Old Senate Chamber
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Old Senate Chamber is a semi-circular and half-domed ceiling two story chamber on the second floor of the north wing of the United States Capitol in the Senate side of the building. The room is fifty feet wide and seventy-five feet long.[1]
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[edit] Origin and use
The chamber was completed in 1810, after Architect of the Capitol Benjamin Latrobe divided the original Senate chamber in the North wing into two rooms, one on the first floor and the other on the second. The bottom floor chamber was put into use as a chamber for the United States Supreme Court in 1810 and in the same year, the Senate moved into the second story chamber. For the next 49 years, the Senate used the chamber until the completion of the north wing extension in 1859, when they moved to their present day chamber. At its height, sixty-four senators met in the chamber.[1]
The following year, 1860, the Supreme Court moved upstairs into the chamber, and remained there until 1935. The landmark segregation case Plessy v. Ferguson was heard in the chamber, which established the legal precedent for "separate but equal" laws. The completion of the United States Supreme Court building in 1935 prompted the departure of the Supreme Court and until 1976, the room was used for meetings.[1]
[edit] Restoration
The American Bicentennial brought about the decision to restore the room to its antebellum appearance. Presently, much of the room is furnished with reproductions with the exceptions of the gilded eagle ornament located above the Vice President's chair, which is also original. Above the eagle ornament on a third story gallery resides an original portrait of George Washington by Rembrandt Peale.[1]
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Chamber was closed to tourists for almost two years due to security concerns.[2]
[edit] Notable events
[edit] Caning of Charles Sumner
The Old Senate Chamber was the location of the Sumner-Brooks Affair, which occurred in 1856 when Representative Preston Brooks nearly beat Senator Charles Sumner to death with a cane. The event occurred after Sumner criticized pro-slavery politicians, including Brooks' relative, Senator Andrew Butler. Three days later, Brooks attacked Sumner as a matter of honor, beating him with a cane and injuring him so bad that he was absent from the Senate for nearly three years as he recovered. The Massachusetts legislature re-elected the incapacitated senator following his recovery.
[edit] Modern usage
The Chamber is today used occasionally for closed-door sessions and when special circumstances call for a more collegial atmosphere. The Senate met in the chamber to deliberate rules for the impeachment trial of President Clinton[2] The Senate agreed unanimously, voting 100-0, on rules for the trial.[3] In 2007, the new Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called a bipartisan session in the Chamber in what was called a "private moment of bonding".[4]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d Architect of the Capitol site on Old Senate Chamber
- ^ a b Charles Hurt. "Old Senate chamber reopened after 9/11", The Washington Times, August 25, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ Frank Murkowski. "Statement of Sen. Murkowski (R-Alaska)", The Washington Post, February 12, 1999. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ Dana Milbank. "Reid Takes Center Stage, but He's Hardly the Star of the Show", The Washington Post, January 5, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
