The Government Printing Office (GPO)’s website, www.fdsys.gov, has varied features about our government. Included are regulations, laws, hearings, reports, and access to specific publications about groups of specific legislators by their ethnicity.Hispanic Americans in Congress 1822 – 2012 is a 775 page book which starts with the first Territorial Delegate from Florida, Joseph M. Hernandez. The book is divided into 3 parts: 1. Former Hispanic-American Members of Congress; 2. Current Hispanic-American Members of Congress; 3. Appendices and Index.
Black Americans in Congress 1870 – 2007: During this period more than 120 African Americans have served in Congress. This book is also over 700 pages long and is divided into 2 parts including the appendices and index. The first part deals with the former Black Members of Congress and part two deals with the current members. There are 10 appendices delineating those who have chaired committees; party leaders; Black caucus chairmen and chairwomen and Constitutional Amendments plus major civil rights acts of Congress.
Women in Congress 1917 – 2006 is over 1000 pages long. It is interesting to note that it is 95 years after the election of the first Hispanic member of Congress that a woman served. Part 1 of the book is divided into 4 chapters: 1. Women Pioneers on Capitol Hill; 2. Onto the National Stage Congresswomen in an Age of Crises; 3. Changing of the Guard: Traditionalists, Feminists, and the New Face of Women in Congress; 4. Assembling, Amplifying, and Ascending: Recent Trends among Women in Congress. Part 2 is about Current Women Members followed by appendices and an index.
The books contain images, portraits, graphs, and detailed information about their subject and are available for purchase from the GPO Bookstore: www.bookstore.gpo.gov.
We invite you to see these books, in our paper collection or online using one of our public access computers. We are in room 341 of the State House on Mondays through Fridays between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Bette L. Siegel
Documents Librarian
