Bernard Braskamp (February 18, 1887 – February 22, 1966) was a Presbyterian minister who served as the 56th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives, from 1950 until his death in 1966.
Braskamp, a Presbyterian minister, served as the 56th House Chaplain, January 3, 1950, until the time of his death in 1966.[1] He was preceded by the Rev. James Shera Montgomery, a Methodist, and succeeded by the Rev. Edward G. Latch, also a Methodist.[1]
Braskamp graduated from the University of Michigan in 1908 and the Theological School in Princeton, New Jersey in 1911.[2] He was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1911, beginning his ministry as Assistant Minister at the Church of the Covenant (which later became known as the National Presbyterian Church).[2][3]
In 1955, he served on the advisory committee that helped create the U.S. Capitol Congressional Prayer Room.[4]
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[5] The NY Times reported that "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."[5]
Prior to his official appointment as Chaplain of the House of Representatives in 1950 he served in that position as Acting Chaplain for three years.[2]
Braskamp died in his Washington, D.C., home on February 22, 1966, of a stroke.[3]