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Understanding 9/11tv Virginia Capitol Building CSPAN August 25, 2017 8:01pm-8:27pm EDT
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real americans. >> on sunday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on american artifacts, we'll tour the presidential vehicles collection at the henry ford museum in dearborn, michigan. then at 8:00 p.m. eastern on the presidency, herbert hoover scholar george nash talks about the relationship between the 31st president and calvin coolidge. >> just four days before the election, coolidge, every the party regular, finally gave hoover an extraordinary effusive public endorsement in a rearranged telegram that invoked headlines. hoover had declared his fitness to be president. hoover said coolidge was able, experienced, trustworthy and safe. >> american history tv, all weekend, every weekend, only on c-span 3. >> announcer: working with our cable partners, the c-span cities tour takes american
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history tv on the road. to explore the history of selected american cities. tonight we're featuring visits to 17 state capitols, including texas, california, wisconsin and new york. first up, we visit the virginia state capitol in richmond. we are inside a working public building that has hosted the oldest elected law making legislature active in the western hemisphere today. i think in terms of architecture, since we are the first american state capitol to open after the revolutionary war, and since we are the first monumental roman temple style building in the modern era, its influence on other state capitols, county courthouses and public buildings very famous up in washington, d.c. could not be underestimated.
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i've heard architectural historian describe the iconic governmental buildings in washington, d.c. as the sequel to the building here. and we start off in jamestown, which is the oldest english speaking settlement in north america. and that was used throughout the 16 hundreds and there were multiple buildings public and private used for meeting. and then in williamsburg we built a capitol that burned down in the middle of the 17 hundreds and we rebuilt a second one and it was the second capital that we left behind when we moved here to richmond during the revolutionary war. and interestingly, mr. jefferson who had introduced the bill to relocate to richmond, by the time we made the move, a year later, he was serving as governor and he got to oversee the process. if you think of the capitol as an essay in architecture, the primary author was thomas
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jefferson. and 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 american ambassador to france. he was living in paris. and nonetheless, richmond authorities reached out to jefferson in 1785 asking for his help as an absentee advocate for a properly designed capitol building. and he turned to the architecture of antiquity. he was fascinated by the temples of greece and rome. and in paris he was able to meet and collaborate with a professional french architect, charles lewis cled so and those two men got together and i like to think of jefferson as the author of our original capitol building and claruso as a professional editor of the ideas and they eventually looked to a well preserved roman temple in southern france in the town of
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neem and it is known to the french as [ speaking in a foreign language ] . when jefferson was planning the virginia state capitol to look like a classical monumental roman temple, he followed the advice of people who studied the architecture of antiquity and put the capitol up on top of a major hill. and it became by design the centerpiece of our city. likely the first thing that you would see that would make an impression on you would be this civic temple on a hill. and it faces south with a great view back in the old days of the james river. and the front of the building has eight columns, they are over 40 feet tall. it has a try ang lal pediment and substantial portico. and in the words of one architectural historian, it is like a frontal piece to all virginia. the records we have today are incomplete. but we know in the course of 13
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years of construction there was a combination of free labor and slave labor involved in making the capitol. skilled and unskilled workers, local artisans and traveling itinerary artists, 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 good building accumulating important history and has important people and event associated with it, you don't give up on the building. for over a hundred years we used the capitol as first build and it was a rectangular rome nan style building with the southportico. but by 190 # we realized the building was getting old in the tooth and needed renovation and plus it was too small for 20th century purposes and rather than give up on the building, what we did was we gave it a new roof,
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we gave it monumental front steps, leading up to the south portland -- portico and we added to balancing classically styled wings. the west wing became a senate wing and the east wing became a house wing. we are presently located in the 1906 era entrance hall. and before the 21st century, the general public could come up the exterior front steps on to the portico and through some double doors in front of me and walk down this entrance hall and be greeted by none other than george washington himself standing life size meticulous masterpiece placed here in 1796. it is the only full length statue of washington that he personally posed for. and it was shorptly after the revolution, he was 53 years old, he had voluntarily resigned his military powers to go home to private life on his farm.
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and the statue that visitors see today is the most accurate depiction of george washington available. inside of that room where you see george washington are marble busts of the other virginia-born presidents. we have a total of eight. we also have a surprise guest, there is aan additional statue of the marquee de lafayette, an a major general in the american revolution fighting on our side against the british, a french volunteer. outside of our building we have a pediment style, temple style a-line roof, but once you are inside of the building, and you enter the hall of the presidents, and you look up, you suddenly discover a dome which is what you had been expecting all along. and the dome inside of our building has an skylight and then directly above that dome skylight above it is additional skylight on the outside roof. we are now inside the old hall of the house of delegates.
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usually referred to as the old house chamber. this room is filled with memories. rich and rare. and it is also filled with statuary that honor americans and virginians who were prominent legislators, jurists, executive leaders, military or naval commanders, scientists and inventors and so on. and in this room, this is where the public pulse of the capitol first came to life in october of 1788 when the house of delegates convened here. and for about 116 years this was at historic setting for great debates in 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. and the constitution is just a few months older than the virginia state capitol.
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the american revolution put richmond on the map as a new capitol city for a new commonwealth. then in 1861 the american civil war put richmond on the map as a new national capitol for the confederate states of america. and virginians took a long time to decide whether or not to secede from the union and subsequently join the confederacy but we're standing in the room with virginians ultimately changed their minds and voted to secede in the union. once that decision was made, the confederate congress was brought to richmond from alabama and for the next four years, between july of 1861 through march of 1865, the virginia state capitol was multi-tasking. it hosted not only the on going meetings of the virginia general assembly, and the activities of our state governors, but it also
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hosted simultaneous meetings of the confederate congress. the american civil war came to a dramatic end in virginia right here at richmond in spring of 1865. the confederate government decided on the 2nd of april to evacuate the city and the virginia state government made the same decision and they both pulled up stakes and left richmond in a hurry. and in the confusion of these evacuations of the confederate government and the virginia state government, orders were given to military authorities to set selective fires at government warehouses, to destroy military naval property, and to literally burn their bridges behind them crossing the james river. unfortunately for richmond, the selected fires set by confederate soldiers retreating quickly got out of control. and within hours you had a large portion of the financial and commercial and industrial water
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front of richmond going up in flames. the descriptions of the great conflagration of 1865 are harrowing. fortunately for history, the historic capitol building and the governor's mansion right behind it were situation ated in this open public park which served as a fire break and protected the buildings that came up to the south border of the capitol square. when union troops came into the city, on the morning of april 3rd, 1865, they were able to come marching and galloping into the grounds of capitol square. they immediately replaced virginia flags an confederate flags over republic buildings, including the capitol, with united states flags and conveniently the virginia state capitol became a perfect office building for military occupation. the federal troops wasted no times organizing volunteer fire fighting companies and brigades
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to go out and subdue the flames and prevent any further damage. there is a powerful historical irony that confronts people when they sit or stand in this historic room. as it happens, on the 17th of april, 1861, this is the room where elected virginia leaders chose to secede from the union. exactly 17 years later, on the 17th of april, 1868, a new group of virginia leaders made meting in the same room put the finishing touches on a new virginia state constitution written during reconstruction. and the purpose of that new constitution 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. the suffrage had been extended to black men in virginia as the
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consequence of the civil war and there was an election october of 1867 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. and largely on the power of the newlien franchised black vote, that question carried in the affirmative and it was possible then for white and black men to choose delegates to come to this room and craft a new constitution. and there were 104 people. 104 people who sat here in this very chamber, 24 of whom were african-americans. and once they finished their handiwork on a new constitution, ten of those african-american delegates went on to be elected for service either in the house or the senate of the virginia legislature. it was all over the newspapers. and you had a full range of opinions on what was happening. but the results are important
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andin disputable. when the constitution was submitted to congress, it was a proved and in january of 1870, virginia was readmitted to the federal union over the signature of then president ulysses grant. when people come into the hall, they are immediately struck by the presence of an unusual object and it is staged front and center. virginia has an honest to goodness authentic mace. the mace you could see on display in this case 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 1930s. and presented to the house of delegates in 1974. and in keeping with the tradition of maces, we actively deploy our mace during each day of session on the floor of the house of delegates.
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the sergeant at arms of the house will come into this old museum chamber and put on white gloves, he'll take the mace out of the display case, he'll carry it out to the hall of presidents and make a left turn at the washington statue and head down into the east wing are where the house of delegates convenes. when the speaker gives the nod, the sergeant at arms holds up the mace in front of the members and he said, the virginia house of delegates is now in session. >> right now we are standing on the floor inside of the virginia house of delegates chamber. we're located in the east wing of the virginia state capitol. and ever since 1906, this room has been the meeting place of for 100 lawmakers, chosen by the people of virginia. and the lawmakers in the house of delegates have a two-year term and they are eligible for re-election. this is also the room where we
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have joint sessions of the virginia general assembly and we know we'll have at least one a year, every january, when the governor presides and delivers his state of the commonwealth address. >> and to the people of virginia, who are with us tonight or who are watching from home, thank you for the honor of serving as this commonwealth's 72nd governor. >> 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. get asked questions about that all of the time. 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 on law making for the greater good of the population at large. so every year in january we'll have a joint session. 40 senators are given temporary
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seating along the back side of the house chamber. the 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, often from other parts of the world. in 1946, during the general assembly, we held a joint session to receive sir winston spencer churchill. who came to us in his capacity as a private citizen and made a very well received address. that was just two days after his very famous speech in missouri about an iron curtain descending upon europe after world war ii. >> we should stand together in malice [ inaudible ]. in greed for nothing. but in defense of those those which we hold dear, not only for our own benefit, but because we
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believe they mean the hopper and the happiness of long generations of men. [ applause ] >> and more recent years we have received in joint session 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 ] >> who of course was the first female prime minister of the united kingdom. and just a few years ago, to mark the 4 hundredth anniversary of english settlement in north america, her majesty the queen of great britain was here and gave a well received speech to a packed chamber. when you look up, you see the
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original 1906 oval skylight. you also see the use of dutch metal paint that gives you the gold guilding effects at a more affordable price and you see the use of what is known as trombloy, different panels plated to rep recent flat that have been carefully painted and you see also in the house sort of a 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 the burgundy and gold color scheme as a opposed to the blue and gold color scheme here. we have moved through the r rotunda of the capitol and into the west wing of our building. this is a chamber that is used by the senate of virginia. we have 40 members of the
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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. and then in even numbered years we have a longer session where we pass a state budget. and we're on the floor of the actual senate chamber. we are surrounded by edwardian onulence. the walls are not guilty of understatement. style and decor and color scheme that we see here has been carefully restored to resemble its appearance more than a hundred years ago. when people come into the senate chamber on guided tours, and they look up, they'll see a dramatic oval skylight. which is part of the 1906 design. and they will see small hand-painted monograms v.a.,
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standing for virginia up in each corner of the oval. and when they look around, they see the circa 1908, 1910 wall designeds with dutch metal paint that gives you the gold guilding. they see plasters wrapped around the chamber. if they are coming to the chamber during session, they wouldn't be on the floor. but they would be in a dramatic spectators gallery. there is a sweeping semi circular gallery for the general public that is along the back of the chamber that gives everybody who comes a bird's eye view on the activities of the senate. and 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 dais center stanley cup with ge
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working staff and the lieutenant governor who provides over our senate and the members of the senate have a four year term and eligibler for re-election and they each represent upwards of 200,000 constituents per senator. and one of the interesting features of our general assembly which dated back to 1619 is that it has always been been conscious design a part-time legislature. this chamber in terms of its visual presentation takes you back about a hundred years to the beginning of the 20th century. but in terms of its on going 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, lieutenant governor by the name of lawrence douglas wilder who, as lieutenant governor, provided
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over this senate and then he ran for successfully the governorship of the commonwealth of virginia. and in 1990, outside on the grounds of capitol square, he was sworn in as the first elected african-american governor of the state in our nation. >> i, lawrence douglas wilder. >> do solemnly swear. >> 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 incumbered upon me, as governor of virginia. according to the best of my ability. so help me god. congratulations. >> when wilder took his oath of
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office, and made an inaugural speech it was known to everybody that he had been a descendant of slaves who had lived in virginia in the 19th century who you had this interesting evolution from his own family from people living in slavery to people assuming the chair of the commonwealth of virginia. the virginia state capitol is a symbol of not only virginia, but of virginia people who have 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 the newer legislative wings an the brand-new underground extension that welcomes visitors to the
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capitol. the capitol itself is on one level, a pretty good fine arts museum with the sizable collection of paintings and of sculpture. it is also a really convincing civic classroom. we get about 118,000 visitors each year coming to see the capitol building. and they are coming to see it for all kinds of reasons. some of them want to visit a recognized historical attraction, some are coming here for civics education, some of them are coming here to participate in the process of self government. and all of them, i hope, will gain an appreciation for a time-tested workplace for enduring american principles, many of those principles having been engineered here in virginia going all the way back to the beginning of our general assembly in 1619 at jamestown.
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