The Senate conducts its business in offices, meeting rooms, hearing rooms, and corridors that are rich in architectural and artistic décor and evoke the long history of the Senate and the U.S. Capitol.
This elegant space located on the first floor of the U.S. Capitol has been home to the Senate Committee on Appropriations since 1911. This brochure contains a brief history of the rooms in the suite, the committee and its chairmen, and the murals that adorn the committee's walls.
The Brumidi Corridors are richly painted hallways on the first floor of the Senate wing of the Capitol. Designed and painted by Italian artist Constantino Brumidi and his assistants, the halls are decorated with classically inspired images and symbolic representations of American culture. This brochure introduces the artist and highlights the various thematic sections of the corridors he painted.
The rooms that today comprise the U.S. Senate Democratic Leader's Suite were a centerpiece of the 1859 Senate extension—occupying a prominent location on the Capitol's principal floor, directly across the hall from the Senate Chamber. This brochure highlights the history of the suite and the various decorative elements adorning its rooms.
Established in 1816, the U.S. Foreign Relations Committee is one of the 10 original standing committees of the Senate. This brochure provides a brief history of the committee with short biographies of selected committee chairmen and highlights the history of the suite and the various decorative elements adorning the committee's rooms.
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The Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building is one of the grandest and most historic rooms in the nation's capital. Originally intended for party caucuses, or meetings where members of the same party decided upon their candidates, policies, and legislative matters, the room has served as the stage for hearings on many important Senate committee investigations, including the Titanic, Pearl Harbor, and Watergate.
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Room, built during the 1859 Senate extension of the Capitol, was originally intended as the Senate Library reading room. This brochure provides a brief history of the room and its occupants and highlights the room's many original decorative features, including murals by Constantino Brumidi, a marble mantel, and Minton floor tiles.
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Room S-207 in the U.S. Capitol, better known as the Mike Mansfield Room, has been the site of many a festive occasion since its creation in 1962. The very first reception held in the elegant paneled room hosted Washington's powerbrokers from both Capitol Hill and the White House.
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Located in the north wing of the United States Capitol adjacent to the Senate Chamber, the Senate Reception Room (room S-213) is one of the building’s most richly decorated public rooms. Designed in 1853 to function as a meeting place where constituents could meet informally with their senators, the room continues to serve primarily as a public gathering space. Adorned with a variety of ornate materials and artwork, the space reflects both its high importance as a public space within the Capitol and the elaborate decorative tastes of the mid-19th century.
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Aptly named, the Marble Room is a long narrow space outside the Senate Chamber, between the Vice President’s Office and the President’s Room. With its ceiling of veined Italian marble, walls of dark Tennessee marble, ornate mirrors that reflect a magnificent chandelier, and even a secret portrait, the Marble Room is one of the Capitol’s most unique spaces.
In 1789 President George Washington wrote to the U.S. Senate recommending a chamber "for the joint business of the President and the Senate." Although the Capitol's early architects planned for such a room, it was not until extensions were added to the building in the 1850s that one was finally built. Providing a brief history of the President's Room and elaboration on the decorative elements, this brochure is a look behind the doors of one of the Capitol's most stunning rooms.
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Members of the Senate Press Gallery have occupied offices near the current Senate Chamber since it opened in 1859. In 1939 the Senate established the Radio Gallery, and radio reporters were given a few seats in a side gallery and office space next to the press gallery, later expanded in 1953 to accommodate television news coverage. In 1941 the Senate recognized the Periodical Press Gallery, composed of journalists writing for magazines and other non-daily newspapers, and assigned it space in the Chamber gallery and a room, S-320, in the Capitol. The Senate designated office space, S-317, for the newly created Press Photographers Gallery in 1959.
The Republican Leader's Suite is located in the oldest section of the U.S. Capitol. Over the past 200 years, it has been rebuilt and modified many times and used for many different purposes. This brochure highlights the history of the suite, its occupants, and some of its defining decorative elements.
Built as part of the extension of the Capitol in the 1850s, Room S-219 has been used over the years by the Senate Appropriations Committee, Official Reporters of Debates, and Secretary of the Senate. Highlighted in this brochure are a brief history of the room's occupants and an overview of its architectural and decorative features.
The Senate Vestibule served as the main entrance to the Capitol in 1800. Originally a room with wooden floors, a flat ceiling, and a slightly wider dimension than evident today, it was redesigned and reconfigured between 1807 and 1809. Highlighted in this brochure is the history of this space and its fascinating architectural and artistic characteristics, including the corncob columns—among the oldest architectural features in the Capitol.
Named for Senator Strom Thurmond in 1991, this room exemplifies the Capitol's long and varied history. This brochure provides a history of the room, a list of its many occupants, and an overview of the room's decorative elements.
The U.S. Constitution stipulates that the vice president of the United States serves as president of the Senate. For over 125 years, the Vice President's Room has provided a convenient and elegant Capitol working space for the vice president. This brochure highlights the history of the room and some of its fine art and decorative elements.
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