Videos

The U.S. Capitol Historical Society presented its 2017 Freedom Award to playwright and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda for his work on the musical “Hamilton.” Mr. Miranda spoke at the ceremony in t…

The Brumidi Corridors are some of the most highly decorated spaces inside the U.S. Capitol. Designed in the late 1850s by Italian painter Constantino Brumidi, these five corridors in the nor…

Daniel Inouye was the first Japanese American to serve in both the U.S. House and Senate. He served until his death on December 17, 2012. In this 2008 oral history, Mr. Inouye talked about h…

Current and former members of the House Financial Services Committee attended a dinner in honor of the committee hosted by the U.S. Capitol Historical Society. The keynote speaker of the eve…

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI), Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI), and political commentator Cokie Roberts delivered remarks at a program celebrating the history of t…

Representative John Lewis (D-GA) received the 2014 Freedom Award from the U.S. Capitol Historical Society. Representative Lewis was a prominent figure in the Civil Rights movement during the…

Members of Congress gathered for the annual Capitol Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The 2013 tree, an 88-foot Engelmann Spruce, came from Colville National Forest in Washington state.

Former Republican and Democratic members of Congress talked about how personal relationships on Capitol Hill have changed in the past fifty years, and how important those relationships are t…

The lighting of the Capitol Christmas tree and the opening holiday ceremonies.

Senators spoke at a dinner honoring the 196th anniversary of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and reminisced about their experiences on the committee. They also talked about the impor…

Norman Ornstein presented the award to Richard Baker, who became the first Senate historian in 1975. An advocate for the openness of government, he drafted the Senate’s first rules for acces…

Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, the first U.S. Senator with Native Hawaiian ancestry, was an eyewitness to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and served during World War II with the U.S. A…

American History TV is airing a selection of oral history interviews with former and current Asian American members of Congress. This week we hear from Representative Mike Honda of Californi…

Next, we feature U.S. Representative Doris Matsui of California who serves on the House Rules Committee and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. During the Clinton Administrat…

Norman Mineta, a Democrat from California, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975 to 1995, as Commerce Secretary for President Clinton, and Transportation Secretary for Pres…

The U.S. Capitol Historical Society honored the lives and careers of Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Representative John Dingell (D-MI) with the annual Freedom Award, which recognizes indiv…

Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, the Republican whip, spoke about the history of the Senate. He discussed the Old Senate Chamber, famous speeches and events that occurred there, and his experiences …

Former Republican and Democratic congressmen spoke about the 2010 Census, the redistricting process, and the outlook for the 112th Congress. They focused on the likely affect redistricting m…

Female senators participated in a breakfast discussion moderated by Ms. Cokie Roberts. They talked about the history of women in the Senate and the book Nine and Counting: The Women of the S…

Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist David Broder makes remarks upon being presented with the Freedom Award. The U.S. Capitol Society also unveils the official portrait of the 10th …