James Shera Montgomery was an American Methodist minister who served as the 55th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives

Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives

The election of William Linn as Chaplain of the House on May 1, 1789, continued the tradition established by the Continental Congresses of each day's proceedings opening with a prayer by a chaplain. The early Chaplains alternated duties with their Senate counterparts on a weekly basis, covering the...

, April 11, 1921 - January 3, 1950.

Life and works

Montgomery served as House Chaplain for 19 years. During that time he participated in many events, including the delivery of the invocation at the special joint session to honor the memory of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on July 1, 1946. The House had introduced legislation for a joint session with the Senate (H. Con Res. 152) on May 23, 1946, with the Senate's concurrence filed on June 1, 1946. The historic session "included dignitaries from around the world as well as prominent figures in the U.S. government." The rostrum was covered in greens, and Robert Merrill

Robert Merrill

Robert Merrill was an American operatic baritone.-Early life:Merrill was born Moishe Miller, later known as Morris Miller, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York, to tailor Abraham Miller, originally Milstein, and his wife Lillian, née Balaban, immigrants from Warsaw, Poland.His mother...

 of the Metropolitan Opera

Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...

performed two solos in Roosevelt's memory.