Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American Libraries
TV News
Understanding 9/11tv Virginia Capitol Building CSPAN February 26, 2017 6:00pm-6:25pm EST
6:00 pm
each week, american history tv american artifacts visits museums and historic races. up next, we travel to richmond, virginia. for more about the history of the state capitol building, france after a temple in and first used in 1792. mr. greenough: we are inside a working public building that has hosted the longest working acting legislature today. since we are the first american state capitol to open after the american revolutionary war and the first monumental roman temple style public building in the modern era, its influence on other state capitols, county courthouses, and public buildings that are very famous in washington, d.c. cannot be
6:01 pm
underestimated. i have heard an architectural historian described the iconic buildings in washington, d.c. as a sequel to the virginia state capitol back here in richmond. we start with our first political center in jamestown, the oldest english-speaking settlement in north america and that was used throughout the 1600s. there are multiple buildings, public and private, used for public meetings. then when we moved to williamsburg we build and capitol in the english tradition. that burned down and we rebuilt the second one. it was the second capitol and williamsburg we left behind when we moved to richmond during the revolutionary war. interestingly, mr. jefferson, who introduced the bill to relocate to jefferson, of the time we made the move he was serving as governor and i to oversee the process. if you think of the capitol as
6:02 pm
an essay in architecture, the primary author was thomas jefferson. at the time we were getting ready to break ground for a new public building in richmond in 1785, jefferson had left state service and was the american ambassador to france. he was living in paris. nonetheless, richmond reached out to jefferson, asking for his help as an absentee advocate for the capitol building. he turned to the architecture of antiquity. he was fascinated by the temples of greece and rome. in paris he was able to meet and collaborate with a french architect who was a published authority on roman antiquities and those two men got together. i like to think of jefferson as the author of our original capitol building. they looked -- it is known by
6:03 pm
the french as la maison today. jefferson planned for the richmond state capitol to look like a classical roman temple. he followed the advice of people is studied antiquity and he put the capitol on top of a hill and it became, by design, the centerpiece of our city. the last thing that would make an impression on you is this temple on the hill. it has a triangular pediment. in the words of one architectural historian, it is like a frontispiece to all of
6:04 pm
virginia. we know in the course of 13 years of construction, there was free labor and slave labor involved, skilled and unskilled workers, local artisans and traveling itinerant artisans, some of whom, after working on the virginia capitol, went north to washington, d.c. and began working on the subsequent united states capitol. when you have a really good building accumulating important history and has important people and events associated with it, you do not give up on the building. for over 100 years, we used the capitol as first built and it was a rectangular roman style building with a south portico. by 1904, we realized the building was getting a little old in the tooth and needed renovation. plus, it was too small for 20th-century purposes.
6:05 pm
rather than give up on the building, what we did was we gave it a new roof. we gave it monumental new steps, and we added to classically styled wings. the west wing became the senate wing and the east wing became a house wing. we are presently located in the 1906 era entrance hall. before the 21st century, the general public could come up the exterior front steps onto the portico and through some double doors in front of me and walked down this entrance call and be greeted by none other than george washington himself, standing life-size, a meticulous marble masterpiece that was placed in the center of the capitol all the way back in 1796. it is the only full-length statue of washington that he personally posed for, and it was shortly after the resolution -- the revolution. he was 53 years old.
6:06 pm
he had voluntarily resigned his literary powers to go back to private life on his farm. the statue that visitors see today is the most accurate depiction of george washington in fayetteville. inside that room where you see george washington are marble busts of the other virginia -- we have a total of eight. we have a surprise guest. there is a statue of the marquis dendy at -- the marquis de lafayette, was a french general fighting on our side. we have a pediment within a line roof. once you are inside and you look up, you suddenly discover a dome, which is what we expected all along. there is a skylight. and above it is an additional skylight on the outside roof.
6:07 pm
we are now outside the old hall of the house of delegates, usually referred to as the old house chamber. this room is filled with memories. it is also filled with statuary that honor americans and virginians who were prominent legislators, executive leaders, military or naval commanders, scientists, inventors, and so on. in this room, this is where the public holds of the capitol first came to life in 1788 when the house of delegates convened here. for about 116 years, this was an historic setting for great debates and final decisions that would shape the destiny of virginia and influence the united states. the virginia state capitol and the constitution of the united
6:08 pm
states were born in the same year, 17 88. the constitution is a few months older than the virginia state capital. the american revolution but richmond on the map as a new capital city for a new commonwealth. then in 1861 the american civil war put richmond on the map as a new national capital for the confederate states of america. and virginians took a long time to decide whether or not to secede from the union and subsequently joined the confederacy. but we are standing in the room where virginians ultimately changed their minds and voted to secede from the union. once that decision was made, the confederate congress was brought to richmond from alabama, and the next four years, through july of 1861 through march 1865, the virginians state capitol was multitasking.
6:09 pm
it hosted the ongoing meetings of the virginian general assembly and our state governors, but it also hosted simultaneous meetings of the confederate leaders. the civil war came to a dramatic and right here in richmond in spring of 1865. the confederate government decided to evacuate the city. and virginia may be same decision. they both pulled up stakes and left in a hurry. in the confusion of these evacuations, the confederate government and the virginians state government, orders were given to military authorities to set selected fires at government warehouses to destroy property and to literally burn their bridges behind them crossing the james river. unfortunately for richmond, the selected fires quickly got out of control.
6:10 pm
then you had a large portion of the waterfront going up in flames. the descriptions of the great conquered -- great conflagration are harrowing. fortunately for history, the historic capitol building and the historic governor mansion behind it were situated in this open public park, which came right up to the capitol square. when union troops him to the capital city, they were able to come marching and into the capitol square. they immediately replaced the virginia flights with united states five. the virginia state capitol became a perfect office building for military occupation.
6:11 pm
federal troops wasted no time organizing volunteer firefighting companies. they did a good job subduing flames and preventing other damage. there is a powerful historical irony when people sit or stand in this room. as it happens, this is the room where elected virginia leaders chose to secede from the union. exactly seven years later, a new group of virginia leaders meeting in the same room but the finishing touches on a new virgin you state constitution -- a new virginia state constitution written during reconstruction. the purpose was to get virginia readmitted into the union. what made this interesting was for the very first time you had
6:12 pm
a biracial convention. suffrage had been extended to black men in virginia as a consequence of the civil war. there had been in election among the white and black male voters of virginia to decide, should we hold a constitutional convention and create a new constitution to get virginia back in the union question mark largely on the power of the newly enfranchised black vote, that question carried in the affirmative, and it was possible than for white and black men to choose delegates to come to this room and craft a constitution. there were 100 poor people. 104 people who set here in this very chamber. 24 of them were african-americans. and once they finished their handiwork on a new constitution, 10 of those delegates went on to be elected for service in the house or senate of the virginia legislature. it was all over the newspapers.
6:13 pm
you had a full range of opinion. the results are important and indisputable. when the constitution was submitted to congress, it was approved, and in january 1870, virginia was readmitted to the federal union over the signature of then president ulysses s. grant. people come into the hall they are immediately struck by the presence of an unusual object. virginia has an honest to goodness authentic mace. you can see that it is made of sterling silver. the mace was made in birmingham back in the 1930's and presented to the house of delegates. and keeping in tradition of the
6:14 pm
maces, we actively deploy our mace on the floor of delegates. the sergeant of arms will come into this chamber and take the mace out of its display case. it will make a left turn at the washington statute. and when the speaker gives the nod, the sergeant of arms will hold the mace up in front of the numbers and say, the virginia house of delegates is now in session. right now we are standing on the floor of the virginia house of delegates chamber. we are located in the east wing of the virginia state capitol. ever since 1906, this room has been the meeting place for 100 lawmakers chosen by the people of virginia. the lawmakers have ae two-year
6:15 pm
term and are eligible for reelection. this is also the room where we have joint sessions of the virginia assembly. we know we will have won a year where the governor presides. >> to the people of virginia who are with us tonight or watching from home, thank you for the honor of serving as this commonwealth's 77th governor. mr. greenough: that is an interesting phrase. we refer to ourselves as a commonwealth. a commonwealth, according to webster's dictionary, is a form of government which relies on the consent of the people, on rule of law, and lawmaking for the greater good of the population at large.
6:16 pm
every year in january where we have a session. 100 members of the house are sitting here at their desks and their chairs, and we listen to the presentation of the governor of virginia. this is also the go two room for other joint sessions of the legislature when we receive important guests from other parts of the world. we held a joint session to receive sir winston spencer churchill who came here in his capacity as a private citizen. it was just two days after his famous speech in missouri. winston churchill: in greed for nothing, but in defense of those
6:17 pm
causes which we hold dear. not only for our own benefit, but because we believe they mean the honor and the happiness of long generations of men. mr. greenough: in more recent years we have received in joint session margaret thatcher. margaret thatcher: mr. speaker, mr. president, governor allen, members of the general assembly. thank you for that splendid reception. it is one one rarely receives in one's own country. [laughter] mr. greenough: who was of course the first female prime minister of the united kingdom. and just a few years ago, to mark the 400 anniversary of english settlement in north america, her majesty the queen was here and gave a very well-received speech to a packed
6:18 pm
chamber. when you look up, you see the original 19 oh six oval skylight. you also see the use of gold metal paint that gives the gilding affect -- gilding effect at a much less expensive price. you see the flop to velvet or the masked silk. they are flat surfaces that have been carefully painted. you also see in the house a sort of navy blue and gold color scheme reflected throughout this chamber. the senate of virginia in the opposite wing had very similar decorations. they distinguish themselves with a gold color scheme. we have moved through the rotunda into the west wing of our capital building.
6:19 pm
we have 40 members of the virginia state senate who convene in this chamber. in odd numbered years, we have a short session. they don't have to pace -- they don't have to pass a state budget. and we are on the floor of the actual senate chamber. we are surrounded by and 40 and opulence. the walls and the season -- the walls and the ceiling, they have been carefully restored to resemble the appearance more than 100 years ago. when people come into the senate chamber, and they look up, they will see a dramatic oval skylight and they will see small, and hand-painted
6:20 pm
monograms -- "va", standing for virginia, in the circle of each oval. they have dutch metal paint. they will see ionic plasters around the chamber. if they were coming during the session, they would be on the floor, but they would be in a dramatic spectators gallery. the general public is around the back of the chamber that gives everyone a birdseye view of the activities of the senate. jefferson wants people to come to this capital building. he has said whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. this chamber began functioning for the senate in 1906 and continues functioning today.
6:21 pm
there is in original 1906 wooden bias. that is for the clerking staff in the lieutenant governor. the members of the senate have a four-year term. they each represent 200,000 constituents person at her. one of the interesting features of our general assembly, which dates back to 1916 is it has always been, by conscious design, a part-time legislature area this chamber, in terms of its visual presentation takes you back 100 years to the beginning of the 20th century. but it is a valid place every single year when the lawmakers come to do department business. and i am remembering that we had in this chamber a lieutenant
6:22 pm
governor i the name of lawrence douglas wilder who, as lieutenant governor's -- presided over the senate and ran's successfully for the governorship of the commonwealth of virginia. and then he was sworn in as the first elected african-american governor of the state. >> i do solemnly swear -- >> that i will support the constitution of the united states -- >> that i will support the constitution of the united states -- >> and because edition of the, what the virginia -- >> and the constitution of the commonwealth of virginia -- >> and that i will faithfully and impartially discharge all of the duties incumbent upon me as the governor of virginia according to the best of my ability. >> so help you god.
6:23 pm
>> so help me god. >> congratulations. mr. greenough: when he took the oath and made an inaugural speech, it was made known to everyone he was a descendent of slaves who lived in virginia during the 19th century. you have this interesting evolution within his own family from people living in slavery to assuming the chair of the governorship of the commonwealth of virginia. the virginia state capitol is a symbol of not only virginia, but virginia people who served in public service and virginia principles that have gone on to inform american principles of self-government. you walk into this room every january and you feel the public pulse with the newer legislative wings and the brand-new
6:24 pm
underground extension that welcomes visitors to the capitol itself. on one level it is a pretty fine fine arts museum with arts and sculpture. it is also a really convincing civics classroom. we get about 118,000 visitors each year coming to see the capitol building. they are coming to see it for all kinds of reasons. some want to visit a recognized historical attraction. some are coming here for civics education. some are coming here to participate in self-government. all of them, i hope, will gain appreciation for a time tested workplace and for enduring american principles, many of those principles having been engineered here in virginia
89 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
CSPAN3
Television Archive 
Television Archive News Search Service 
Uploaded by TV Archive on
