Lincoln: Senate Approves Bill to Honor Slave Laborers with New Capitol Visitor Center Recognition

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Lincoln: Senate Approves Bill to Honor Slave Laborers with New Capitol Visitor Center Recognition

U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) today announced Senate passage of a bill that would honor the contributions of slave laborers in the construction of the U.S. Capitol. The legislation, which Lincoln cosponsored, would designate the yet-to-be-completed Capitol Visitor Center's (CVC) great hall as "Emancipation Hall."

Lincoln is a member of the Slave Labor Task Force, which adopted the Emancipation Hall designation as one of its formal recommendations in honoring the history of slave laborers who helped build the U.S. Capitol.

"The U.S. Capitol is the greatest single symbol of democracy," Lincoln said. "The democratic ideals for which it stands should be carried out in the design of the new Capitol Visitor Center, and I believe the designation of Emancipation Hall is one of the steps we should take to honor the contribution of slave laborers in the construction of the U.S. Capitol. Millions of visitors will pass through the CVC every year when it opens, and I think this initiative will provide a great opportunity to educate visitors both young and old about this important issue."

Last week, Lincoln testified at a congressional hearing organized by the Slave Labor Task Force that slave laborers were instrumental in constructing the U.S. Capitol and deserve their rightful place in the storytelling of the building's history. Lincoln's own resolution authorized congressional leaders to establish the special task force to study the role that enslaved African-Americans played in constructing the Capitol with the end result of recommending an appropriate memorial in the Capitol in their honor, as well as creating teaching tools to better inform the public about this issue.

Until recently, the contributions of slaves in the construction of the Capitol were unknown. In 1999, pay stubs dating from the 1790s were discovered, which authorized the Treasury Department to pay slave owners for the hire of their slaves to work at the Capitol. According to additional documents kept by the Architect of the Capitol, 400 or more slaves helped construct the Capitol building from 1792 to 1800. It is likely that even more slaves worked on the building after 1800, until emancipation in 1865. Currently, no memorial or recognition honoring their contribution and sacrifice exists in the Capitol.

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