As Congress Takes Up Authorization to Build the New Library of Congress, President Grover Cleveland Writes: “We all I am sure are anxious to have the most perfect building possible”

The building is today the world renowned Jefferson Building

The law creating the Library of Congress, approved on April 24, 1800, called for its books to be housed in “a suitable apartment” in the Capitol. In 1800 only the north wing of the Capitol was finished. The books brought by Congress from Philadelphia and the new books acquired for the Library were placed in the office of the Clerk of the Senate. During 1801, a temporary structure was built for the use of the House of Representatives, and the act of January 26, 1802, which established the rules and procedures “concerning the Library for the use of both Houses of Congress,” provided for the move of the Library into the room in the north wing formerly occupied by the House. Here the Library remained until December 1805.

In January 1818 Charles Bulfinch developed plans for a spacious library room in the center of the west front of the Capitol. The new room was occupied on August 17, 1824. On December 22, 1825, a fire started by a candle left burning in the gallery was controlled before it could cause serious damage. Investigations into fireproofing the room concluded that the expense would be too great. In 1832 a separate “apartment” was established for the law collection.

On Christmas Eve, 1851, the Library of Congress suffered a disastrous fire. Approximately thirty-five thousand of its fifty-five thousand volumes were destroyed in the flames, which were caused by a faulty chimney flue. Architect of the Capitol Thomas U. Walter presented a plan, approved by Congress, to repair and enlarge the Library room using fireproof materials throughout. The elegantly restored Library room was opened on August 23, 1853. Called by the press the “largest iron room in the world,” it was encircled by galleries and filled the west central front of the Capitol.

The first separate Library of Congress Building, the Jefferson Building, had been suggested by Librarian of Congress Ainsworth Rand Spofford in 1871, who, along with two key Senators, Daniel W. Voorhees (Indiana), who served as chairman of the Joint Committee from 1879 to 1881, and Justin S. Morrill (Vermont), chairman of Senate Committee on Buildings and Grounds, were responsible for pushing it through. Plans were accepted up until 1886, with members of Congress and the Executive having their particular interests and preferences over design. Grover Cleveland anxiously awaited Congressional passage and had a vision that this building would and should be historic.

Autograph letter signed, Executive Mansion, Washington, January 13, 1886, to Senator Voorhees. “Dear Senator, A gentleman very much interested in the proper care and accommodation of the Congressional Library has submitted to me the enclosed plan of a building for that purpose. It seems to me that it is well worthy of attention when those important things are under consideration to wit: light, air and the possible necessity of future exterior enlargement. When we build we all I am sure are anxious to have the most perfect building possible.”

The day after receipt of this letter, the Senate took up the act and on April 15, 1886, approved ”An act authorizing the construction of a building for the accommodation of the Congressional Library.”

When its doors were opened to the public on November 1, 1897, it represented an unparalleled national achievement: its 23-carat gold-plated dome capped the “largest, costliest, and safest” library building in the world. Its elaborately decorated facade and interior, for which more than forty American painters and sculptors contributed, could surpass European libraries in grandeur and devotion to knowledge and classical culture.