Joseph Hayne Rainey

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Date

2004

Artist

Simmie Knox

Dimensions

42 x 32 in. (106.7 x 81.3 cm) Framed: 47 x 37 x 2 3/4 in. (119.4 x 94 x 7 cm)

Accession Number

2004.098.000

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

The portrait of Joseph Rainey, the first African American elected to the House of Represenvatives, was unveiled in 2005. Artist Simmie Knox set the scene in House Connecting Corridor on the second floor of the Capitol. Rainey is seated in a distinctive House Chamber chair designed in 1857. The half-finished Washington Monument is visible through the window, both situating the scene historically and representing the nation’s incomplete journey toward equality.

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