The Republican-controlled House named Smith, an African-American Washingtonian, as its librarian.

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Although some Southern congressmen voiced their opposition to Smith’s appointment, The New York Times reported that “the generally expressed opinion that Smith was the ablest man possible to place in charge of the library, and his popularity as a capable and attentive official, carried the day and he kept the place.” Members of both parties regarded him as a reference “authority” with a “memory of speeches, and points made by different public men in debate, [that] was remarkable,” the Times noted.

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