Friends, one thing I’ve noticed in doing Emmett’s research over the past year is that he and I have several things in common.
For instance, when I first moved to Washington, D.C. many years ago, I was the same age as Emmett, except, I certainly wasn’t a congresswoman. (I worked for a bankruptcy trade association!) 🙂
The other thing Emmett and I have in common is that we both lived and worked on Capitol Hill!
His commute was better than mine, though.
The Congress Hall Hotel, circa 1915. Emmett lived in this hotel, which catered to congressmen. The Longworth House Office Building is on this site now. Source: LOC.gov
Here’s another shot of the Congress Hall Hotel, looking towards the U.S Capitol. The Cannon House Office Building would have been on the extreme right.
I love these colorized images. Cannon HOB on the right. Notice the rocking chairs outside by the street! Source: http://www.delcampe.net
I have no idea what Emmett’s room number was, but a room at the Congress Hall Hotel was quite nice.
The hotel boasted mahogany furniture, well equipped dining services, and some rooms featured their own bathroom! Emmett the Congressman does not strike me as someone who would have shared a community bathroom. He would have spent the extra two bucks a day for his own private facilities.
You could get special weekly or monthly rates at the Congress Hall Hotel, but the general rate was $4 a day — not including your meals or shoe shine services.
FYI — $1 in 1913 (when Emmett took office and residence there) is equivalent to about $23 today. With meals, Emmett was spending about $180 a day in today’s dollars.
The Congress Hall Hotel was built in 1907. Sadly, by 1929, this site was razed and construction began on Longworth in 1930. It was needed, as Cannon was overcrowded. Source: The Washington Herald, 1907
The Congress Hall Hotel was right across the street from the Cannon House Office Building, where Emmett’s office was located on the third floor (during his first term) and then, the fifth floor (during his last term). It is said that having an office on the fifth floor was not desirable (smaller, less prestigious surroundings, uncomfortable on warm days in D.C., and so forth), but congressmen then had to draw for their offices. I think in Emmett’s case, it was the bad luck of the draw for his last term in Washington.
When I lived and worked on Capitol Hill, my commute was about a 10-block walk from my house to an office right behind the U.S. Supreme Court building, on 2nd Street, NE. Granted, it wasn’t like Emmett’s easy commute, which was basically to roll out of bed and walk across the street to his office, but still. If you know what traffic is like in Washington, D.C., any work commute that is walkable is a good thing.
Categories: Congressman Recommended Sources
jsmith532
Professor,
Communication, Arts, and the Humanities
The University of Maryland Global Campus
Tell my story. 
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