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Giving The U.S. House Of Representatives A Human Face (Originally Broadcast 7/22/2011)

By: Rebecca Sheir // December 30, 2011
  
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Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth used this gavel, ca. 1929. You can see his signature (which someone covered with clear tape) on the head.
Rebecca Sheir
Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth used this gavel, ca. 1929. You can see his signature (which someone covered with clear tape) on the head.

What do a wooden gavel, a double-tiered baseball trophy and an 80-year-old restaurant menu have in common? They're among the 4,000 artifacts in the U.S. House of Representatives collection. Rebecca Sheir visits the Capitol to talk with the House's very first curator, who's tasked with tracking down, conserving and preserving the artworks and artifacts that give a human face to the federal government's lower legislative body.

[Music: "Dill Pickle Rag" by Flatt and Scruggs from Bluegrass]

Photos: House Curator

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