The minority
Subject(s): Cannon, Joseph Gurney, 1836-1926, Clark, Champ, 1850-1921, Fitzgerald, John J. (John Joseph), 1872-1952, Gardner, Augustus Peabody, 1865-1918, Goldfogle, Henry Mayer, 1856-1929, Hand-to-hand fighting, James, Ollie M., 1871-1918, Legislators, Payne, Sereno Elisha, 1843-1914, Sulzer, William, 1863-1941, United States. Congress. House
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Several congressmen labeled “Gardner, Champ Clark, De Armond, Sulzer, Goldfogle, Ollie James, Fitzgerald, [and] Burton Harrison” and others are engaged in a brawl on the floor of the House of Representatives. In the background, Sereno E. Payne is addressing the Speaker of the House, Joseph Gurney Cannon.
Comments and Context
As the sixty-first Congress was seated in March 1909 the Democrat Party had reason to feel confident about their future in the House of Representatives. The party still was in the distinct minority, but a growing restlessness in the electorate presaged political changes; more and more Republican representatives declared themselves anti-Establishment Insurgents likely to resist the House’s Old Guard; and the popular Theodore Roosevelt would be abroad for more than a year, his Republican influence absent from politics.
In spite of a rosy future, party members presaged Will Rogers’s aphorism several decades hence: “I don’t belong to any organized political party; I am a Democrat.”
The incoming class wrangled, party hacks against Populists; entrenched politicians against reformers; and so forth.
The Democrats were saved from themselves by the end of the first half of the term, as Republican insurgents rebelled against Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon, and made alliance with Democrats to strip many of the Speaker’s prerogatives. In the 1910 midterm elections, Democratic victories swamped the House.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1909-04-14
Creator(s)
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933
Period
African Safari (March 1909-1910)
Repository
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Page Count
1
Record Type
Image
Resource Type
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
The minority. [April 14, 1909]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291192. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933. The minority. [14 Apr. 1909]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 13, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291192.
APA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933., [1909, April 14]. The minority.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291192.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. February 13, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
