The Old Supreme Court Chamber (AoC)

In this space stood the lower portion of the Capitol’s first Senate Chamber, occupied in 1800.  The current room was the result of a sweeping rebuilding campaign, 1809-1810.  Architect of the Capitol Benjamin Henry Latrobe’s design of the chamber was dominated by a handsome lobed half dome, described by 19th-century visitors as an “umbrella vault” or “half a pumpkin shell.”  Approximately half the furnishings are original, including six of the mahogany desks used by the justices.

Facing the bench is the relief Justice, rendered in plaster by the Italian sculptor Carlo Franzoni in 1817. The large wall clock placed over the west mantel, made by noted clockmaker Simon Willard, was ordered for the courtroom by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in 1837, who directed that it be set five minutes fast to ensure that Court deliberations started on time.

Marble busts of the first five chief justices are located as follows.  In the robing room: Roger B. Taney (1836-64) by Augustus Saint-Gaudens; in the courtroom, left to right: John Marshall (1801-35) by Hiram Powers; John Rutledge (1795) by Alexander Galt; John Jay (1789-1795) by John Frazee; and Oliver Ellsworth (1796-1800) by Hezekiah Augur.

Used by the Supreme Court Chamber from 1810 to 1860, the room was the scene of many important decisions, argued by leading lawyers, including the legendary orator Daniel Webster.  In the case of Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) that Webster argued, the Marshall Court extended protection of the contract clause in the Constitution to a corporate charter. The Marshall Court’s ruling in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) established the doctrine of “implied powers,” allowing Congress to assume powers not expressly allotted to it in the Constitution.

In Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) the Taney Court held that a slave represented property and as such had no rights as an American citizen.  The decision further inflamed antislavery sentiment in the North and contributed to the coming of the Civil War.

After the Court moved upstairs to the room vacated by the Senate, the Old Supreme Court Chamber was used as a law library, a reference library, a committee room, and as a storeroom.  The Office of Architect of the Capitol began restoration of the chamber in 1972.  The restored Old Supreme Court Chamber was dedicated and opened to the public in May 1975.