Joint Session of House and Senate, Washington, D. C.

Creator

Loretta I. Sachsel, Kutztown University of PennsylvaniaFollow

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Creation Date

1905

Description

This lantern slide is an image of a joint session the Congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives, inside of the United States Capitol Building. The House Chamber” or "Hall of the House of Representatives," “..is a large assembly room located in the center of the U.S. Capitol's South wing.” And is used for Joint Congressional Sessions. Designed by architect Thomas U. Walter, there are no windows in the room to insulate the Congressional members from outside noise and distraction. The House of Representatives used the room for the first time on December 16,1857. Joint sessions began to meet there after a remodel, in 1949-1950. “Members of the House of Representatives sit in unassigned armchairs, arranged in a semicircle, on tiered platforms…” facing the rostrum of the Speaker of the House. Behind the rostrum is a frontispiece with Ionic columns made of..marble.” An American flag is displayed at the center, “..flanked by two bronze fasces.” The upper tier of the chamber is the visitor and press gallery.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.