Moments in History - Floor Three

On floor three, proceed into the House of Representatives Gallery in the north wing. There you will get a vantage point over the largest room in the Capitol. Here, numerous Gubernatorial Inaugurations have taken place, as well as State of the State addresses, and addresses by distinguished guests. 

While a variety of guest speakers addressed the Legislature in the previous capitols, once the grand new State Capitol opened in 1879, it, too, became a site of major visits and speeches. The likes of presidents, vice presidents, abolitionists, suffragists, and generals have stood on this rostrum offering their strong thoughts on a vast range of topics. 

Abolitionist Sojourner Truth addressed the Legislature in the second capitol in 1877. She again visited Lansing in June 1881. From this room, Truth spoke for an hour on the importance of Michigan's abolition of capital punishment. 

On May 30, 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt delivered a ten-minute address to a joint session of the legislature to rousing cheers and applause from the officials in attendance. The Legislature even greeted Teddy with a rendition of "Michigan, My Michigan." The occasion of his visit was to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University). 

General MacArthur’s 1952 Address

Other major visitors to speak in this room include General Douglas MacArthur in 1952 and Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey in 1968. Most of the major presidential candidates in 1968 visited Lansing, but Humphrey was the only to address the Legislature. 

Perhaps best remembered by today's generation was the March 6, 1997, visit of President Bill Clinton. Joined by Governor John Engler and Speaker Curtis Hertel, President Clinton addressed a joint session of the Legislature on a half-day visit to Lansing. From the rostrum, Clinton looked up and noted Michigan and Arkansas, his home state, next to one another in the House's skylight ceiling. 

On April 10, 1933, Michigan convened a "Repeal Convention" aimed at repealing the 18th Amendment, ending the prohibition of the manufacture and sale of alcohol in the United States. Convention president pro-tempore Mary Eldridge Alger presided over the 99-1 vote in favor of repeal. Alger is shown in this photo being presented the gavel on the House rostrum by Lt. Governor Allen Stebbins after he called the convention to order. Michigan was the first state to ratify the 21st Amendment, repealing the 18th Amendment. 

Remaining on floor three, proceed from the House Chamber to the Senate Chamber Gallery directly across the rotunda.

The Senate has its fair share of notable visitors as well. While on the campaign trail in 1968, Richard M. Nixon visited Governor George Romney in Lansing. Romney and Nixon held a special unprecedented press conference on the Senate floor on August 19, 1968. 

In this chamber such landmark cases as Ferguson v. Gies (1890) were heard, which set the civil rights precedent of equal treatment of the races in Michigan. This was superseded by the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which made "separate but equal" precedent across the nation. William Webb Ferguson not only was successful in this case against Gies, but it led to his prominence and later election to the Michigan House of Representatives, where he served two terms as Michigan's first African American state legislator from 1893-1896. His portrait now hangs outside the chamber. 

This photo offers a glimpse into the Supreme Court around 1909 when the court was made up of eight justices, which lasted from 1903 to 1969. During that period the original Saginaw-made walnut bench was expanded making room for the added seats on the high court. The Supreme Court left this chamber in 1970.