Library jewel contender #3: Congressional Serial Set

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The third and final candidate for May’s State Library “jewels” series is a nearly complete copy of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Commonly referred to as the Serial Set, it contains the House and Senate Documents and the House and Senate Reports bound by session of Congress. It began publication with the 15th Congress, 1st Session (1817). Documents before 1817 may be found in the American State Papers. In general, it includes committee reports related to bills and other matters, presidential communications to Congress, treaty materials, certain executive department publications, and certain non-governmental publications. Go here to see an overview of the Congressional Serial Set. The photo above shows the 1853-54 section of the State Library’s Congressional Serial Set. 1853 was the year of the Organic Act, which created the Washington Territory. Earlier this week, we featured the first two “jewels” for May: 1) adventurer Ranald MacDonald and 2) a 1917 map of what was then Camp Lewis. On Monday, we’ll activate our online poll so you can choose which Library jewel you like best. Make sure to vote!