Supreme Court of the United States
Due to a lapse of appropriations, the Supreme Court Building will be closed to the public until further notice. The Building will remain open for official business.

Today at the Court - Friday, Oct 31, 2025


  • Due to a lapse of appropriations, the Supreme Court Building will be closed to the public until further notice. The Building will remain open for official business.
  • All public lectures and visitor programs are temporarily suspended.
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Did You Know...

A Personal Touch: The Cafeteria Displays and Culinary Talents of Elizabeth Mertens


From the early 1940s and into the 1970s, visitors to the Supreme Court’s cafeteria were greeted with handmade holiday displays created by the cafeteria’s manager, Elizabeth “Betty” Mertens. Fondly known throughout the Court for her festive displays, which often featured flowers from her garden, Mertens also baked cakes and other treats for staff birthdays and the Justices’ special occasions. Justice Harold H. Burton once said her cakes entitled her the honor of being a “friend of the Court,” and on a 1948 photograph inscribed to her, Justice Robert H. Jackson quoted Earl Robert Bulwer-Lytton: “We may live without poetry, music and art / we may live without conscience and live without heart / we may live without friends, we may live without books / But civilized man cannot live without cooks.”

 

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An undated Halloween display in the Court’s cafeteria by Elizabeth Mertens.
An undated Halloween display in the Court’s cafeteria by Elizabeth Mertens.
Elizabeth Mertens, Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
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Elizabeth Mertens (third from right, back row) and some of the cafeteria staff, circa 1960s.
Elizabeth Mertens (third from right, back row) and some of the cafeteria staff, circa 1960s.
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
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Elizabeth Mertens (left) and a fellow cafeteria 
                                                                                            employee behind a display featuring forsythia clippings and other spring foliage from Mertens's garden, circa 1950s.
Elizabeth Mertens (left) and a fellow cafeteria employee behind a display featuring forsythia clippings and other spring foliage from Mertens’s garden, circa 1950s.
Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
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SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 1 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20543