(CNN) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to the House Clerk on Thursday asking for the removal of portraits of four former speakers of the House who served in the Confederacy, the latest effort by Congress to reexamine Capitol Hill's relationship to Confederate leaders and symbols. Pelosi originally said at her news conference that the clerk would oversee removal of the portraits on Friday, but later her office announced plans to remove the portraits Thursday afternoon. The portraits were removed later in the day on Thursday. Pelosi said Thursday she wasn't aware until recently that the former speakers served in the Confederacy. The former House speakers in question include Robert Hunter of Virginia, Howell Cobb of Georgia, James Orr of South Carolina and Charles Crisp of Georgia.

Source: CNN June 18, 2020 15:43 UTC