Congress in the Archives will feature monthly staff posts on our blog. Today’s post comes from Adam Berenbak.  Today is Opening Day in DC and all eyes are on the Nationals, especially their new mascot based on William Howard Taft. Taft is being celebrated as an addition to the ‘Presidents Run’ not only because he was an accomplished statesman and President, but because he is recognized as the first president to ever throw out a ‘first pitch’ on Opening Day, April 11, 1910.  Though the game is mostly remembered for Taft’s first pitch, Walter Johnson was the star, pitching within one hit of a no-hitter for Washington. Frank ‘Home Run’ Baker (who earned his nickname the following year with two dramatic home runs in the World Series) was the one batter to luck into a hit off of Johnson that day. In the fourth inning, Baker came to bat and lined a foul ball towards the President’s box. Though the ball missed Taft, it careened into the adjacent box, narrowly missing Vice President James Sherman before hitting Secretary of the Senate Charles Bennett in the head. Luckily for all involved, the ball “had spent its force when it landed in the box,” leaving everyone uninjured. Later reports and references to the incident, though, incorrectly refer to Bennett as the Secretary of State (and report that he was knocked out!). As Secretary of the Senate, the chief legislative officer in the Senate, Bennett helped to usher the Senate into the modern era. In doing so, he was one of the first to collect and publish the various procedures of the Senate into a concise guide for Senators. He also enjoyed frequent outings to Boundary Field, and then National Park (later Griffith Stadium), to watch baseball. Though no mascot of Bennett will be around during this year’s opening day game, their story reminds us all to watch out for the foul ball! Will the Base Runner Start for Third? by Clifford Berryman, 8/17/1906, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC 6010644)
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Congress in the Archives will feature monthly staff posts on our blog. Today’s post comes from Adam Berenbak. 

Today is Opening Day in DC and all eyes are on the Nationals, especially their new mascot based on William Howard Taft. Taft is being celebrated as an addition to the ‘Presidents Run’ not only because he was an accomplished statesman and President, but because he is recognized as the first president to ever throw out a ‘first pitch’ on Opening Day, April 11, 1910. 

Though the game is mostly remembered for Taft’s first pitch, Walter Johnson was the star, pitching within one hit of a no-hitter for Washington. Frank ‘Home Run’ Baker (who earned his nickname the following year with two dramatic home runs in the World Series) was the one batter to luck into a hit off of Johnson that day. In the fourth inning, Baker came to bat and lined a foul ball towards the President’s box. Though the ball missed Taft, it careened into the adjacent box, narrowly missing Vice President James Sherman before hitting Secretary of the Senate Charles Bennett in the head. Luckily for all involved, the ball “had spent its force when it landed in the box,” leaving everyone uninjured. Later reports and references to the incident, though, incorrectly refer to Bennett as the Secretary of State (and report that he was knocked out!).

As Secretary of the Senate, the chief legislative officer in the Senate, Bennett helped to usher the Senate into the modern era. In doing so, he was one of the first to collect and publish the various procedures of the Senate into a concise guide for Senators. He also enjoyed frequent outings to Boundary Field, and then National Park (later Griffith Stadium), to watch baseball.

Though no mascot of Bennett will be around during this year’s opening day game, their story reminds us all to watch out for the foul ball!

Will the Base Runner Start for Third? by Clifford Berryman, 8/17/1906, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC 6010644)

Even though the first day of spring was last week, many of us are still feeling the effects of Old Man Winter! Clifford Berryman penned this cartoon for The Washington Evening Star as Washington, DC shivered through a cold spell during the end of March 1915. Untitled by Clifford Berryman, 3/27/1915, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC 6011103)
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Even though the first day of spring was last week, many of us are still feeling the effects of Old Man Winter! Clifford Berryman penned this cartoon for The Washington Evening Star as Washington, DC shivered through a cold spell during the end of March 1915.

Untitled by Clifford Berryman, 3/27/1915, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC 6011103)

todaysdocument:

The Beer-Wine Revenue Act - March 22, 1933

80 years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Beer–Wine Revenue Act into law on March 22, 1933.  This law amended the Volstead Act and permitted the sale of beer and wine with an alcohol content of less than 3.2% by volume.   The act represented the first relaxation of the prohibition laws since 1918 and was followed up at the end of the year with the passage of the 21st Amendment repealing prohibition.  Repeal of prohibition laws was a key plank in the Democratic platform during the 1932 Presidential election as reflected in Clifford Berryman’s cartoon.

(Admittedly Marine Corporal R.L. Quisenberry and the New Ulm German singers club were likely not contemporaries of FDR’s decision, but we suspect they would have approved.)
todaysdocument: March Seventeenth, 03/17/1918 From the Clifford Berryman Political Cartoon Collection On Saint Patrick’s Day Clifford Berryman shows a determined Uncle Sam rolling up his sleeves and preparing to use a large club to deal with the many German propagandist snakes slithering in the grass around him. Teddy bear is by his side wielding a smaller stick. Throughout World War I the U.S. Government was forced to divert substantial resources to counter skilled German propaganda aimed at weakening the resolve of the American people to continue the war effort. Berryman uses the Saint Patrick’s day theme of driving the snakes out of Ireland as a model for driving out the German propagandists.
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March Seventeenth, 03/17/1918

From the Clifford Berryman Political Cartoon Collection

On Saint Patrick’s Day Clifford Berryman shows a determined Uncle Sam rolling up his sleeves and preparing to use a large club to deal with the many German propagandist snakes slithering in the grass around him. Teddy bear is by his side wielding a smaller stick. Throughout World War I the U.S. Government was forced to divert substantial resources to counter skilled German propaganda aimed at weakening the resolve of the American people to continue the war effort. Berryman uses the Saint Patrick’s day theme of driving the snakes out of Ireland as a model for driving out the German propagandists.

todaysdocument:

Happy 210th Statehood Day to Ohio!

The Act of April 30, 1802 (“Ohio Enabling Act”), 2 STAT 173, “enabling the people of the Eastern Division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a Constitution and State government and for the admission of such state into the Union.”

Ohio was admitted to the Union on March 1, 1803, becoming the 17th state, and the first admitted under the Northwest Ordinance.

We have hundreds, of images about Ohio in our holdings - find one you like and submit it to us, or suggest it here.  What do you think best represents the Buckeye State?

We are partial to to any of the Berryman cartoons, but “Ohio, the Mother of Presidents” (306104) is one of our favorites! What do you think?

Today we commemorate the 1933 passing of the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution with National Lame Duck Day. Before the 20th Amendment was ratified, members elected to Congress in November did not convene under the new Congress until March (not until the following December in some cases, a full 13 months from their election). Departing members continued to serve for 4+ months after the election, and were referred to as lame ducks. In this 1915 cartoon by Clifford Berryman, the lame ducks are defeated Democrats heading to the White House hoping to secure political appointments from President Woodrow Wilson. The Post-Season Parade, 3/5/1915, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC1693335)
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Today we commemorate the 1933 passing of the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution with National Lame Duck Day. Before the 20th Amendment was ratified, members elected to Congress in November did not convene under the new Congress until March (not until the following December in some cases, a full 13 months from their election). Departing members continued to serve for 4+ months after the election, and were referred to as lame ducks.

In this 1915 cartoon by Clifford Berryman, the lame ducks are defeated Democrats heading to the White House hoping to secure political appointments from President Woodrow Wilson.

The Post-Season Parade, 3/5/1915, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC1693335)

This untitled illustration by cartoonist Clifford Berryman, which appeared in the Washington Evening Star on February 28, 1917, serves as a reminder for citizens of Washington to follow the heightened security directions of the police during the Presidential Inauguration week. Untitled by Clifford Berryman, 02/28/1917, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC 6011200)
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This untitled illustration by cartoonist Clifford Berryman, which appeared in the Washington Evening Star on February 28, 1917, serves as a reminder for citizens of Washington to follow the heightened security directions of the police during the Presidential Inauguration week.

Untitled by Clifford Berryman, 02/28/1917, U.S. Senate Collection (ARC 6011200)

todaysdocument: Happy Birthday President Woodrow Wilson!(December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) The Prosperity Painter, 01/30/1915 From the Clifford Berryman Political Cartoon Collection “The Prosperity Painter”, by cartoonist Clifford Berryman, which appeared in the Washington Evening Star on January 30, 1915, depicts President Woodrow Wilson as a painter of prosperity while the economy continued to boom in America as war raged in Europe.
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todaysdocument:

Happy Birthday President Woodrow Wilson!
(December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924)

The Prosperity Painter, 01/30/1915

From the Clifford Berryman Political Cartoon Collection

“The Prosperity Painter”, by cartoonist Clifford Berryman, which appeared in the Washington Evening Star on January 30, 1915, depicts President Woodrow Wilson as a painter of prosperity while the economy continued to boom in America as war raged in Europe.