rooms set apart for legislative purposes, the idea being stated by Capt. M. C. Meigs, the constructor in charge of the Capitol, that if niches were provided works of art would be provided later to fill these vacant spaces. The Art Commission, consisting of Henry K. Brown, James R. Lambdin, and John F. Kensett, appointed by President James Buchanan May 18, 1859, recommended in their report an estimate of the cost of providing paintings and sculpture, including in this estimate four statues for the Senate retiring room ($20,000) and for two colossal busts for the Senate Chamber ($3,000). These recommendations failed to receive the approval of Congress and the Art Commission was abolished in 1860. It does not appear that any steps were taken to provide busts for the Senate wing of the Capitol until January 16, 1885, when Senator George F. Hoar, of Massachusetts, offered the following resolution for marking the room in which Vice President Henry Wilson died November 22, 1875: Resolved, That the Architect of the Capitol, under the direction of the Committee on the Library, place a neat marble tablet in the room in the Senate wing of the Capitol where Vice President Henry Wilson died, properly recording the fact and date. It will be observed by the foregoing resolution that at this time it seemed to be intended that the memory of Mr. Wilson should be honored by the placing of a marble tablet in the room of the Vice President, in which room Mr. Wilson died. (Extracts from the minutes of the Joint Committee on the Library, January 23, 1885) Mr. Hoar asked the informal approval by the committee of a proposition to be submitted to the Senate by Mr. Dawes to request the committee to purchase of Mr. French (Daniel C. French), sculptor, a bust of Hon. Henry Wilson for $1,000 and have it placed above the tablet to his memory in the room in which he died, which was unanimously agreed to. (In the Senate of the United States January 27, 1885, 48th Cong., 2d sess.) Mr. Dawes offered the following resolution, concerning which he briefly addressed the Senate, after which it was unanimously passed: "Resolved, That the Joint Committee on the Library be requested to cause a bust of the late Vice President Wilson to be placed over the tablet lately ordered to be placed in the room where he died." (Extract from the minutes of the Joint Committee on the Library, January 30, 1885) The resolution of the Senate of January 27, 1885, that the committee be requested to cause a bust of the late Vice President Wilson to be placed over the tablet in the room in which he died was read and on motion of Mr. Hoar it was unanimously agreed that the chairman be requested to contract with Mr. French, sculptor, for said bust at a cost not exceeding $1,000 when placed in position. In the course of time the bust executed by Daniel Chester French was received and placed upon a bracket in the Vice President's room, but at this time there was no tablet stating the fact of the death of Vice President Wilson in the room in which his bust had been installed. So that the original idea of marking the room with a tablet seems to have been set aside, unless it may have been supposed that the bracket supporting the bust would furnish sufficient space upon which to place the inscription contemplated by the resolution directing the Architect of the Capitol to place a neat marble tablet in the room in the Senate wing of the Capitol where Vice President Henry Wilson died properly recording the fact and date. Evidently from the time of the installation of the bust until 1902, a matter of some 17 years, the original purpose seems to have been lost sight of. On April 26, 1902, Mr. Hansbrough, from the Committee on the Library, reported a resolution which was referred to the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate and ordered to be printed. The resolution (S. Res. 205, 57th Cong. 1st sess.) is as follows: Resolved, That the expense incurred by the Superintendent of the Capitol Building and Grounds author zed by Senate resolution of January 16, 1885, in procuring and placing a commemorative tablet in the Senate wing of the Capitol where Vice President Henry Wilson died, be paid from the contingent fund of the Senate. By this time the marble tablet authorized had been changed to a bronze tablet and its cost provided for out of the contingent fund of the Senate. The tablet was designed by the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co., the copy for which is said to have been furnished by Senator George F. Hoar: In this room Henry Wilson, Vice President of the United States and a Senator for 18 years, died November 22, 1875. The son of a farm laborer, never at school more than 12 months, in youth a journeyman shoemaker, he raised himself to the high places of fame, honor, and power, and by unwearied study made himself an authority in the history of his country and of 1 berty and an eloquent public speaker to whom Senate and people eagerly listened. He dealt with and controlled vast public expenditure during a great civil war, yet lived and died poor, and left to his grateful countrymen the memory of an honorable public service, and a good name far better than riches. The inscription upon this tablet should prove an inspiration to those whose ambition has been lulled by the to them apparent lack of opportunity. A little more than a year after the first steps were taken in the Senate to memorialize the death of Henry Wilson, Senator John J. Ingalls introduced a resolution forming the initial legislation toward the recognition of the service of Vice Presidents by placing in the vacant niches of the Senate Chamber marble busts of those who had been Vice Presidents. The action is stated in the Congressional Record for January 27, 1886, as follows: Mr. Ingalls submitted the following resolution; which was considered by unanimous consent, and agreed to: "Resolved, That the Committee on the Library be directed to consider the subject of placing busts of Vice Presidents and the Presidents pro tempore of the Senate in the vacant niches of the Senate Chamber and its corridors, and to report by bill or otherwise." Under the reference of this resolution to the Committee on the Library, this committee at a meeting held on February 4, 1886, considered the matter referred and the following action was taken: Resolution (S) by Mr. Ingalls, as to filling vacant niches in Senate Chamber and corridors with busts of Vice Presidents and Presidents pro tempore. referred to Mr. Voorhees, who stated that if he found, upon inquiry, the object to be accomplished could be paid for out of the contingent fund of the Senate he would introduce a resolution instead of a bill. on the Library, p. 204.) (Minutes of Joint Committee In the Senate proceedings for February 8, 1886, as contained in the Congressional Record, p. 1192, further action was taken: Mr. VOORHEES. In response to a resolution offered by the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Ingalls) and adopted by the Senate on the 27th of January, I am instructed by the Committee on the Library to offer the following resolution: "Resolved, That marble busts of those who have been Vice Presidents shall be placed in the vacant niches of the Senate Chamber, that the Architect of the Capitol is authorized, subject to the advice and approval of the Senate Committee on the Library, to carry into execution the object of this resolu DIAGRAM SHOWING RE-ARRANGEMENT OF BUSTS OF THE VICE-PRESIDENTS-SENATE WING tion, and the expenses incurred in doing so shall be paid out of the contingent fund of the Senate." I ask that the resolution be placed on the calendar. The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The resolution with the favorable report of the committee, will be placed on the calendar. On May 13, 1886, the resolution was taken up for action in the Senate, at this time while under consideration it was suggested that it might be possible for the Architect of the Capitol to place commissions for all of the busts of those who had served as Vice Presidents, and that such an order would require a larger sum of money to be taken from the contingent fund than could well be spared for this purpose, the resolution was therefore amended by Senator Ingalls by the addition of the words "from time to time" and the resolution, thus amended and passed, is as follows: "Resolved, That marble busts of those who have been Vice Presidents of the United States shall be placed in the vacant niches of the Senate Chamber from time to time; that the Architect of the Capitol is authorized, subject to the advice and approval of the Senate Committee on the Library, to carry into execution the object of this resolution, and the expenses incurred in doing so shall be paid out of the contingent fund of the Senate. On January 6, 1898, the above resolution was amended by striking out the words" vacant niches of the Senate Chamber" and inserting in lieu thereof "Senate wing of the Capitol." This amendment be came necessary in order that places might be assigned for busts of Vice Presidents after the niches in the Senate Chamber, 20 in number, had been filled. In the gallery of the Senate Chamber the visitor entering from one of the south doors of the gallery will find that on the north side of the gallery there are 6 busts, on the east side of the gallery 4 busts, on the south side of the gallery 6 busts, and on the west side of the gallery 4 busts. The arrangement is as follows: On the north side of the gallery from west to east, Eldridge Gerry, Aaron Burr, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Clinton, and Daniel D. Tompkins. On the east side commencing at the north the busts are as follows: Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, and John C. Breckinridge. On the south side of the gallery commencing at the east end the busts are as follows: Andrew Johnson, William A. Wheeler, Thomas A. Hendricks, Chester A. Arthur, Schuyler Colfax, and Hannibal Hamlin. On the west side commencing at the south the busts are: William R. King, George M. Dallas, Richard M. Johnson, and John C. Calhoun. In the south corridor a row of busts of Vice Presidents have been placed on the north side of the corridor. Commencing on the west end of the corridor the busts are: Charles W. Fairbanks, Garret C. Hobart, Levi P. Morton, Adlai E. Stevenson, Theodore Roosevelt, James S. Sherman. In a niche in the east Senate corridor on the north side of the corridor is the bust of Thomas R. Marshall, the last bust added to the collection, at the time this is written. Thus far the location of 27 busts have been mentioned, 20 in the gallery of the Senate Chamber, 6 in the south corridor of the Senate, and 1 in the east corridor of the Senate. The location of the bust of Vice President Henry Wilson, in the room of the Vice President, completes the list of the location of the 28 busts of Vice Presidents in the Senate wing of the Capitol. It will be noticed that in the original resolution of Senator Ingalls it seemed to be the intention to provide not only busts of Vice Presidents but of Presidents pro tempore; this intent failed in the final resolution as adopted; there is, however, in the room of the Vice President a marble bust of Lafayette S. Foster, of Connecticut, who was elected President pro tempore March 7, 1865, and served until March 2, 1867. The bust, the work of the sculptor Charles Calverly, is the only instance of a bust in honor of a President pro tempore in the Senate wing of the Capitol. List of busts of Vice Presidents of the United States in the Senate Chamber and the Senate wing of the Capitol Period of service Apr. 30, 1789-Mar. 3, 1797 • Resigned. Name of sculptor Daniel Chester French. |