43 x 30 in. (109.2 x 76.2 cm)
Framed: 50 3/8 x 37 3/8 x 3 1/4 in. (128 x 94.9 x 8.3 cm)
Accession Number
2007.230.000
Credit Line
Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
Object Details
This portrait of Dalip Saund of California, the first Asian American to serve in Congress, shows the congressman standing in the balcony of the Cannon Rotunda. The portrait is framed on two sides by trompe l’oeil marble panels, and Saund's own words are inscribed along the bottom: "There is no room in the United States of America for second-class citizenship.” This statement, and the multicolored stone, represent Saund’s fight against racial discrimination and his work for immigrants’ rights. The vertical panel outlines significant events and inspirations in his life, including images of his philosophical heroes, Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln.
