Photograph by Ben Rollins
Atlantan is a first-person account from a familiar stranger who makes the city tick. This month’s is from Donna Holt.
Our primary responsibility is to represent our speaker of the House and our lawmakers with the greatest respect and honor. We make sure anybody that comes in the chamber is badged properly; if you don’t have that on, you can’t come through the door. Any visitors, we keep our eyes on them and make sure they’re in compliance with the rules. When the chaplain of the day is doing the devotional, we lock the doors. Nobody can come in or out, and representatives have to turn off phones and computers.
We have a strict dress code: Men have to wear coats and ties; tennis shoes, denim, and logos are not allowed; and we don’t allow leather (sometimes we’re squinting, like, Is that fake leather?). Our primary thing is to keep order inside the chamber.
I wasn’t really so interested in politics before, as far as following the process. My career was with the Georgia Department of Human Resources, and I eventually accepted a position working with the deputy commissioner. One of her primary roles was to follow legislation. It was very Greek to me at first! But I got involved quite a bit and got to know some of the representatives.
When I retired, I thought, Well, I just want some seasonal work, so I applied for jobs in the Senate and the House. They said, “Oh boy, you won’t get a job as a doorkeeper, so forget that.” It’s very rare to have an opening for a doorkeeper. But, finally, I got a call, and they asked if I was interested. This year is my 15th legislative session. I’ve worked the same door since my first session. All the representatives who sit near my door, those are my children. The other doorkeepers will say, “Your family’s not behaving over there!”
There are 21 doorkeepers for the House, and we’re all retired. Pretty much everybody hangs around for a long time. People really seem to love it. We feel like we’re needed. When my husband retired, there was an opening for another doorkeeper, and he did it too, for about six years, before he died. I think he loved it almost as much as I did. It’s fun to watch the process and the energy that’s here.
When I first started, I thought the lawmakers would be all business. But even though they disagree on issues a lot, they’re still united. There are some issues that cause a lot of strong debate, but in the end, when there’s a personal hardship or something like that, it really is a family. It’s very heartwarming to see.
I get so excited when the school groups come to visit on a tour. The little ones who have never been to the Capitol, they’re just in awe. We’ll talk to them and give them some history of the Capitol building and the legislature. I think every child should have the opportunity to come up here and see it—see what’s being done up here on their behalf every day.
This article appears in our January 2025 issue.
