facing not only ohio but across the united states. we need washington to focus in on infrastructure. our roads are crumbling. we need trump and our length lay to legislators to focus on that. >> voices from the road on c-span. ♪ the kansas state capitol you was built over 347 ye7 years, w sun usual. they started in 1866 after the civil war was over. we became a state january 29, 1861. that makes us 154 years old in 2015. they weren't able to start on

the building because of the civil war. when they did, they built it in sections. we are laid out like the u.s. capitol. they started with the east wing, which has our senate chamber. then they did the west wing, which has our house chamber. then they did the south wing which has the former supreme courtroom. then the north wing which has the state library and former secretary of state's office. then finally, the dome. that did take 37 years at a cost of approximately $3.2 million. it was quite a bit of money at that time. but they did spread it out over the 37 years. we are one of the few capitols that all the money was raised before they built. there were equal numbers of free states. kansas was going to break the tie. i believe that that's where the state motto comes from. our state motto is ad aspra

which stands for through the stars for difficulty. talking about how kansass are tough. they can get through anything. no matter what happens, they're going to make it through. this floor has the most famous mural on it that's in our capital, the tragic prelude. that was painted by john curry. when john stewart curry was painting the tragic prelude, he was commissioned to paint the story of kansas. he started off, there's -- it shows the first person and the buffalo hunters clearing the ray for the railroad so there was progress. he included some covered wagons that are painted heading west. the tragic prelude is in the

east wing of the building. the covered wagons are painted heading west representing the westward expansion which at one time kansas was the frontier. we were the last civilization before people headed out to c california. the main figure is john brown. he towers 12 feet tall in the painting. he is surrounded by the two sides of the civil war. the north and the south and the confederate flag and the united states flag. then there are two dead soldiers that rest at his feet. they represent everyone who died during the civil war. there's quite a lot of symbolism. there's also some -- there's a gentleman hiding in the background with a top hat. there's some discussion that might have been abraham lincoln. that was on the northern side. he wouldn't have been president at that time. since this was all prior to the

civil war. it's maybe some foreshadowing in there. of course, he included a tornado and a prairie fire in the painting as well, which says he represented the death and destruction associated with war, coming storms of war and the natural disasters we face in our state. john stewart curry, there's a lot of symbolism in there. then when you look off to the side, he includes the western meadow lark, which our state bird. a calm little bird and prairie scene to the left as you are looking straight ahead at all this tragedy that's going on in front of you. some people say he was a martyr. some people say he was a terrorist. here he is, our famous painting. people can come and it's art. you can interpret it how you would like. the state library is in the north wing. that was the last place that was

completed in the capitol building. it was at the time, it was about 1900. and annie digs was the first female state library. she had a lot of contributions to the way the library turned out. she wanted it to be a big open space. when you walk in, it's very welcoming. they choice stencilling in there to welcome people. when you look up, there's a pineapple stencil all over the ceiling. it's a symbol of welcome. there are some faces with father headdresses on. i guess that's welcoming, too. then there are bird faces eating berries on the sides of the walls. she is credited with also -- she was a populist which was -- kansas is the only state that had populism. we had a couple populist governors and some big figures who were involved in the populist movement. she reminded them the workers that when they were designing

the library, even though the bookshelves were empty at that time, at some point they would be holding a lot of books. they did reinforce the floor in the north wing knowing that at some point there would be books on all of those shelves. there is a glass floor. at that time, a lot of libraries had glass floors to let the natural light filter into the building. when people got electricity, they a lot of times got rid of the glass floors. luckily, we kept ours. the glass itself goes around the bookcases. so you can see in between. we have two original book lifts that the librarians can use today to move the books up and down from the first floor to the second floor. we also -- when you are in the capitol, we have the dome tour that you can climb 296 steps and go to the top of our building. we are taller than the nation's capitol by about 18 feet.

we are one of the few capitols -- we may be the only one. there's a few that can go to what we consider our seventh floor. but not many go to the very top. in fact, we're sure we're the only one. we go up to the top and we can go outside on the balcony at the top. you can see 40 miles. it's a beautiful view no matter the season. we tell people to go up several times a year because one tewint sum, spring, fall is fun to look. winter is when you can see the farthest. it's crisp, clear at that time. it's open to the public. it's beautiful. when you come into our protunda you see the glass surrounded by copper. you look up and you think you are looking to the top. but you are not. there's another 75 feet of space above that. that's the dome tour. it's a great tour if -- we stop on each of the levels. it's not a forced march to the top. it's a fun event. we don't -- if you are scared,

we don't make you go all the way to the top. with our recent renovation, we were able to add on quite a bit of space in the ground was given a -- basically a nice: visitor's center area with exhibit space. on permanent exhibit we have john brown sword, which a lot of people love to look at that, it was his, we don't know that he used it necessarily for anything. except he did carry it with him, and it is on display here. we also have the original constitution. constitution that made us a state is housed here in the building, and it's quite a wonderful original article. and it's right here and kids can see it, and adults can see it, and it's on display. although some kids can't read it now because it's in cursive. it's housed in the center of the

building. on the ground level. if we were looking up, we would see into the dome where that's at. when you're at the top of the capitol. as i mentioned, you can go out on the balcony and look and see for 40 miles. if you lean back on one of the four corners of that. you can see ed astra. he is a kansas indian warrior, he's 22 feet 2 inches tall. he's a bronze statue and i guess even though i mentioned earlier, it took us 37 years to complete our capitol, some people might say it wasn't completed until 2002, that is the year we put ed astor on top of the building. there was always notes that there should be a statue on top of the building, for a while the

goddess series was considered, she's the goddess of agriculture. she was considered a little too promiscuous for the state of kansas, she was not chosen. it is an iconic tribute to the original people who were here first, and so the colination did send representatives and there was a big ceremony when he was placed on top of the building. there's a little tie in for the old and the new. this is the archival collections for the nebraska state capitol. we house the architectural materials related to the design and construction of the present state capitol. one of the things that makes our