The 1866 civil rights bill, which prohibited discrimination on the bases of race or previous condition of slavery, prefigured the 14th amendment to the Constitution. In the foreground of the mural, former slave Henry Garnet is shown speaking with newspaper editor Horace Greeley, who supported African American suffrage. In the background are the Columbus doors, which originally led to the House Chamber but were later moved to the Rotunda entrance.
About the Cox Corridors Murals
The first floor of the U.S. Capitol's House wing is elaborately decorated with wall and ceiling murals by artist Allyn Cox. The eastern north-south corridor has been termed the Hall of Capitols because it features paintings of 16 different buildings that housed the Continental and United States Congresses from 1754 to 1865. Painted in the barrel vaults of the ceilings are eight historic events that occurred during the first 65 years of the Capitol's existence.