The United States Senate Chamber is a room in the north wing of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

that has served as the

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

chamber of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

, since January 4, 1859. The Senate first convened in its current meeting place after utilizing

Federal Hall Federal Hall is a historic building at 26 Wall Street in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The current Greek Revival–style building, completed in 1842 as the Custom House, is operated by the National Park Service as a nat ...

, Congress Hall, and the Old Senate Chamber in the Capitol building for the same purpose. The

chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations *Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics *Debate chamber, the space or room that houses deliber ...

, designed by then-

Architect of the Capitol The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex. It is an agency of the legislative branch of the federal government and is ...

Thomas Ustick Walter Thomas Ustick Walter (September 4, 1804 – October 30, 1887) was an American architect of German descent, the dean of American architecture between the 1820 death of Benjamin Latrobe and the emergence of H.H. Richardson in the 1870s. He was ...

, is a rectangular two-story room with 100 individual desks, one per Senator, on a multi-tiered semicircular platform facing a central rostrum in the front of the room. The Senate floor itself is overlooked on all four sides by a gallery on the second floor. The Senate floor itself is .

Origin and history

The Senate convened, beginning in 1790, in a second-floor chamber in Congress Hall in

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Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, until moving into the

Old Supreme Court Chamber The Old Supreme Court Chamber is the room on the ground floor of the North Wing of the United States Capitol. From 1800 to 1806, the room was the lower half of the first United States Senate chamber, and from 1810 to 1860, the courtroom for the ...

in the Capitol building in 1800. From 1810 to 1859, the Senate utilized the Old Senate Chamber for legislative functions. During this time, the Senate nearly doubled in size as new states were admitted to the Union. In light of the increased size of both houses of congress, two new wings were added on to the United States Capitol. Beginning in 1851, the Capitol underwent several expansions including the new wings and their respective chambers, as well as a new dome.

Design and construction

In addition to expanding the space available for the Senate's use, the chamber's designers were concerned that the room have

acoustical Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

and line-of-sight qualities comparable to those of a theater. The construction of the chamber began in 1851 and continued until senators began utilizing the room for legislative business in 1859. Shortly after beginning to utilize the chamber, however, senators noted the poor acoustic qualities, the sounds created by rain as it hit the glass-paneled ceiling, and uncomfortable drafts of air throughout the room. The general design of the chamber, a rectangular, two-story room in the center of the Capitol's north wing, includes 100 individual desks on a tiered platform. This platform, semi-circular in shape, faces a raised rostrum in the front of the room. On all four sides of the chamber's second level, a visitor's gallery overlooks the Senate floor. The Senate first allowed visitors to observe proceedings in 1795. The galleries for observing the Senate, including a women's gallery, became popular destinations for tourists and residents alike throughout the nineteenth century. Above the presiding officer's desk at the rostrum was the press gallery. Here, reporters are able to observe and cover the proceedings of the Senate.

Early usage

Because of the chamber's theater-like qualities and size, numerous requests were made and fulfilled to use the chamber for functions other than that of legislation. In 1863, the chamber was used for a presentation of a narrative poem ("The Sleeping Sentinel") about a

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

soldier, William Scott, who had fallen asleep at his post and was sentenced to be shot. Among the audience for the performance was the then-President of the United States,

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

, who had actually pardoned the sentinel months earlier. Senators grew tired of the competition for the chamber's usage, however, and allowed the final non-legislative usage of the chamber, a lecture on post-

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reconstruction, before enacting a

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dictating that the chamber would not be used for any purpose other than that of the United States Senate. In 1923, practicing

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and former commissioner of the

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Royal Copeland began his first term in the Senate. He quickly noted the poor quality of the air in the chamber, arguing that the premature deaths of thirty-four serving senators over the previous twelve years were caused by the overly hot and poorly humidified air, which he blamed for the spread of common illnesses during the winter and the general discomfort of the chamber during the summer. In June 1924, the Senate voted to adopt a measure by Copeland to improve the "living conditions of the Senate Chamber." Carrere & Hastings, the architectural firm that had designed the

Russell Senate Office Building The Russell Senate Office Building is the oldest of the United States Senate office buildings. Designed in the Beaux-Arts architectural style, it was built from 1903 to 1908 and opened in 1909. It was named for former Senator Richard Russel ...

, submitted a plan for improvements, to include removing interior walls and lowering the ceiling, that was subsequently approved by the Senate on May 11, 1928. On May 16, however, Copeland requested the indefinite postponement of his proposal in light of a new ventilation system that received the endorsement of experts in public health. The "manufactured weather" ventilation system, the Senate's first

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

system, was designed by

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and completed in 1929.

Modern design and use

1949–50 reconstruction

In 1949–50, the Senate Chamber underwent a reconstruction that involved the removal of the skylight and a redesign of the room's walls. In place of the chamber's original cast-iron

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s, newer red Levanto marble pilasters were installed. The wooden rostrum was replaced with a newer, larger version made of marble. The iron and glass ceiling, including the skylight, was replaced with a ceiling of stainless steel and plaster. This redesign, in addition to improving the acoustic properties of the room, was to update the room's mid-nineteenth century decor, which was then out of date.

Photography in the chamber

Rule IV of the Senate prohibits the taking of photographs inside the Senate Chamber. The Senate suspended this rule on September 24, 1963, to take the first official photograph of the Senate. During the same year, the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, ...

requested permission to take the first official photograph of the Senate while in session for their illustrated volume ''We, the People''. Once each two-year session of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

, the Photographic Studio of the Senate is charged with taking the official photo of the Senate.

Television coverage of the Senate

Beginning in 1979, the House of Representatives began televising coverage of its daily sessions live on the network

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

(Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network). Senators originally opposed televised coverage of the daily sessions of the Senate, many expressing concern that televising proceedings would change significantly the conduct of the legislative process. In 1986, however, Senate floor leaders

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his t ...

and Robert Byrd officially proposed live television coverage of the Senate. On June 2 of the same year, daily proceedings began broadcasting on the C-SPAN 2 network.

References

External links

United States Senate official website
— History of the Senate's meeting places

— Architect's Virtual Capitol
Senate Chamber Desks
— History of Senate desks
First U.S. Senate session aired by C-SPAN
— Video of first U.S. Senate session aired by C-SPAN. {{United States Capitol Complex United States Capitol rooms United States Senate