Allyn Cox
Oil on Canvas
1973-1974

The 1866 civil rights bill, which prohibited discrimination on the bases of race or previous condition of slavery, prefigured the 14th amendment to the Constitution. In the foreground of the mural, former slave Henry Garnet is shown speaking with newspaper editor Horace Greeley, who supported African American suffrage. In the background are the Columbus doors, which originally led to the House Chamber but were later moved to the Rotunda entrance.