Steve Livengood is the Public Historian and Chief Guide of the US Capitol Historical Society, a private not-for-profit organization chartered by the US Congress to develop enhanced experiences related to the history of the Capitol Building and the institutions that have been housed there. His specialty is interpreting the building with historical background on the meaning of activities and artworks as the icons of representative democracy, seeing familiar things from a deeper perspective.

Mr. Livengood began giving tours of the Capitol for his Member of Congress from Kansas in 1965. He has a BA in Political Science from American University. After experiencing the risks of good citizenship in Vietnam, he used his GI Bill benefits as a doctoral candidate in recent US political and social history at Emory University. He has worked in various capacities in DC political and policy circles, culminating with his work for the Capitol Historical Society since 1994. He has been given the Tourism Industry Award by the Guild of Professional Tour Guides of Washington for his work in promoting the interpretation of the Capitol building by professional city guides. He is a board member of the Olmsted Network and helped promote Olmsted 200 for the bicentennial celebration of the genius of landscape architecture.

Steve loves the work he does so much that he continues as he can in retirement. He resides on the new waterfront in SW Washington where his balcony overlooks Rick Olmsted’s East Potomac Park. His two children and his new granddaughter live nearby in Northern Virginia.