Emanuel Raymond Lewis, American librarian and author (b. 1928)
Emanuel Raymond Lewis (Ray Lewis) was the longest-serving and final House Librarian for the United States House of Representatives Library in the U.S. Capitol Building. He was appointed House Librarian in 1973, and served in this position until January 1995, at which time the library, along with the House Historical Office, were reorganized and placed under the new Legislative Resource Center, a division of the Office of the Clerk. The House Library predated the Library of Congress, serving as the official repository of Congressional documents generated by the U.S. House of Representatives since 1792.
Other House librarians included Calvin Clifford Chaffee, a physician and abolitionist who represented Springfield, Massachusetts as a congressman during the 34th and 35th Congresses from 1855 to 1859. Chaffee's political career suffered after he and the public learned in 1857 that his wife, Irene Sanford Emerson, owned several slaves, including the enslaved American Dred Scott. After his stint as a congressman, Chaffee served as house librarian during the 36th Congress, from until 1859 - 1861. William H. Smith, the first African American to hold this position, served as librarian during the 47th Congress (1881-1883).In 1971 Lewis was called to testify before a subcommittee of the U.S. House Interior Committee during hearings on creating the Golden Gate National Recreation Area from land previously used as military bases. His testimony was instrumental in the preservation of over 80,000 acres of land in the San Francisco bay area for recreational use. As a historian, Dr. Lewis had extensive knowledge of military installations in this region. Dr. Lewis had previously been commissioned by the State of California State to prepare "A History of San Francisco Harbor Defense Installations: Forts Baker, Barry, Cronkite, and Funston".During the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment hearings on President Nixon in July of 1974, Lewis provided critical historical references to guide the committee in its work, during its hearings for the impeach the President, the first impeachment hearing for a president since that of Andrew Johnson in 1869.