U.S. Capitol Historical Society

U.S. Capitol Historical Society For more than 60 years, the U.S.
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Capitol Historical Society (USCHS) has proudly worked to preserve and share the history of the Capitol, Congress, and the people who work therein.

On August 24, 1814, British forces entered Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812 and set fire to much of the city, in...
08/24/2026

On August 24, 1814, British forces entered Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812 and set fire to much of the city, including the U.S. Capitol and the President’s House, now known as the White House. The attack was both strategic and symbolic, targeting the seat of the American government.

The Capitol suffered significant damage. At the time, the building housed both the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. The fire destroyed much of the Capitol’s art and furniture, melted the glass skylights in the House of Representatives, and consumed more than 3,000 books from the Library of Congress, fueling the fire that destroyed most of the Senate Chamber.

Fortunately, a massive rainstorm swept through Washington the following day, extinguishing many of the fires still smoldering throughout the city. Thanks in part to the Capitol’s fire-resistant building materials—including sheet iron, marble, sandstone, zinc, and copper—much of its structure remained intact.

The Capitol Building was rebuilt and continued to serve as the center of the nation’s government. Thomas Jefferson also donated his personal library to help restart the Library of Congress’s collection. More than two centuries later, scars from the 1814 fire can still be seen on columns throughout the Capitol.

in 1858, and Stephen Douglas held their first of seven historic debates. On one side was Lincoln, the senate challen...
08/21/2026

in 1858, and Stephen Douglas held their first of seven historic debates. On one side was Lincoln, the senate challenger who opposed slavery’s expansion. On the other side was Douglas, the sitting senator who believed that settlers should determine themselves “the moral and religious right of the slavery question.” At the debates’ end, Douglas was reelected. But it was Lincoln who transformed into a rising national star. He lost the battle—but more consequentially—would win The War.

In 1850, Douglas was crucial in helping pass the Compromise of 1850, which he believed would “restore peace and harmony” between the North and the South. But by 1854, he put that peace in peril by orchestrating the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed settlers in the Louisiana Territory to vote for slavery’s legality.

The explosive response over the law prompted many pro-slavery and Southern Whigs to join the Democratic Party; while antislavery and Northern Whigs helped form the new GOP. Two years later, Lincoln joined its ranks, convinced that “If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.”

The Lincoln-Douglas debates to follow also came on the heels of the infamous Dred Scott decision, considered by many as the worst ruling in history. In ’ majority opinion, the Chief Justice opined that African Americans “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect” and “might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit.”

It is in this context that Lincoln accepted his party’s nomination, declaring a “house divided against itself cannot stand.” Echoing the Bible, it was Lincoln’s bid “to rouse [men] to the peril of the times.” He attempted to do so during his debates with Douglas, attended by tens of thousands of spectators. Either Lincoln or Douglas would speak for an hour, followed by his opponent for 90 minutes, before concluding with a half hour rebuttal.

Though Lincoln failed to win the election, his rousing speeches put him on path to the by firmly establishing his main political objectives as opposing slavery’s expansion—and preserving the Union. He already knew, as Douglas later conceded: “There can be no neutrals in this war; only patriots and traitors.”

in Picture: A Lincoln-Douglas debate in Charleston, Illinois (Credit: Illinois State Historical Library)

in 1920, the long campaign for women’s suffrage reached a historic milestone when the 19th Amendment was ratified, gra...
08/18/2026

in 1920, the long campaign for women’s suffrage reached a historic milestone when the 19th Amendment was ratified, granting women the right to vote nationwide.

The fight for women’s voting rights began decades earlier. Historians often point to the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 as the formal beginning of the women’s suffrage movement, where participants adopted the Declaration of Sentiments calling for women’s equality. Three decades later, the movement took its fight directly to Congress. The constitutional amendment that would become the 19th Amendment was first introduced in 1878 as the “Susan B. Anthony Amendment.” Thousands of suffragists petitioned Congress, but the amendment was "indefinitely postponed."

By the early 20th century, the campaign had become increasingly visible and forceful. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson publicly supported women’s suffrage following years of demonstrations and protests outside the White House led by activists including Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. When the amendment was reintroduced in Congress that year, it passed the House but fell short in the Senate. Suffragists continued their campaign, and on June 4, 1919, the amendment finally passed both chambers of Congress.

Ratification then moved to the states. Although 23 of the 48 states had already granted women partial or full voting rights in state and/or national elections, 36 states were required to ratify the amendment. The final vote came down to Tennessee, where the state House was deadlocked. Representative Harry Burn cast the decisive vote in favor of ratification after receiving a note from his mother, Febb Burn, urging him to support suffrage.

Although the amendment granted all women the right to vote, many were unable to exercise their right. Discriminatory policies like poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses barred many African American men and women from voting until the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1965.

There is a lot of unseen work that goes into ensuring Congress runs smoothly! Today, we're spotlighting the Upholstery D...
08/13/2026

There is a lot of unseen work that goes into ensuring Congress runs smoothly! Today, we're spotlighting the Upholstery Division, whose skilled craftsmen maintain House Office historic furniture!

in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law in the President's Room on the Senate side ...
08/06/2026

in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law in the President's Room on the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol.

Although the 15th Amendment, passed in 1870, prohibited denying citizens the right to vote based on race, many states continued to disenfranchise minority voters for decades through Jim Crow laws. Barriers such as poll taxes, literacy tests, all white primaries, and criminal disenfranchisement laws prevented many Americans from registering to vote.

The events of 1965 helped bring renewed national attention to these injustices. On March 7, more than 500 peaceful voting rights demonstrators were attacked by state and local law enforcement with clubs and tear gas while attempting to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Eight days later, President Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress and called for legislation to protect the right to vote.

Introduced in later March 1965, the Voting Rights Act moved quickly through Congress despite a 24-day filibuster in the Senate. The Voting Rights Act prohibited discrimination that prevented people from registering to vote on the basis of race, color, or language minority status. It also included provisions requiring voting assistance for individuals who are blind, have disabilities, are illiterate, or do not speak English. After passing both chambers with bipartisan support, the bill was signed into law on August 6.

More than sixty years later, the Voting Rights Act remains one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation in American history, helping to protect one of the fundamental rights of American democracy: the right to vote.

Today's unsung heroes are the Capitol Subway engineers! These staff members maintain and operate the three subway lines ...
08/04/2026

Today's unsung heroes are the Capitol Subway engineers! These staff members maintain and operate the three subway lines that exist between the Capitol Building and House and Senate Offices.

in , 1790, the Coast Guard—then known as the Revenue Cutter Service—was established through the Tariff Act. With th...
08/04/2026

in , 1790, the Coast Guard—then known as the Revenue Cutter Service—was established through the Tariff Act. With the nation still in its infancy, it was ’s only armed maritime force until the reestablishment of the Navy four years later. thus instructed the Service’s new officers to “take the oath to support the of the ,” to “endeavor to overcome difficulties…by a cool and temperate perseverance in their duty,” and to “always keep in mind that their countrymen are freemen.”

Since could not tax under the Articles of Confederation, it also could not afford to maintain a permanent Navy, forcing it to sell its remaining warships to pay off the nation’s debts. But following the Constitutional Convention, Hamilton proposed that a “few armed vessels, judiciously stationed at the entrances of our ports, might at a small expense be made useful sentinels of the laws.” Once the was ratified—allowing the government to tax—duty collections at ports became an important revenue stream. Smugglers, however, often evaded these duties, leading Hamilton, now Treasury Secretary, to seek a unit that could take them on at sea.

Therefore, with Congress’ approval, the Treasury Department built 10 ships, known as “cutters,” that were tasked with protecting goods, suppressing piracy, and facilitating trade laws amid growing tensions with the powers of Europe. Finally, the new force bore responsibility “for the protection of lives and property at sea,” a humanitarian role that proudly defines the ’s mission today.

In 1794, a permanent was established: a response to the growth of piracy and the harassment neutral ships faced by Britain and France during the French Revolutionary Wars. Then, in 1798, the U.S. Department of the Navy was created. Since then, the Department has taken over Coast Guard operations in times of conflict at the ’ direction. This includes service during the War of 1812, Civil War, WWI, WWII, the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, 9/11, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

As the Coast Guard's motto attests, it is “Always Ready.”

in Picture: The revenue cutter captures British barges during the War of 1812 (Credit: U.S. Coast Guard)

in 1776, most delegates to the Second Continental Congress signed the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independenc...
08/02/2026

in 1776, most delegates to the Second Continental Congress signed the engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Although Americans celebrate Independence Day on July 4, many do not realize that most of the Continental Congress delegates did not actually sign the Declaration that day. July 4 marked Congress's approval of the document's text, and that evening, printer John Dunlap produced the first printed copies for distribution. Those copies contained only the signatures of Continental Congress President John Hancock and Secretary Charles Thomson.

#1776

On July 19, Congress ordered that a formal handwritten copy of the Declaration be prepared. This engrossed copy, believed to have been penned by Timothy Matlack, was completed on August 2. That day, most delegates gathered to sign the document, beginning with John Hancock and followed by representatives from each state.

Not every delegate was present in Philadelphia on August 2. Of the 56 men who eventually signed the Declaration, six added their signatures later. Richard Henry Lee, Elbridge Gerry, and Oliver Wolcott signed on September 4, Matthew Thornton signed in November 1776, and Thomas McKean did not sign until 1781.

The signatures on the Declaration represented more than support for independence. By placing their names on the document, the delegates publicly affirmed their commitment to the revolutionary cause and accepted the personal and political risks that came with challenging British rule. More than two centuries later, the Declaration of Independence remains one of the defining documents of American history and a lasting symbol of the nation's founding ideals.

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750 First Street, NE, Suite 950
Washington D.C., DC
20002

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Tuesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm

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