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Upcoming History Events USCHS CALENDAR OF EVENTS Annual Congressional Leadership Breakfast With Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), chairman, House Democratic Caucus Friday, December 13, 2013 For Constantino Brumidi Members, Constitution Signers, and Leadership Council Members of the Capitol Committee FEBRUARY War of 1812 Lecture Series With architect Richard Chenoweth Noon to 1 pm Wednesday, February 19, 2014 Location TBA (see right for details) Annual Trustee Breakfast With Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) February 26, 2014 Date and time TBA For Leadership Council members of the Capitol Committee only Annual African-American History Month Lecture With Historian of the House Matthew Wasniewski Noon to 1 pm Wednesday, February 26, 2014 Location TBA (see right for details) USCHS CLOSINGS December 24-25 (Christmas) December 31-January 1 (New Year's) January 20 (MLK Jr. Day) February 17 (Presidents Day) 5 THE CAPITOL DOME FEBRUARY LECTURES PLANNED Two public lectures are planned for February 2014. On Wednesday, February 19, architect and designer Richard Chenoweth will present his forensic reconstruction of the Old Hall of the House of Representatives before the burning of the Capitol in 1814. Chenoweth observes that "No topographical image exists; and no single document can synthesize the known facts about the room. I was immediately drawn to this enigma of history. The fact that the Capitol's early masterpieces were lost to the fog of time was too much of a mystery to be left unexamined. I've recreated the chamber as a digital model based on the handful of design drawings at the Library of Congress, existing building fabric in the Capitol's vestibules, and hundreds of letters between the principals." Chenoweth's lecture will be first in a series of lectures in 2014 on topics relating to the Capitol, Congress, and the War of 1812. The second lecture in February is scheduled for Wednesday, February 26 and will observe African American History Month. The Historian of the House of Representatives, Dr. Matthew Wasniewski, will present a lecture on the congressional career of Congressman William Dawson, who represented the Illinois First Congressional District in Chicago for more than 27 years between 1943 and 1970. In 1949 Dawson became chairman of the Expenditures in the Executive Departments Committee (renamed Government Operations in 1952); he was the first African American to chair a standing committee. He remained chair of the committee until 1970 with the single exception of the 83rd Congress (1953-55) when Republicans controlled the House of Representatives. Both events are free and open to the public. Visit the Society's website at www.uschs.org to check Robert Bruce Williams's portrait of William L. Dawson depicts the chairman of the House Government Operations Committee in 1968. Dawson's career is the subject of a lecture on February 26 by House Historian Matthew Wasniewski. COLLECTION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER the calendar of events, where information on time and location for each event will be posted as it becomes available, or to join the Society's email list to receive email announcements of upcoming events. 2014 ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM ANNOUNCED The eleventh annual symposium in the United States Capitol Historical Society's series, "The National Capital in a Nation Divided: Congress and the District of Columbia Confront Sectionalism and Slavery," will be held on Friday, May 3, 2014 at a Capitol Hill location to be announced in the coming months. Since 2004 the Society has conducted a major series of annual conferences on the important issues that confronted the national government in the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction eras. Paul Finkelman, the President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy at Albany Law School, directs the series in consultation with the Society's Vice President for Scholarship and Education, Donald Kennon. The annual symposia are held at locations on (continued on p. 6) FALL 2013