The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. It is located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Although no longer at the geographic center of the national capital, the U.S. Capitol forms the origin point for the street-numbering system of the district as well as its four quadrants. Like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a neoclassical style and has a white exterior.
The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that registers copyright claims, records information about copyright ownership, provides information to the public, and assists Congress and other parts of the government on a wide range of copyright issues. It maintains online records of copyright registration and recorded documents within the copyright catalog, which is used by copyright title researchers who are attempting to clear a chain of title for copyrighted works.
The National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent Americans. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along the curved perimeter. It is located immediately south of the Rotunda. The meeting place of the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly 50 years (1807–1857), after a few years of disuse it was repurposed as a statuary hall in 1864; this is when the National Statuary Hall Collection was established. By 1933, the collection had outgrown this single room, and a number of statues are placed elsewhere within the Capitol.
The Jefferson Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C., built in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, a central intellectual force behind the American Revolution, a founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, and the nation's third president.
Thomas Ustick Walter was the dean of American architecture between the 1820 death of Benjamin Latrobe and the emergence of H. H. Richardson in the 1870s. He was the fourth Architect of the Capitol and responsible for adding the north (Senate) and south (House) wings and the central dome that is predominantly the current appearance of the U.S. Capitol building. Walter was one of the founders and second president of the American Institute of Architects. In 1839, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society.
The Architect of the Capitol is the federal agency responsible for the maintenance, operation, development, and preservation of the United States Capitol Complex. It is an agency of the legislative branch of the federal government and is accountable to the United States Congress and the Supreme Court. Both the agency and the head of the agency are called "Architect of the Capitol". The head of the agency is appointed by a vote of a congressional commission for a ten-year term. Prior to 2024, the president of the United States appointed the Architect upon confirmation vote by the United States Senate, and was accountable to the president.
The Cannon House Office Building, often called the "Old House Office Building", completed in 1908, is the oldest office building of the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. A significant example of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture, it occupies a site south of the United States Capitol bounded by Independence Avenue, First Street, New Jersey Avenue, and C Street S.E. In 1962 the building was named for former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Joseph Gurney Cannon.
Ainsworth Rand Spofford was an American journalist, prolific writer and the sixth Librarian of Congress. He served as librarian from 1864 to 1897 under the administration of ten presidents. A great admirer of Benjamin Franklin, he wrote a twenty-one page introduction in Franklin's autobiography, which he edited and published.
Edwin Howland Blashfield was an American painter and muralist, most known for painting the murals on the dome of the Library of Congress Main Reading Room in Washington, DC.
The California State Capitol is the seat of the California state government, located in Sacramento, the state capital of California. The building houses the chambers of the California State Legislature, made up of the Assembly and the Senate, along with the office of the governor of California. The Neoclassical structure, designed by Reuben S. Clark, was completed between 1861 and 1874. Located at the west end of Capitol Park and the east end of the Capitol Mall, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The California State Capitol Museum is housed on the grounds of the capitol.
The United States Capitol Complex is a group of twenty buildings, grounds, and facilities in Washington, D.C., that are used by the United States Congress, and federal courts. The buildings and grounds within the complex are managed and supervised by the Architect of the Capitol.
The Thomas Jefferson Building, also known as the Main Library, is the oldest of the Library of Congress buildings in Washington, D.C. Built between 1890 and 1897, it was initially known as the Library of Congress Building. In 1980, the building was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third U.S. president. In 1815, Jefferson's donation of his own book collection formed a core foundation for the library's collection.
The John Adams Building is the second oldest of the buildings of the Library of Congress of the United States. Built in the 1930s, it is named for John Adams, the second president, who signed the law creating the Library of Congress in 1800. The building is in the Capitol Hill district of Washington D.C. next to the library's main building in the Capitol Complex. The Adams building opened to the public on April 5, 1939, and before being named for the president in 1980, was simply called The Annex building. It is designed in a restrained but very detailed Art Deco style and faced in white Georgia marble. It is located on Second Street SE between Independence Avenue and East Capitol Street in Washington, DC.
The Law Library of Congress is the law library of the United States Congress. The Law Library of Congress holds the single most comprehensive and authoritative collection of domestic, foreign, and international legal materials in the world. Established in 1832, its collections are currently housed in the James Madison Memorial Building of the Library of Congress. Law staff rely on and utilize 2.9 million volumes of primary legal sources, 102.18 million microforms, 99,000 reels of microfilm, 3.18 million pieces of microfiche, and 15,600 tangible electronic resources, making it is the largest law library in the world.
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) refers to the state government agency in the state of Texas that supports the reading, learning, and historical preservation needs of Texas and its people. The agency is charged with preserving the archival record of Texas, supporting research, and making primary resources available to the public; assisting public, academic, and school libraries across the state in meeting the needs of their communities and students; helping public agencies maintain their public records; and supporting the reading needs of thousands of Texans with disabilities preventing them from reading a standard book.
The Southwest Waterfront is a neighborhood in Southwest Washington, D.C. The Southwest quadrant is the smallest of Washington's four quadrants, and the Southwest Waterfront is one of only two residential neighborhoods in the quadrant; the other is Bellevue, which, being east of the Anacostia River, is frequently, if mistakenly, regarded as being in Southeast.
The United States Senate Library is the official library of the United States Senate. While the Library informally began in 1792, it was officially established in 1871, and today holds an estimated 220,000 volumes.
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C. that serves as the library and research service of the U.S. Congress and the de facto national library of the United States. It also administers copyright law through the United States Copyright Office.
The Register of Copyrights is the director of the United States Copyright Office within the Library of Congress, as provided by 17 U.S.C. § 701. The Office has been headed by a Register since 1897. The Register is appointed by, and responsible to, the Librarian of Congress, with the Register's office located in the Library's James Madison Memorial Building.
The Washington State Library is a government agency that operates public libraries in Washington state's prisons and mental hospitals, and maintains collections related to the state government. Based in Tumwater, it is a service of the Washington Secretary of State and was founded in 1853 as the Washington Territorial Library. The library has a collection of 2.25 million physical items and other online resources available to residents of the state.
