Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Author | United States Government Printing Office |
---|---|
Publication date | 1903 |
Media type | Print (Paperback) |
Website | bioguide |
The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (Bioguide) is a
.The online edition has a guide to the research collections of institutions where member's papers, letters, correspondence, and other items are archived, as well as an extended bibliography of published works concerning the member (a shorter bibliography is included with the member's biography).[1] These additional resources, when available, can be accessed via links at the left side of the member's page on the website.
History
Charles Lanman, author, journalist, and former secretary to Daniel Webster, gathered the first collection of biographies of former and sitting members of Congress for his Dictionary of Congress, published by J. B. Lippincott & Co. in 1859. Lanman intended his Dictionary of the United States Congress to serve as a guide for sitting Members of Congress, similar to the modern Congressional Directory.
In 1864, the House of Representatives and the Senate approved the publication of an updated version of Lanman's Dictionary of Congress by the new
In anticipation of the centenary of American independence and in search of a market not served by Poore's Congressional Directory, Lanman prepared the Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States, published by James Anglim of Washington, D.C. in 1876. This volume combined the biographies of the Dictionary of Congress with entries for other governmental officials since 1776 and expanded reference tables. Poore offered a competing historical volume in 1878 with his Political Register and Congressional Directory, published by
Joseph M. Morrison's revision of Lanman's Biographical Annals (New York, 1887) was the final directory of congressional biography to be prepared and published privately. In 1903 Congress authorized the publication of A Biographical Congressional Directory, 1774 to 1903. Compiled under the direction of O. M. Enyart, this was the first volume prepared by congressional staff who drew on the Lanman and Poore editions as well as biographical information printed in the Congressional Directory since the
The 1920s survey yielded more detailed and consistent biographies than those in the nineteenth-century editions or in the earlier volumes compiled by congressional staff, but its frequent reliance on family legends and personal recollections introduced dubious information. Although Congress authorized updates that were published in 1949–50, 1961, and 1971, the entries from the 1928 edition remained virtually intact in the three subsequent editions. The creation of the
The development and growing use of the
The publicly available online directory has benefited from updated information provided to the
Internet details
The index value in the URL is a unique value for each member of Congress. There are some duplicates for name changes: index# 380 and index# 1039 refer to the same person. The same ID is used in XML versions of House legislation at http://congress.gov and http://xml.house.gov.
References
Citations
Sources
This article incorporates
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Official Internet website
- House Document No. 108-130, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1903
- House Document No. 108-134, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1911
- House Document No. 108-142, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1927
- House Document No. 108-153, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1949
- House Document No. 108-159, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1961
- House Document No. 108-164, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1971
- House Document No. 108-173, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1989
- House Document No. 108-176, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–1996
- House Document No. 108-181, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005