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Understanding 9/11tv Virginia Capitol Building CSPAN February 26, 2017 10:00pm-10:25pm EST
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getting for your degrees or phd's. but what are you doing after high school that will get you a credential that will get you a job? i think the federal government should be looking to credentials that relate to employment and having conversations and funding those types of programs. >> watch "the communicators" monday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span2. >> each week, american history artifacts" visits museums and historic places. next, we travel to richmond, virginia, to learn about the history of the state capitol building modeled after a roman temple in southern france and first used in 1792. hour tour guide is the capitol historian, mark greenough.
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mr. greenough: we are inside a working public building that has hosted the longest working elected active 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 underestimated. in fact, 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 at jamestown, the oldest english-speaking settlement in north america and that was used throughout the 1600's.
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there were multiple buildings, public and private, used for public meetings. then when we moved to williamsburg, we built a capitol in the english tradition. it burned down in the middle of the 1700's. we built a second one. it was the second capitol and -- in williamsburg we left behind when we moved to richmond during the revolutionary war. interestingly, mr. jefferson, who introduced the bill to relocate to richmond, by the time we made the move he was serving as governor and got to oversee the process. if you think of the capitol as 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 authorities reached out to jefferson, asking for his help as an absentee advocate for the
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properly designed 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. and the architect as a professional editor of jefferson's ideas. eventually looked to a well preserved french building known as la maison today. when jefferson was planning the richmond state capitol to look like a classical roman temple. he followed the advice of people who studied the architecture of antiquity and he put the capitol on top of a hill and it became, by design, the centerpiece of our city.
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likely, the thing that would first make an impression on you would be this civic temple on the hill. it faces south with a great view in the old days of the james river. the front of the building has eight columns over 40 feet tall. it has a triangular pediment. and a substantial portico. in the words of one architectural historian, it is like a frontispiece to all of virginia. the records we have today are .ncomplete an but 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
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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. but 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. rather than give up on the building, what we did was we gave it a new roof. we gave it monumental new steps, -- front steps leading up to the portico, and we added two 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.
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before the 21st century, the general public could come up the exterior front steps onto the portico, enter through some double doors in front of me and walk 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 revolution. he was 53 years old. he had voluntarily resigned his military 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
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de lafayette, was a french general fighting on our side. a french volunteer. building, we have a pediment style, temple style roof. once you are inside and you look up, you suddenly discover a dome, which is what we expected all along. the government has a skylight. and above it is an additional skylight on the outside roof. 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. rich and rare. it is also filled with statuary that honor americans and virginians who were prominent legislators, executive leaders, military or naval commanders,
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scientists, inventors, and so on. in this room, this is where the public pulse of the capitol first came to life in 1788 when the house of delegates convened here. and for about 116 years, this was the historic setting for great debates and defining decisions that would shape the destiny of virginia and influence the history of the united states. the virginia state capitol and the constitution of the united states were born in the same year, 1788. the constitution is a few months older than the virginia state capitol. the american revolution put 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
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subsequently join 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 betweennext four years july of 1861 through march 1865, the virginians state capitol was multitasking. it hosted not only the ongoing meetings of the virginian general assembly and our state governors, but it also hosted simultaneous meetings of the confederate congress. the american civil war came to a aend right here in richmond in spring of 1865. the confederate government decided to evacuate the city.
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and the virginia state government made the same decision. they both pulled up stakes and left in a hurry. in the confusion of these evacuations, the confederate government and the virginia 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. within hours, you had a large portion of the waterfront going up in flames. the descriptions of the great conflagration are harrowing. fortunately for history, the historic capitol building and the historic governor's mansion mansion behind it were situated in this open public park, which
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served as a firebreak and protected the buildings from the raging fires that came up to the south border of the capitol square. when union troops came into the city they were able to come galloping into the grounds of the capitol square. they immediately replaced the bridging and republic flags over the building with united states flags. the virginia state capitol became a perfect office building for military occupation. federal troops wasted no time organizing volunteer firefighting companies. there is a powerful historical irony that confronts people when people sit or stand in this historic room. as it happens, this is the room where elected virginia leaders chose to secede from the union.
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exactly seven years later, a new 1868, a new group of virginia leaders meeting in the same room put the finishing states on a new virginia constitution written during reconstruction. the purpose was to get virginia readmitted into the union. what made this constitutional convention interesting was for the very first time you had a biracial convention. suffrage had been extended to black men in virginia as a consequence of the civil war. and there had been an 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 into the union? largely on the power of the newly enfranchised black vote, that question carried in the affirmative, and it was possible
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then for white and black men to choose delegates to come to this room and craft a constitution. there were people. sat here ine who this very chamber. 24 of them were african-americans. and once they finished their handiwork on a new constitution, 10 of those african american delegates went on to be elected for service in the house or senate of the virginia legislature. it was all over the newspapers. you had a full range of opinion. but 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. hallpeople come inside the
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they are immediately struck by , the presence of an unusual object. it is staged front and center. virginia has an honest to goodness authentic mace. you can see it on display in this case. it is made of english sterling silver. it has a more recently applied 24 karat gold finish. the mace was made in birmingham back in the 1930's and presented inthe house of delegates 1974. and in keeping with the tradition of maces, we actively deploy our mace on the floor of delegates during each day of active session. the sergeant of arms will come into this chamber, put on white gloves, take it out of the display case, make a left turn at the washington statue, and
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head to the hall where they convene. when the speaker gives the nod, the sergeant of arms will hold the mace up in front of the members and says, 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 in the house of delegates have a two-year term and are eligible for reelection. this is also the room where we have joint sessions of the virginia general assembly. we know we will have at least one a year every january when the governor presides and delivers his state of the commonwealth address. >> to the people of virginia who are with us tonight or watching from home, thank you for the honor of serving as this
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commonwealth's 77th governor. mr. greenough: that is an interesting phrase. we have a state of the commonwealth address in virginia because we refer to ourselves officially in our constitution as a commonwealth. a commonwealth, according to webster's dictionary, is a form of government which relies on the consent of the people, on the rule of law, and lawmaking for the greater good of the population at large. every year in january, we will have a joint session. 40 senators are given temporary seating at the back. 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 to room for other joint sessions of the legislature when we receive important guests from other parts of the world.
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in 1946 during the general assembly, we held a joint session to receive sir winston spencer churchill who came here in his capacity as a private citizen. he made a very well-received address. it was just two days after his famous speech in missouri about an iron curtain descending upon europe after world war ii. inwe should stand together greed for nothing, but in defense of those 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. [applause] mr. greenough: in more recent years we have received in joint , session margaret thatcher. margaret thatcher: mr. speaker, mr. president, governor allen,
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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 of great britain was here and gave a very well-received speech to a packed chamber. when you look up, you see the original 1906 oval skylight. also see the use of dutch metal paint that gives you the gilding effect at a much less expensive price. you have different panels painted to resemble so or
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velvet. 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 has very similar decorations. but they distinguish themselves with a burgundy and gold color scheme. we have moved through the rotunda into the west wing of our building. this is a chamber used by the senate of virginia. we have 40 members of the virginia state senate who convene in this chamber. starting every january. our legislature is a part-time legislature. and in odd numbered years, we have a short session. they don't have to pass a state budget. in even numbered years, we have a longer session where we pass the state budget. and we are on the floor of the
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actual senate chamber. ianare surrounded by edward i opulence. the walls and ceiling are not guilty of understatement. 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 which is part of the 1906 design. and they will see small, and hand-painted monograms -- "va", standing for virginia, in the corner of each oval. when they look around, they see the circa 1908-10 dutch metal paint. they will see ionic plasters around the chamber. if they are coming to the chamber during session, they
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would not be on the floor, but they would be in a dramatic spectators gallery. along the back of the chamber that gives everybody who comes a bird's eye view on the activities of the senate. jefferson wants people to come to this capitol building. he himself said wherever 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. there is an original 1906 wooden centerstage. that is for the clerking staff in the lieutenant governor. the members of the senate have a four-year term. they are eligible for reelection. of each represent upwards 200,000 constituents her
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senator. one of the interesting features of our general assembly, which 1916, is it has always been, by conscious design, a part-time legislature . this chamber, in terms of its visual presentation takes you , back 100 years to the beginning of the 20th century. but in terms of its ongoing function, it is a valid place every single year when the lawmakers come to do the public business. and i am remembering that we had in this chamber a lieutenant governor by the name of lawrence douglas wilder who, as lieutenant governor presided , over the senate and ran successfully for the governorship of the commonwealth of virginia. in 1990 outside on the grounds, he was sworn in as the first elected african-american governor of a state in our nation. >> i do solemnly swear --
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>> that i will support the constitution of the united states -- >> that i will support the constitution of the united states -- >> 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. >> so help me god. >> congratulations. [applause] mr. greenough: when he took the oath of office and made an inaugural speech, it was made known to everybody 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 people assuming the chair of the
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governor of the commonwealth of virginia. the virginia state capitol is a symbol not only of virginia but virginia people who served in public service and virginia principles that have gone on to inform american principles of self-government. and you walk into this building every january and you feel the public pulse beating inside this old historic landmark with its newer legislative wings and the brand-new underground extension that welcomes visitors to the capitol itself. the capital itself is on one level, a pretty good fine arts museum with a sizable collection of paintings and sculpture. it is also a really convincing civics classroom. we get about 118,000 visitors each year coming to see the
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