Where can I find a 1883-1885 senate appointment for a person who managed the Senate bar?

Hi Yvonne -- thank you for posting to the History Hub!

The Center for Legislative Archives, a unit within the National Archives, holds the official records of congressional committees, and the records of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate as a whole.

I searched our holdings in the National Archives Catalog and see some records from the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration pertaining to the administration of the Senate restaurant. However, there is nothing as early as 1883 to 1885 (the 48th and 49th Congresses).

I also searched ProQuest Congressional, a subscription database with the full text of the published reports and documents of U.S. Congress, and the Congressional Record, the official record of proceedings and debate on the floor of the House and Senate -- and unfortunately I found nothing on the appointment of Richard Francis.

Outside of our holdings, I did find two interesting resources on the topic:

• History of House and Senate Restaurants: Context for Current Operations and Issues (August 23, 2016) is a Congressional Research Service report -- see page 6 for the history of the administration of Senate restaurants.

• "Original sources: The Black Mixologist" (May 3, 2013) is a Washington Post article on the Black Mixology Club -- scroll down for the text of the Post's 1888 obituary on Richard Francis.

One last thought is to look into the personal papers of Senator Edmunds. The best way to locate personal paper collections is through the BioGuide. The entry for Senator Edmunds will list relevant research collections.

Cheers!

Sarah