United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
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Discover the rich heritage of “the People’s House” and its central role in U.S. history since 1789. Explore its unique story and the men and women who have shaped it. Browse its collections. Access historical data and other research resources.

Whereas: Stories from the People’s House

January 18, 2021

Thanking the Troops

When the first cannon shots of the Civil War landed on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861, the Abraham Lincoln administration confronted a rebellion against the United States and an urgent security problem in the nation’s capital. When Virginia seceded from the Union on April 17, only the Potomac River separated Washington from the hostile ambitions of the Confederacy. In those anxious April days the city was—in President Lincoln’s own words—“put into a condition of siege.”
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Oral History

Congress and Hard Work

The Honorable Beverly Barton Butcher Byron describes how she defied the conventional thinking of the time by pursuing her own congressional career after the death of her husband.
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About The Offices

This site is a collaborative project between the Office of the Historian and the Clerk of the House's Office of Art and Archives. The offices preserve, collect, and interpret the heritage of the U.S. House, serving as the institution’s memory and a resource for Members, staff, and the general public.

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Featured Oral History

Institutional Oral History Interviews

Institutional Oral History Interviews

Featured Records

Idaho Territory Temporary Government

Idaho Territory Temporary Government

Souvenir of Tulsa, I.T.

Souvenir of Tulsa, I.T.

Historical Highlight

Bay State Day in the House of Representatives January 19, 1888

Bay State Day in the House of Representatives

Speaker Sam Rayburn’s Portrait Leaves the “Board of Education” January 19, 1962

Speaker Sam Rayburn’s Portrait Leaves the “Board of Education”

Featured Collection Object

Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov