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The Little Congress' Big Independence Day Celebration | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives
The first session of the 75th Congress (1937–1939) stretched deep into the dog days of summer—far longer than was customary at the time when lawmakers aimed to head home for the summer recess earlier rather than later. The old, hopeful expression around Capitol Hill in that era was the expectation that Congress would adjourn, “Sine die by Fourth of July.” But events in the summer of 1937 forced Congress to stay in session past Independence Day, as many Americans expressed a nervous unknowing about the nation’s future.In the 1936 elections the previous fall, riding the coattails of incumbent Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt, House Democrats surged their majority to an all-time high: 334 Democrats took the oath of office on Opening Day in early January 1937, versus just 88 Republicans and a smattering of Progressives and Farmer-Laborites. During the 75th Congress, the House busied itself passing New Deal legislation to provide housing and farm loan programs and to set minimum wage standards in the landmark Fair Labor Standards Act. Looking abroad to gathering war clouds in Asia and Europe, Members bolstered U.S. Navy shipbuilding capacity to meet the grim potential of a two-ocean conflict.Emboldened by historic Democratic margins in Congress, President Roosevelt overreached. He hatched an ambitious, ultimately doomed, plan to “pack” the Supreme Court with sympathetic Justices who he hoped would uphold his New Deal agenda amid furious legal challenges. Backlash to his plan burned white hot among Republicans and southern Democrats helping to forge what would become a decades-long coalition of conservatives in Congress who opposed the expansion of many federal aid programs.Thereafter, the Democratic high-water mark in the House receded. In the summer of 1937, however, the court packing debate consumed Congress and kept legislators in session until the third week of August. Amid that turbulence on Capitol Hill, the Little Congress—a club of up-and-comers, composed of staff from the offices of Representatives and Senators, as well as support workers from elevator operators to Pages—busied itself, too. Since lawmakers would work through Independence Day, leaders of the Little Congress decided to hold a public celebration of the Fourth to recall the republic’s hallowed past, to dissect its unsettled present, and to prognosticate about its future.The Little CongressWhen the first House and Senate office buildings opened on Capitol Hill in the early 1900s, Congress experienced a series of rapid changes. Among the most consequential was the growth of congressional staff. With more office space, lawmakers began hiring aides to handle constituent business and assist with the lawmaking process.About a decade later, congressional staff began to organize clubs and other organizations which played an important role fostering connections and community on the Hill. In 1919, the Little Congress was born. One of its founders was Kenneth Romney, who would later serve many years as House Sergeant at Arms. For a $2 membership fee, the group provided a career forum and social outlet for the young cadre of men and women who flocked to the capital city from across the country. The Little Congress held regular meetings, elected a speaker and slate of officers (mirroring those positions in the real Congress), and gave tutorials on the ins and outs of parliamentary rules and the often opaque legislative process. Members of the Little Congress routinely debated the policy issues of the day, and held dinners, dances, and trips. The organization thrived for more than a decade until its activities waned with the onset of the Great Depression—and its numbers dwindled to several dozen.But in 1933, Lyndon Baines Johnson, an enterprising staffer from the Texas Hill Country who served as secretary to Representative Dick Kleberg of Texas, spurred the sleepy club to life. Johnson, then just 24 years old, quickly captured control of the Little Congress winning its speakership and injecting new life into the organization. The future U.S. President instituted weekly rather than monthly meetings, invited special guests to address the club, including populist Louisiana Senator Huey Pierce Long, and even led a special Little Congress delegation (nearly 300 strong) to visit New York mayor and former Representative Fiorello La Guardia. All along, Johnson courted press attention and built his reputation. Reporters obliged with news coverage and learned to track the real Representatives’ positions on bills pending before Congress by listening in on the speeches their staff made in the Little Congress’s shadow debates.Johnson was known to use heavy-handed tactics in the Little Congress, packing the ballot box with allies in the group’s internal elections. So pervasive was Johnson’s presence that a breakaway organization formed in 1935, the Congressional Secretaries Club (later the Congressional Staff Club), eventually supplanted the Little Congress. But the spirit of renewal Johnson had infused in the Little Congress and among congressional staff continued.The Once and Future CongressIn the spring of 1937, facing the prospect of working past Independence Day, Little Congress members began planning and rehearsing a theater production to commemorate America’s founding.The pageant took place on July 4 on the grounds of Rinehart’s Riding Range in Langley, Virginia, a horse-riding facility not far from the modern-day Central Intelligence Agency headquarters. The owner, Paul Rinehart, opened his stables and properties to the general public free of charge and guests were encouraged to bring picnic lunches and “spend the day” at the range. Events kicked off at 8:00 a.m. with a horse-riding show followed by lessons and an array of equine competitions: swimming races on horseback, roping, bronco busting, and a jousting tournament for “knights of all sexes” and ages.At 2:00 p.m., members of the Little Congress began their performance on a specially constructed stage situated in “a little valley” on the property in front of a large audience seated on the surrounding hillsides. The play, according to the Washington Post, depicted “the soul-stirring events that occurred at the time that the foundation was laid from which America gained her freedom to become the greatest Nation on earth.” “Once again on Virginia’s hallowed air will ring the mighty words of Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Edmund Pendleton, Archibald Cary and a host of other great men of that time,” the Post said.Among the Members of Congress who attended were then-Senator Harry Truman of Missouri and Representative Robert Alexis (Lex) Green of Florida, chairman of the House Committee on Territories. Their staffers were among the small committee of Little Congress leaders who had organized and produced the event.It was an elaborate production, spanning two acts and spread across eight chronological scenes set in the eighteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries. The bulk of the play—its first six scenes—covered the final years of America’s colonial ferment in the mid-1770s as sentiment built toward a final break from British rule. Elaborately costumed Hill staffers, decked out in knee britches, overcoats, powdered wigs, gowns, and petticoats, braved the midafternoon sun. They first recounted the royal governor’s dissolution of the Virginia house of burgesses in June 1774, in response to the colonials’ demands for representation and their opposition to new royal taxes. The next scenes depicted the subsequent Virginia Convention, followed by debates in the Continental Congress, culminating with the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence.The second act was much different and contrasted vividly with the reverence and sentiment of the Revolutionary era that had infused the first act. The second act, set in 1935, opened with a scene re-enacting what had famously been a meandering 15-hour and 30-minute filibuster by the late Senator Huey Long of Louisiana in protest of New Deal policies. Long’s speech included fried oyster recipe recommendations, comments on National Recovery Administration staffing, and a clause-by-clause analysis of the Constitution and the ways that President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs violated it. In Long’s telling, the administration had relegated the Constitution to little more than “ancient and forgotten lore.”Missing from the re-enactment of Long’s rambling oration was any of the idealism and promise of the founding generation depicted in earlier scenes of the performance. It hinted at an anxiety that underlay the Great Depression. In the sweltering heat of early July 1937, audience-goers and performers perceived the uncertainty about the experiment in American democracy, launched 161 years prior. And that persistent economic dysfunction, rising totalitarian powers overseas, and deep ideological divisions at home about the role and scope of government, as well as America’s place in the world, menaced its future course.Implicitly, the Little Congress posed the question: In an arc running from the eighteenth-century Declaration of Independence to the twentieth-century demagoguery of the late Senator Long, where did the line ahead bend and how would the nation arrive there?The Little Congress suggested a possible outcome in the play’s final scene, set in July 2037. And in this telling, wrote a Washington Post correspondent, the women of the Little Congress “hold sway.” As the all-woman ensemble took the stage, the audience noted that their costumes changed “to shorts, designed for comfort in the warm summer sessions.”Beyond the attire, the playwrights imagined a future political landscape that in July 1937 must have seemed every bit the realm of science fiction: a world in which women, many of whom had just been enfranchised in 1920, would fully supplant men by the opening of the 125th Congress in 2037. In 1937, just six women served in Congress (five in the House and one in the Senate; though three more would join their ranks by the end of the session). “The girls will have the final scene all to themselves. . . . All of the members will be women and the discussion will be on the question of whether or not men should have the right of suffrage granted to them again.”Past as PrologueWith the advantage of nearly a century’s hindsight, it’s clear that not all that the Little Congress pageant forecasted has come to pass. While congressional sessions still stretch well beyond July 4, shorts have not yet met the rules of decorum. The 155 women of the 119th Congress constitute a little less than 29 percent of the total membership. And men still retain the vote.But as the Declaration’s 250th anniversary approaches in 2026, the lesson that the Little Congress tried to convey remains clear: in an enduring continuity—with a spirit that transcends generations—the American people will propel the nation to revisit its founding ideals, to measure them against its great current issues, and to peer with imagination into the future.Sources: “Glenn Rupp Oral History Interview,” Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives (27 April 2005 ); Los Angeles Times, 30 May 1920; New York Times, 23 December 1923, 11 June 1949; Washington Post, 26 April 1933, 3 May 1935, 26 June 1937, 27 June 1937, 4 July 1937, 25 July 1965; Robert A. Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982); Stephen W. Stathis, Landmark Legislation, 1774–2002 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2003); Senate Historical Office, U.S. Senate, “Huey Long Filibusters New Deal Legislation,” https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/filibusters-cloture/huey-long-filibusters.htm.
The Records of Innovation and Transformation: Postwar United States (1945–1969) | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives
The upheaval of World War II spurred widespread change in the United States. Social, political, and economic shifts reverberated throughout the country and new allies and adversaries emerged abroad. It was a period marked by changes and challenges that impacted the way Americans lived, worked, and engaged with each other. The civil rights movement, the space race, and the Cold War shaped the decades following the end of the war.As records of the past, some primary sources reflect outdated, biased, and offensive views and opinions that are no longer commonly accepted in the United States. Through civil discourse, active listening, and empathy, students should analyze these perspectives and their impact on the country’s development.Transcriptions and downloadable PDFs of these records are available at the links below.Discussion Questions:What were some of the causes of the civil rights movement following World War II?How did Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union fuel advances in science?What motivated the rise in anticommunism among many Americans and politicians?What was the purpose of the House Un-American Activities Committee? Why might they have used the term “un-American”?Identify three political or social changes that occurred during this period. How do they continue to impact American society and politics today?Discuss how Congress addressed one of these themes: the space race, communism, or the civil rights movement. What were the legislative outcomes? Were they effective?1947, Report on Ronald ReaganThe House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) investigated allegations of communism and spying, and included Hollywood actors among their subjects. The records of the committee contain a report about then-president of the Screen Actors Guild—and future President of the United States—Ronald Reagan.1948, Alger Hiss SubpoenaThe House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) issued this subpoena requiring Alger Hiss to testify at a HUAC subcommittee hearing. Former spy Whittaker Chambers accused Hiss, a government official who had worked for the U.S. Department of State, of being a communist and Russian secret agent.1958, National Defense Education ActThe National Defense Education Act (NDEA) was passed in 1958 in response to Soviet acceleration of the space race with the launch of the satellite Sputnik. The law provided federal funding to “insure trained manpower of sufficient quality and quantity to meet the national defense needs of the United States.” In addition to fellowships and loans to students, the legislation bolstered education in the areas of science, mathematics, and modern foreign languages.1961, John F. Kennedy’s Message to CongressOn May 25, 1961, urgent national needs in the areas of foreign aid, international and civil defense, and outer space brought President John F. Kennedy before Congress again to deliver this address. Kennedy announced his goal of sending a man to the moon by the end of the decade and asked Congress to commit the funds to achieve success: “For while we cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first, we can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will find us last.”1963, March on Washington PamphletThis pamphlet was distributed in advance of the 1963 March on Washington and provided logistical and ideological information to marchers. This copy of the pamphlet ended up in the records of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), which monitored the actions of and participants in the civil rights movement. Throughout its existence, HUAC kept extensive reference files on individuals and organizations suspected of what it considered subversive activity.1963, Lyndon Johnson’s Assumption of Office AddressLess than a week after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, recently sworn-in President Lyndon Johnson addressed a Joint Session of Congress. Johnson praised his predecessor’s leadership and outlined goals for his administration. He urged Congress to pass civil rights legislation, declaring “no memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the Civil Rights bill for which he fought.” President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law on July 2, 1964.1964, Call Book for Civil Rights Act of 1964On February 10, 1964, the House voted on H.R. 7152, known as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As the first page of this call book shows, the bill passed the House, 290 to 130, following intense debate and legislative negotiation. The bill enforced equal access to public accommodations and desegregation of public schools and facilities and prohibited discrimination in hiring and employment. President Lyndon Johnson signed it into law on July 2, 1964.1965, Voting Rights Act of 1965Introduced on March 17, H.R. 6400 was crafted by the administration of President Lyndon Johnson, who understood that even after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, stronger protections for voting rights were necessary to ensure unimpeded access to the polls. Signed into law on August 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act protected the right to vote for all citizens and outlawed methods used to obstruct voter registration, such as poll taxes and literacy tests.Interested in more records from this era?1946, Conference Managers for National School Lunch Act1947, Communism in Hollywood1947, HUAC Minutes on May Day Parade1951, Letter to HUAC Chairman1953, Support for Gateway Arch Monumentca. 1953, Funding Construction of the Gateway Arch1956, Federal Highway Act of 19561958, Model Legislature Resolution for Hawaiian Statehood1958, Puerto Rican Senate Resolution on Alaska Statehood1959, NASA Appropriations Bill1959, Daniel Inouye Election Certificate1959, Testimony of Patty Duke1961, Kennedy’s First State of the Union1961, Territorial Deputy for Guam1963, Study of Maryland Beach Erosion1963, Lyndon Johnson’s Assumption of Office Address1963, Discharge Petition for the Civil Rights Act of 19641964, Mt. Pleasant Society Hall Ruins1964, Engrossing Copy of Civil Rights Act of 19641964, Letter Opposing School Prayer Amendment1964, Letter Supporting School Prayer1964, Ranger VII’s Photographic Flight1965, Letter Responding to the Violence in Selma1965, Telegram to Martin Luther King, Jr.1965, Letter Supporting Voting Rights Act1965, Letter Opposing Voting Rights1969, Shirley Chisholm Oath of Office1969, Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday1969, Petition to Eliminate Electoral CollegeThis is part of a blog series about records from different eras of U.S. history. Explore “Tools for Teaching with Primary Sources” for additional tips and classroom activities.
Edition for Educators: Patricia Scott Schroeder | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives
Since the First Congress opened in 1789, more than 11,000 people have served in the U.S. House of Representatives. Most served capably for a few terms and returned to their communities. But some lawmakers have left towering legacies and are remembered for their legislative prowess, path-breaking careers, and bold personalities. These Members of Congress, including powerful Speakers of the House, strong-willed legislators, trailblazing Representatives, and policy specialists, qualify as “Giants of the House.”On July 30, 1940, Patricia “Pat” Scott Schroeder was born in Portland, Oregon, to Lee Scott, an aviation insurance salesman, and Bernice Scott, a public school teacher. Schroeder forged a path that differed from many women of her generation, obtaining a pilot’s license at the age of 15, working her way through college, and eventually earning a law degree from Harvard in 1964.As a young mother of two with little financial backing and no state or national party support, Schroeder’s upset election to Congress in 1972 surprised experts and delighted supporters. In an era with few incentives or assistance for working mothers, Schroeder learned to navigate the halls of Congress while juggling the responsibilities of family and public service. As a Member of Congress, Schroeder used her national profile to challenge political, cultural, and societal norms that often restricted opportunities for women outside the home. Her intellect, sense of humor, and determination helped make Schoeder one of the most recognizable faces on Capitol Hill.Not interested in blending in or waiting her turn, Schroeder pushed for change directly. She championed issues affecting women during her time in the House making them the blueprint for her work: women’s health care, child rearing, expansion of Social Security benefits, and gender equity in the workplace. She was a vocal abortion rights advocate and a supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), leading the charge for the passage of the ERA back home in Colorado.In 1973, with the help of longtime Ways and Means Committee chair Wilbur Daigh Mills of Arkansas, Schroeder won a seat on the Armed Services Committee where she worked to curb defense spending, which at the time totaled nearly 40 percent of the national budget.Not everyone celebrated Schroeder’s appointment to the Armed Services Committee, including the committee chairman, Felix Edward Hébert of Louisiana, a Dixiecrat and 30-year congressional veteran. During the committee’s organizational meeting in early 1973, Hébert wanted to belittle the newest members of the committee and forced Schroeder and Representative Ronald V. Dellums of California, the first African-American lawmaker to serve on Armed Services, to share a chair. Schroeder recalled Hébert thinking that her and Dellums’s appointment to the committee was “the worst thing that’s ever happened. . . . [T]hese two people are only worth half of the rest of my Members, so they’re getting one chair.” Dellums later commented that he and Schroeder acted as if sharing a chair was “the most normal thing in the world,” in an effort to undermine Hébert’s hostility.This month’s Edition for Educators highlights the pathbreaking 24-year career of Congresswoman Patricia Scott Schroeder of Colorado.From Colorado to Capitol HillPEOPLE PROFILE—Patricia Scott Schroeder of ColoradoThough political rivals and some male colleagues at first dismissed her as “little Patsy,” Pat Schroeder became the forceful doyenne of American liberals on issues ranging from arms control to women’s reproductive rights during her 24-year House career. Congresswoman Schroeder’s wit and independence—from her seat on the Armed Services Committee, she once told Pentagon officials that if they were women, they would always be pregnant because they never said “no”—helped to make her a household name and blazed a trail for a new generation of women on Capitol Hill.ORAL HISTORY—The Honorable Patricia Scott SchroederPatricia Scott Schroeder began her 24-year career in Congress as a mother with two young children and evolved into a national leader determined to use her elected position as an advocate for women and families. A tireless supporter of women’s rights, she went from winning a spot on the Armed Services Committee—despite the chairman’s objections—to leading the Congresswomen’s Caucus. In her oral history with the Office of the Historian, Representative Pat Schroeder reflects on how she balanced motherhood and her congressional career. She also describes the obstacles women faced when she first arrived at the Capitol, including inadequate bathroom and exercise facilities, restricted areas set aside for men, and the refusal of some Members to treat their female colleagues as equals. HISTORICAL DATA—Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caucus for Women’s IssuesIn 1977, the women of the House formed a bipartisan Congresswomen’s Caucus (later called the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues) to publicize legislative initiatives that were important to women. The caucus became a forum for exchanging ideas and legislative strategy. Representative Lindy Boggs of Louisiana observed, “If we met regularly there would be mutual concerns that would be revealed that we may not think of as compelling now.” By honing their message and by cultivating political action groups to support female candidates, women became more powerful in the House. As the numbers of Congresswomen increased and their legislative interests expanded, women accrued the seniority and influence to advance into the ranks of leadership. Since its inception, the caucus has appointed bipartisan co-chairs. Representative Pat Schroeder co-chaired the Women’s Caucus for 16 years (1979–1995).BLOG—“Agony and Ecstasy”: The Fight for the Equal Rights AmendmentOver the course of a year, from October 1977 to the fall of 1978, the fight to extend the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) played out on a public stage in the nation’s capital. From the iconic National Mall to the House Judiciary Committee room, the debate over the ERA featured passionate pleas from those both for and against the amendment. Intrigue and drama often characterized the lead up to key votes, and lawmakers and activists worked to shape public opinion. Away from the spotlight, women Members, vastly outnumbered by their male counterparts in Congress during the late 1970s, designed a highly effective vote-counting operation to achieve an improbable victory and keep the hopes for ERA alive.HOUSE COLLECTION—Featured Objects and ImagesPatricia Scott Schroeder Lapel PinPat Schroeder used “She Wins. We Win.” as a campaign slogan for many of her 24 years in Congress. This button, from her 1972 campaign, evoked both her seriousness of purpose and the popularity of her antiwar, women’s rights message. Once in the House, she was asked how she could be mother and a Member simultaneously, to which she replied, “I have a brain and a uterus and I use both.”Patricia Scott Schroeder PosterIn this 1970s re-election poster, Pat Schroeder hearkened back to her famous first campaign slogan: “She Wins. We Win.” The design also contains oblique references to her stance as a passionate feminist and political outsider. Prominent placement of the term “Congresswoman,” in an era when some women in the House called themselves “Congressman,” emphasized that Schroeder was not interested in blending in. Similarly, the three casual photographs of the candidate, placed collage-style on a blank background, nodded to counterculture graphic design popular in alternative media in the 1970s.Patricia Scott Schoeder Supersisters Trading CardDuring her 24-year House career, Pat Schroeder of Colorado became a champion of liberal causes and a feminist icon, weighing in on issues from arms control to women’s reproductive rights. The Supersisters cards, created to provide an alternative to all-male sports trading cards, fit well with Schroeder’s feminist interests.ORAL HISTORY—Video Clips about Representative Patricia Scott Schroeder“You Think I’m Pat Schroeder”The Honorable Lynn C. Woolsey recalls being mistaken for Representative Pat Schroeder of Colorado.Reprimanding Tip O’NeillJudy Lemons recalls Representative Pat Schroeder of Colorado confronting Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O'Neill of Massachusetts about gender in the House.Sharing a Chair on the First DayThe Honorable Ronald V. Dellums recalls the unusual circumstances he and Congresswoman Pat Schroeder of Colorado faced on their first day on the House Armed Services Committee.Additional ResourcesThe primary research collection for Representative Patricia Schroeder’s congressional career can be found at the University of Colorado at Boulder.This is part of a series of blog posts for educators highlighting the resources available on History, Art & Archives of the U.S. House of Representatives. For lesson plans, fact sheets, glossaries, and other materials for the classroom, see the website's Education section.
Edition for Educators—Career Day | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives
What do you want to be when you grow up? That seemingly simple question has inspired generations of students to think about their future and dream big. In elementary and middle school, many teachers host “career day,” where parents and guardians share with a class what led them into their current occupations. In high school and college, guidance counselors stand ready to help students find a career that seems to fit their talents and interests.Career day traditionally features a mix of occupations: lawyers, doctors, nurses, teachers, mechanics, scientists, and other professions. Only on a rare occasion, however, is a student presented with the possibility of becoming a United States Representative—fewer than 12,000 people have served in the House since 1789. Although students can study political science, there is no one path to a career in elected office. The fact that lawmakers come from a variety of backgrounds is perhaps best exemplified in the U.S. House of Representatives. While most Members have studied law, others have been journalists, athletes, teachers, actors, and farmers.The following Edition for Educators highlights the range of careers that Members have held prior to their election to Congress. Often, their backgrounds and unique career paths have helped them better understand their constituents and more accurately represent their interests in Congress.JournalismSeveral Members of Congress entered politics after a career in journalism. Speaker James G. Blaine of Maine edited the Kennebec Journal before joining the House, while Speaker Schuyler Colfax of Indiana owned and edited the St. Joseph Valley Register.Oral History Clip: Reporter, Helen Delich Bentley of Maryland Listen to a clip from The Honorable Helen Delich Bentley of Maryland who worked as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun.Historical Highlight: Radio Broadcaster, Clem McSpadden of Oklahoma After serving in World War II, Clem McSpadden embarked upon two separate careers: public broadcasting and politics. McSpadden worked as a radio broadcaster and then entered state politics in Oklahoma before winning election to the House. While a Member of Congress, McSpadden regularly returned home to Oklahoma and announced rodeo contests.FarmingMany Members of Congress have come from rural backgrounds or tended the land themselves.Oral History Clip: Jill Lynette Long Thompson of Indiana Listen to a clip from The Honorable Jill Lynette Long Thompson, who explains how her dislike of farm chores helped jumpstart her interest in politics.Historical Highlight: Lettuce Farmer, Dalip Saund of CaliforniaDalip Saund of California first won election to Congress in 1956, after serving as a judge in California’s Imperial Valley where he also owned a lettuce farm. Saund had been born in India and earned a PhD in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley, but after learning that British authorities back home had been keeping track of his “anti-British utterances in America,” he moved to southern California near a community of other Indian immigrants and took up farming. Because of racial prejudice at the time, Saund’s career options were limited and state law prevented him from owning or leasing farmland.Business OwnershipRepresentatives have brought experiences running businesses large and small to the halls of Congress.Historical Highlight: Merchant, Benjamin Turner of North Carolina Born in 1830 in North Carolina, Benjamin Sterling Turner was taken by his enslaver to Alabama, where he would eventually be emancipated by Union troops in the midst of the Civil War. After the war, Turner remained in Selma, where he built up a livery stable and became a merchant. In 1870, he won election to the 42nd Congress (1871-1873).Historical Highlight: Circus Owner, James A. Haley of Florida In 1933, World War I veteran James A. Haley became the general manager of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Despite a disastrous big top fire in 1944, Haley continued to run the circus until 1948, when he won a seat in Florida’s state house of representatives to which he was reelected in 1950. Haley was then elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1953. Haley often joked that he was the one of the best trained Members of Congress, claiming: “I came from the greatest show on earth to the big sideshow.”MilitaryQuite a few individuals have won election to Congress after serving accomplished careers in the armed forces.Historical Highlight: General Ben Butler of Massachusetts Benjamin Franklin Butler was a lawyer who unsuccessfully ran for governor of Massachusetts in 1859. After the Civil War began, Butler successfully petitioned to be appointed as a general. Over the course of the war, Butler served in various roles, but it was his term as military governor of New Orleans that garnered him a national reputation. Butler’s popularity in the North, as well as his support from Radical Republicans, helped him win election to the House in 1867.Historical Highlight: General Joseph Warren Keifer of Ohio J. Warren Keifer’s military service helped launch his political career, which led to him eventually becoming Speaker of the House. Trained as a lawyer, Keifer rose through the ranks during the Civil War to become a major general. Returning to Ohio after the conflict, Keifer won election to the 45th Congress (1877–1879) and later served as Speaker during the 47th Congress (1881–1883).ArtistryThe ability to turn a phrase and command public attention has long been an advantage for those seeking election to the United States Congress.Collection Object: Actor, William Patrick Connery Jr. of Massachusetts William Patrick Connery Jr. dabbled in several professions before he became a Representative from Massachusetts. He acted, worked with an electric company, and manufactured candy. He certainly was not camera shy, as evidenced in this singing performance captured in the House.Blog: Author, Thomas Forrest of Pennsylvania Thomas Forrest served in the Revolutionary War, but beforehand he wrote one of the earliest American comedic operettas. You can read about the story of a fascinating man who enjoyed practical jokes, served in the House, and who fought alongside General George Washington here.AthleticsA few Members of the House got their start in the public eye by competing in professional sports or representing the United States in the Olympic games.Collection Object: Baseball Player, Jim Bunning of Kentucky Before he became a Member of the House of Representatives, Jim Bunning had a long and productive career in Major League Baseball. So productive, in fact, that he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.Collection Object: Olympic Sprinter, Ralph Harold Metcalfe of Illinois Ralph Harold Metcalfe ran track at Marquette University and won silver twice at the Olympics in the men’s 100 meter race. In Berlin in 1936, it was Metcalfe who came in second to Jesse Owens. Metcalfe later won election to Congress and helped found the Congressional Black Caucus.Other Featured CareersBlog: Iron Worker, Frank Buchanan of Illinois Frank Buchanan was an iron worker turned Representative from Illinois who found himself in trouble shortly before the United States entered World War I. Read about his story here.Blog: Teacher, Shirley Chisholm of New York Shirley Anita Chisholm was a public school teacher and worked for more than a decade as an educator before she entered Congress. Already a larger-than-life presence in the classroom, Chisholm made effective use of both the House Floor and the national stage. Read more about her story here and here.Blog: President, John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts John Quincy Adams was a former President who decided to return to public service and run for the House of Representatives, a feat yet to be repeated in the People’s House. Read about his return to elected office in the House of Representatives here.Whether they taught public school or played baseball professionally, the diverse array of occupations practiced by these lawmakers helped prepare them to serve the public in the House of Representatives. These careers, of course, are just a small fraction of those represented in the People’s House.Explore Members' more unique pre-Congressional careers: sickle maker, cowboy, candy maker, oleomargarine manufacturer, and fire-fighting equipment salesman.This is part of a series of blog posts for educators highlighting the resources available on History, Art & Archives of the U.S. House of Representatives. For lesson plans, fact sheets, glossaries, and other materials for the classroom, see the website's Education section.