Washington, D.C. — Congressman G. K. Butterfield has introduced legislation to ensure that the contributions of African-Americans are not overlooked in the new Capitol Visitor Center currently under construction.
“African Americans have played an active and important role in Congress’ history and that must not be forgotten,” Butterfield said. “The Capitol Visitor Center is an appropriate place to celebrate those accomplishments.”
Butterfield’s bill would direct the Architect of the Capitol to create exhibits which depict the Congressional careers, accomplishments and contributions of the 22 African-American Members of Congress who served during the Reconstruction and Post-Reconstruction eras, beginning with Congressman Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina (1870-1879) and ending with Congressman George H. White of North Carolina (1897-1901).
Butterfield said that his strong interest in history as well as White’s connection to the district spurred the legislation. He previously succeeded in naming the Tarboro Post Office in honor of White, and has also asked the U.S. Postal Service to issue a stamp in his honor. White was the last former slave to serve in Congress. He campaigned against racial discrimination and was the last African American to serve in Congress until 1928.
In his final speech on the House Floor on January 29, 1901, White said, it was “perhaps the Negroes’ temporary farewell to the American Congress; but let me say, Phoenix-like, he will rise up some day and come again.”
Butterfield said the legislation will also require an exhibit that acknowledges the work and sacrifices on the part of the many slaves who were forced to help construct the U.S. Capitol.
“We must acknowledge that even down to the ‘Freedom Statue’ that so much of the Capitol was built on the backs of slaves,” Butterfield said.
The Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) is currently under construction just east of the Capitol building, and it is expected to open later this year. It is intended to enhance the security, educational experience, and comfort of those visiting when it is completed. The facility will be a subterranean facility and largely invisible from an exterior perspective so as to ensure that the structure would not detract from the appearance and historical architectural integrity of the Capitol.
The cost of the center, the most extensive addition to the Capitol since the Civil War, and largest in the world-famous structure’s more than 200-year history, is an estimated $592 million. The new center will be 580,000 square feet, or nearly two-thirds that of the 780,000-square-foot Capitol.
The legislation is being co-sponsored by House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.