Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
last mo.

House Dedicates ‘Frederick Douglass Press Gallery’ in Bipartisan Ceremony

Leaders said the naming recognizes Douglass’s pioneering role in the Capitol press corps.

A plaque is seen for the dedication of the House Press Gallery to honor Frederick Douglass, during on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Feb., 12, 2026, in Washington. Frederick Douglass was the first African American reporter admitted into the Capitol press galleries. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., speaks during a formal dedication of the House Press Gallery in honor of Frederick Douglass on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Feb., 12, 2026, in Washington. Frederick Douglass was the first African American reporter admitted into the Capitol press galleries. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Formerly enslaved abolitionist Frederick Douglass is seen in this image taken in Boston in 1876. George Kendall Warren/National Portrait Gallery/Smithsonian Institution via REUTERS/File Photo
National Archives Registrar Stephanie Loden, right, shows from left: Speaker of The House Mike Johnson, R-La., Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, a letter from Frederick Douglass to then-President Abraham Lincoln, during a formal dedication of the House Press Gallery to be named after Frederick Douglass on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Feb., 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Overview

  • Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled new signage designating the Frederick Douglass Press Gallery at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 12.
  • Rep. Byron Donalds led the bipartisan effort to rename the House Press Gallery, with remarks at the ceremony from Johnson and Rep. Burgess Owens.
  • Frederick Douglass, who escaped slavery in 1838, served in the House and Senate press galleries from 1871 to 1875 as the first Black member of the congressional press corps.
  • The dedication coincided with Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and came two days before Feb. 14, the date Douglass observed as his own birthday.
  • Officials emphasized that a House or Senate press gallery has not previously borne an individual’s name, and reporting noted the event’s backdrop of ongoing debates over historical commemoration during President Trump’s second term.