Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/99748
chairs that had originally furnished the House of Representatives in 1857. The Victorian carved oak open armed chairs were accepted by Speaker of the House John W. McCormack. Several other items were acquired during these years, including Paul Norton's original watercolors of the east and west fronts donated in 1971 and 1977, respectively; Charles McVicker's painting of Carpenter's Hall presented in 1974; and Samuel F B. Morse's 1841 . painting "Old Hall of the House," which the Society arranged through a grant from the Cafritz Foundation to be permanently loaned by the Smithsonian Institution to the Capitol. One of the more colorful events sponsored by the Society was held on February 27, 1969, when the organization hosted a luncheon honoring members of Congress whose relatives had once served in Congress. Georgia Congressman Robert G. Stephens, Jr., for example, recalled his great great uncle Alexander H. Stephens, who in addition to serving 26 years in the House had also been vice president of the Confederacy. Representative J. J. (Jake) Pickle of Texas claimed descent from Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett of Alamo fame: "It's distant," he stated of the relationship, "but it's legal." "CITY OUT OF WILDERNESS" THE FULFILLMENT OF THE society's goal to create a film for visitors to the capital required several years of planning and fund raising. After reviewing applications from several film companies, the firm of Francis Thompson, Inc., of New York was contracted in 1972 to produce the film. Thompson and producer Byron McKinney created a stirring 28-minute film, "City Out of Wilderness," that provided an historical overview of the development of the nation's capital, 26 THE CAPITOL DOME Several of the Society's annual meetings were held in the Capitol's historic Old Senate Chamber following its restoration in 1976. utilizing historical prints and photographs as well as contemporary motion picture footage. The film premiered in the Eisenhower Theater of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on January 26, 1975. President Gerald Ford told the audience, "I have a feeling that we may be out of the wilderness but not out of the woods." "City Out of Wilderness" was the first film officially recognized by the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, and it was recognized with an Oscar nomination for best documentary short subject in 1975. CONCLUSION BY THE END OF 1977, the Society could point with pride to several notable accomplishments. The Capitol bibliography, the journal, the newsletter, the calendar, and "City Out of Wilderness" were each successes in their own right. Taken as a whole, they constituted an admirable record of achievement. These were not all of the contributions in this period, however, for the Society had also embarked upon a major art program to adorn the halls of the House of Representative corridors in the Capitol with historical murals. WINTER 2013