetts"

by Art on May 2, 2017
Edith Nourse Rogers’s Committee on Veterans’ Affairs chairman portrait was unveiled on July 27, 1950. Rogers was exceptional in many ways, she was only the second woman—after her colleague Mary Norton of New Jersey—to have a chairman portrait hung in the House.
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Categories: Photographs, Art, Rankin Centennial

The “Mayor of Washington” and the Unexpected Portrait

by Art on March 15, 2017
The story of Representative Mary Norton’s portrait commemorating her stint as “Mayor of Washington” reflects Norton’s guiding ethos throughout her career. Commissioned by a group of notables from the District, and painted by local artist Elaine Hartley, the Norton portrait was executed in a spirit of community in appreciation, and in support of a fellow professional woman.
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Categories: Members of Congress, Minorities on the Hill, Committees, Art, Rankin Centennial

A Boston Teaparty Party

by Art on December 16, 2016
On December 16, 1773, colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor, a political protest and iconic event in American history. One hundred and one years later, the nation commemorated the event by doing just the opposite: serving tea at parties across the nation.
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Categories: Art, Artifacts, Rankin Centennial

The Many Depictions of Thomas Brackett Reed

by Art on November 14, 2016
On October 18th we wished Thomas Brackett Reed, accomplished and admired three-time Speaker of the House of Representatives, a happy 177th birthday!
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Categories: Speakers of the House, Art
Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov