Whereas: Stories from the People’s House

Every four years, the nation’s attention turns to the presidential election. But that contest is only part of the story for the candidates who run every two years to fill 440 of the 441 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. This Edition for Educators highlights a few of the many campaign and election resources found on the History, Art & Archives website.
Since the 1970s, women candidates running for Congress have increasingly carved out more opportunities and built new coalitions. The Office of the Historian conducted interviews with several former women Members who traveled distinct routes to Capitol Hill. Two seemingly disparate stories from the early 1990s highlight how far women candidates have come since Rankin first won election more than 100 years ago.

Get Out the Vote

Get Out the Vote

After months of political advertisements and debates, citizens turn out to elect their Representatives on Election Day. Incumbent and hopeful Members of Congress also show up at the polls in their home districts, casting a ballot (presumably) for themselves. Three photographs from the House Collection show past Representatives in the act of voting, while also posing for a good photo op.

Post It

Post It

The modern congressional campaign poster is a familiar sight, but it is nothing like the ones plastered all over town a century ago.
Categories: Elections, Artifacts
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Five Most Recent Blog Posts

Congress and the Case of the Faithless Elector

On January 6, 1969, Representative James O’Hara of Michigan took a seat on the House Floor for what seemed like a routine day of business. Since the late nineteenth century, the Electoral College count had occurred every four years without incident. This year, however, would be different.

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“By Any Fair Means”: Joseph H. Rainey’s Contested Elections

Joseph Rainey Certificate of Election
When Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina served in the House of Representatives from 1870 to 1879 as its first Black Representative, the political inroads made during Reconstruction by Blacks in the South started to disintegrate rapidly. The contested election was weaponized as a method of excluding African Americans from representation in Congress.

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How Gallery Tickets Were Born

Gallery Visitors
On February 21, 1868, a one-sentence resolution in the House of Representatives brought thousands running to the Capitol: “That Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors.” Alongside the national consequences of impeachment, massive public interest caused a smaller development: the introduction of gallery passes.

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Edition for Educators—Elections and the House

Every four years, the nation’s attention turns to the presidential election. But that contest is only part of the story for the candidates who run every two years to fill 440 of the 441 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. This Edition for Educators highlights a few of the many campaign and election resources found on the History, Art & Archives website.

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Palm Reading

Errett Scrivner Palm Card Detail
A palm card is possibly the simplest piece of congressional campaign literature: a single piece of cardstock containing information about a candidate. In scores of congressional races from 1900 to 1960, palm cards were also the smallest pieces of literature in a campaign’s toolbox.

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