country. next, senate historian emeritus don ritchie takes us inside the dirksen senate office building. we learn about the building's construction, its place in history, and the building's namesake, everett dirksen. don ritchie: once upon a time the entire united states senate , could operate out of the capital building. that was in the 19th century. demands on the government grew ew, morehe services gr public letters started coming in, more staff had to be hired, more space had to be acquired, and eventually the three senate buildings were constructed. right now we are in the dirksen , building. we are in the large multipurpose hearing room that has had various layers of history. the first senate office building opened in 1909, known as the