• Bill Signing Ceremony for Civil Rights Act of 1964
    O. J. Rapp
    signing
    press
    bills
    State Floor
    East Room
    civil rights
    In this photograph, taken by O. J. Rapp on July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivers a televised address to the nation prior to signing into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The bill prohibited job discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, or national origin, ended segregation in public places, and the unequal application of voting requirements. In attendance at the ceremony were members of Congress and civil rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rep. Peter Rodino of New Jersey.
  • President Nixon Signs Blue Lake Bill
    Robert L. Knudsen
    signing
    decorations
    bills
    State Floor
    State Dining Room
    American Indians
    delegation
    In this photograph, taken by Robert L. Knudsen on December 15, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signs bill H.R. 471, also known as the Blue Lake Bill or the Taos Pueblo American Indian Land Deed, in the State Dining Room. President Nixon is accompanied by Taos Pueblo Governor Quirino Romero, Cacique religious leader Juan de Jesus Romero and secretary and interpreter Paul Bernal. The legislation returned Blue Lake and the surrounding mountains to the Taos Pueblo people. The land had been seized by the United States government in 1906.
  • President Coolidge Signs Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact
    Harris & Ewing
    treaties
    signing
    State Floor
    East Room
    Congress
    Cabinet
    In this photograph, taken on January 17, 1929, President Calvin Coolidge signs the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact in the East Room of the White House. Crafted by Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand in light of the casualties that resulted from World War I, the international peace proposal committed 15 nations to outlawing aggression and war in settling disputes. The agreement was signed in Paris on August 27, 1928 and signed by Coolidge following ratification by Congress. Here, Coolidge signs the agreement on the former Cabinet table purchased for the White House during the Ulysses S. Grant administration. Among those in also attendance were Vice President Charles Gates Dawes, Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon, Secretary of War Dwight Filley Davis, Senator William Edgar Borah, Senator Claude Augustus Swanson, and Vice President-elect Charles Curtis.
  • President John F. Kennedy Signs Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
    Cecil Stoughton
    signing
    Treaty Room
    Second Floor
    treaties
    In this photograph, taken by Cecil Stoughton on October 7, 1963, President John F. Kennedy speaks during the signing ceremony for the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in the Treaty Room of the White House. Ratified by the U.S. Senate on September 24, 1963, the treaty allowed underground nuclear tests, but prohibited tests in the water, atmosphere, or outer space. The signers pledged to end the arms race, move to complete disarmament, and protect the environment from nuclear contamination. The ceremony was held shortly after the Treaty Room was restored by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and interior designer Stéphane Boudin. The refurbished room paid homage to late 19th-century splendor and included deep green flocked wallpaper with a geometric border based on a design used for the State Rooms of the White House during the Andrew Jackson administration, a cabinet table, sofa, and chandeliers from the Ulysses S. Grant administration; and notable works of art such as Peter Frederick Rothermel's "The Republican Court in the Days of Lincoln," pictured here on the wall behind President Kennedy.
  • President Kennedy Signs Joint Resolution in Support of Detroit's 1968 Olympic Bid
    Robert L. Knudsen
    Congress
    Michigan
    sports
    Detroit
    Cabinet Room
    West Wing
    signing
    In this photograph, taken by Robert L. Knudsen on September 16, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signs a joint resolution in support of the city of Detroit's bid to host the 1968 Summer Olympic Games. During the signing ceremony in the Cabinet Room, President Kennedy delivered filmed remarks for members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Letters from President Kennedy were also sent to members of the IOC along with Detroit's promotional brochure materials. Despite the president's endorsement, the IOC selected Mexico City to host the 1968 Summer Olympic Games on October 18, 1963. Pictured here behind President Kennedy are officials from Michigan, from left to right: Representative James G. O'Hara, Representative Lucien N. Nedzi, Senator Pat McNamara (partially hidden), Mayor Jerry Cavanagh of Detroit, Senator Philip A. Hart, Representative Martha W. Griffiths, Representative Neil Staebler, and Representative Harold M. Ryan.
  • President Bush Signs the 1992 Olympic Committee Commemorative Coin Act
    David Valdez
    sports
    signing
    South Grounds
    Rose Garden
    Congress
    In this photograph, taken on October 3, 1990, President George H. W. Bush speaks in the Rose Garden during the bill signing ceremony for the 1992 Olympic Committee Commemorative Coin Act. Passed by Congress in September 1990, the act directed the Secretary of the Treasury to issue 1992 Olympic Games commemorative coins in five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins, and prohibited the minting of such coins after June 30, 1993. Sales of the coins supported efforts of the United States Olympic Committee to support training of American athletes for the 1992 Olympic Games in Albertville, France and Barcelona, Spain. Pictured here with President Bush from left to right: Representative John P. Hiler (R-Illinois), Senator Bob Graham (D-Florida), Representative Richard Lehman (D-California), former Olympic rower and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Anita L. Defranz, United States Olympic Committee President Robert Hilmick, Senator Jake Garn (R-Utah) and Dr. Harvey Schiller, executive director of the United States Olympic Committee.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965
    Yoichi R. Okamoto
    signing
    bills
    Washington, D.C.
    U.S. Capitol
    civil rights
    In this photograph, taken by Yoichi R. Okamoto on August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the President's Room of the Capitol building while Civil Rights leaders including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. look on. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • Signing of the Voting Rights Act
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson seated beside his daughter Luci during the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965, in the Capitol Rotunda. Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey sits on the other side of Luci. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson seated beside his daughter Luci during the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965, in the Capitol Rotunda. Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey sits on the other side of Luci. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.
  • President Johnson Speaks at Voting Rights Act Ceremony
    Joseph J. Scherschel
    U.S. Capitol
    Bill Signing
    civil rights
    This photograph is of President Lyndon B. Johnson delivering remarks in the Capitol Rotunda prior to the signing ceremony for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which took place on August 6, 1965. The bill was signed in the President's Room. The Voting Rights Act was designed to the "enforce the 15th amendment" and remove the barriers that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote. The statue's provisions included: banning literacy tests, empowering the attorney general to investigate the unlawful use of poll taxes, and made the act of harassing, intimidating, threatening to prevent a lawfully registered voter from voting punishable by a fine of up $10,000, a five-year prison sentence or both. The legislation also allowed for the appointment of federal examiners with the ability to register qualified citizens to vote in jurisdictions where less than 50 percent of the voting age population was registered to vote. This legislation had a tremendous and immediate impact with over a quarter-million African Americans registered to vote by the end of 1965.