As students prepare to participate in this year’s National History Day (NHD), the History, Art & Archives team has compiled topics and resources to inspire and assist aspiring researchers.
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Art on September 6, 2022
Spend a lazy afternoon browsing the House Collection. From cartoons to portraits to cubicles, it’s all here online. Here are a few of our most recently digitized treasures.
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America’s earliest legislators were voracious readers. Congress quickly evinced interest in creating its own libraries. This Edition for Educators explores the connections between the House of Representatives, congressional libraries, and the library system at large.
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On April 23, 1844, as the House sat in the Committee of the Whole to debate a tariff measure, the presiding officer recognized John White, a Whig from Kentucky, who had served as Speaker of the House in the prior Congress. White quickly veered off script, and the chamber quickly spun out of control. As chamber officials rushed to restore order, a gun shot rang out at the rear of the chamber and a Capitol Police officer was left gravely injured.
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Art on August 11, 2022
The story of how the Appropriations Committee ended up two 19th-century portraits of chairs entwines itself with the career of the woman who created them, Adele Fassett.
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The Ways and Means Committee remains a vital element in most large-scale legislation—ranging from tax bills to health care due to its broad jurisdiction over revenue measures. This Edition for Educators focuses on the committee’s origins, some of its leading people, and House collection objects related to its history.
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No matter how cutting edge they are when new, over time, even the shiniest gadgets become outmoded. In their quest to communicate with constituents, speed up work, and keep accurate records, House Members and staff have moved toward ever-newer tools of technology, leaving obsolete versions behind. Explore a selection of archaic office tools from around the House of Representatives, now preserved in the House Collection.
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Today, the House of Representatives unveiled a new portrait of Representative Patsy Mink. The first woman of color and first Asian-American woman elected to Congress, in 1964, Mink’s work led to significant changes in education in the United States, including Title IX of the Education Act of 1972.
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Fifty years ago, on June 17, 1972, officers with the Metropolitan police department apprehended five men during a break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee located in the Watergate complex along the Potomac River in Washington, DC. The arrests set off a chain of events that ended with the resignation of Richard M. Nixon as President in August 1974. This Edition for Educators highlights the role of the House of Representatives during the Watergate scandal and its aftermath.
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Collections Search is blooming with springtime additions! They join the thousands of paintings, photos, and artifacts that are already available online.
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Fifty years ago, the final version of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 passed the U.S. House of Representatives. One of the women at the center of this landmark legislative effort was Representative Patsy Takemoto Mink of Hawaii, who was first elected in 1964 becoming the first woman of color to serve in Congress. After its initial passage, Mink spent the balance of her political career defending Title IX. This month’s Edition for Educators highlights Representative Mink and the statute which eventually bore her name.
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The Capitol Page School’s 1954 commencement ceremonies included an unexpected speaker. Listen to newly digitized audio recordings of this unusual graduation.
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