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Dr. Bernard Braskamp, a 1903 graduate of Northwestern Classical Academy, opens a 1956 session of the House of Representatives with prayer in his role as the legislative body’s first full-time chaplain. Photo by United Press International.

Church before reaching what the Alton Democrat newspaper called “the pinnacle of his profession.” In 1950, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously elected Braskamp as its chaplain – the first full-time chaplain in either the House or Senate. For the next 16 years until his death on Feb. 22, 1966, he served as pastor not only to the legislators and their families, but to all House employees in the Capitol. His brief prayers given each day to open the sessions of the House contained “the essence of greatness,” said Rep. Albert Ullman at the time. “They never fail to bring us close to the Divine, and to inspire in each of us a renewed dedication to the sacredness of public trust.” During his time working with the House of Representatives, Braskamp's many prayers included the one that opened the session that passed the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964. The New York Times said: "The air of a great occasion hung over the chamber from the moment that Chaplain Bernard Braskamp began his prayer with the quotation from Leviticus engraved on the Liberty Bell: ‘Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.’”

On the day after his death, the Congressional Record included nearly 10 pages of tributes from members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Majority Leader and future Speaker of the House Rep. Carl Albert said, “His prayers often reflected the mood and tempo of the House – its crises, its defeats, its victories. In every case, he reminded us that these things shall all pass away, but the Kingdom of the Lord shall endure

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