Next, inside the u. S. Capitol to learn about the history of the house of representatives page program. The Program Began in the early 1800s and continued up until 2011 when due to technological and staff changes, pages were no longer critical to the legislative process and the program was ended. One of the oldest parts of the capitols house wing. History going back to the 1800s. We dont know when the first pages served in the house. The tradition of having messengers and a page is simply an messenger, an errand runner. In u. S. Legislative practice it usually has involved in the u. S. Congress young boys between age 8 and 16. Who would run all kinds of errands for members of congress, on the floor, rounding up members, things of that nature. We have a couple of accounts that kind of place it in the 1800s when the first pages young boys, served in the house as pages. There was an eyewitness account of the house door keeper thomas crackston on the floor with his nephews. And these were
Capitol and saw these pages and thought, wow, what a great opportunity this would be and saw they were all boys and was told, well, we just dont feel like this is the place for girls to operate. And i at that age between sixth and seventh grade said, well thats just not fair. He said, well, maybe we can do something about that. So when i went back to school in the fall, i wrote letters to mr. Albert. And wrote letters to mr. Albert and wrote letters to mr. Al berd for many years, and finally one day when i was just about to graduate from high school, i got a call from charlie ward, who was mr. Alberts administrative assistant, and he asked me how i would feel about being the first woman page. Well, needless to say, i was finally ecstatic about this. I said, well ill have to ask my parents first. He said, well, mr. Albert has already spoken the to your parents and its okay with them. And i said absolutely. So thats how it began. And by the latter 1970s. Its about half and half females,
Farah elliott. Were in one of the oldest parts of the capitols house wing. We call it the new house wing, but it was really built in 1857. And this spot is an ideal place to talk about Historic Events in the capitol and the artifacts the broad sweep of history and the collection we have that matt and i work with and interpret all the time. So today we want to tell you about the history of the house page program. It has a history going back to the early 1800s. We dont actually know when the first pages served in the house. The tradition of having messengers and a page is simply a messenger, an errand runner. In u. S. Legislative practice, it usually has involved, at least in the u. S. Congress, young boys between age 8 and age 16 in the 19th century who would run all kinds of errands for members of congress. On the floor, rounding up members, things of that nature. And we have a couple of accounts that place it at 1800 when the first pages, young boys served on the house floor as pages.
Im fara eelliott. Were in one of the oldest parts of the capitols house wing. We call it the new house wing, but it was really built in 1857. And this spot is an ideal place to talk about Historic Events in the capitol and the artifacts that we have in the collection that matt and i work with and interpret all the time. Zb so today we want to tell you about the history of the house page program. It has a history going back to the early 1800s. We dont actually know when the first pages served in the house. The tradition of having messengers and a page is simply a messenger, an errand runner. In u. S. Legislative practice, it usually has involveinvolved, at in the u. S. Congress, young boys between age 8 and age 16 in the 19th century who would run all kinds of errands for members of congress. On the floor, rounding up members, things of that nature. And we have a couple of accounts that place it at 1800 when the first pages, young boys served on the house floor as pages. Theres an eyewi
Im matthew wasniewski, a historian of the house of representatives. Im farar elliott, a curator. We are here in the historic space. The ceremonial office, one of the oldest parts of the capitols house wing. There was built in 1857. This spot is an ideal place to talk about Historic Events in the capitol. In the artifacts we have in the collection that matt and i interpret all the time. We want to tell you about the history of the house page program, which is a history going back to the early 1800s. We dont actually know when the first pages served in the house. The tradition of having messengers and a page is simply a messenger, an errand runner. It usually has involved, at least in the u. S. Congress, young boys between age 8 and age 16. Who would run all kinds of errands for members of congress on the floor, rounding up members, things of that nature. And we have a couple of accounts that kind of place it at 1800 when the first young boys served on the house floor as pages. There is