GPO Digitizes Historic Congressional Directories From the 1800s
WASHINGTON —The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) is digitizing historic
volumes of the Congressional Directory from the 19th and 20th centuries. The first release
includes Directories from 1869–1888, as well as 1993. Additional digitized historic
Congressional Directories will be released on GovInfo as they are completed.
Historically, the Congressional Directory has been one of the most comprehensive and
detailed resources for identifying the components of the three branches of the Federal
Government. It includes short biographies of each member of the Senate and House, as
well as terms of service and contact information for members of Congress. In addition, it
provides descriptions of various Executive branch departments and Judiciary
information.
The public can now access these historic Congressional Directories on GPO’s GovInfo, the
one-stop site to authentic information published by the Federal Government, free of
charge. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/CDIR
"The digitization of these historic Congressional Directories represents another step
toward GPO realizing its vision of an America Informed,” said GPO Director Hugh Nathanial
Halpern. "This information on past members of Congress is vital to our democracy, and I
congratulate our team on their hard work ensuring these historic directories are made
available digitally.”
A few notable people featured in these volumes are:
- Joseph Hayne Rainey (June 21, 1832 – August 1, 1887), the first black person to
serve in the United States House of Representatives.
- Robert Smalls (April 5, 1839 – February 23, 1915), a politician who freed himself,
his crew, and their families during the Civil War by sailing a ship from Confederatecontrolled
waters to Union-controlled waters.
- Romualdo Pacheco (October 31, 1831 – January 23, 1899), the first Hispanic person
to chair a standing committee in Congress and the only Hispanic person to serve as
the Governor of California.
The Congressional Directory serves as the official handbook for Congress and is also
widely used by Federal Agency officials and the general public.
GPO is the Federal Government’s resource for publishing trusted information for the
Federal Government to the American people. The GPO is responsible for the production
and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the Federal
Government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official
publications of Congress, the White House, and other Federal agencies in digital and print
formats. GPO provides for permanent public access to Federal Government information at
no charge through www.GovInfo.gov and partnerships with approximately 1,100 libraries
nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program. For more
information, please visit www.gpo.gov.
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