he was commissioned to do the one on the national mall the same year we started building this building, which was 10 years after the memorial was put in place. and the man who designed the column dated white marble building that houses the lincoln memorial in washington, d.c. is the same man who designed the backdrop and the setting for this memorial here in lincoln. so, it is a wonderful piece of public art. nebraskans, much less people across the country, no it's to significanceof its because of the monument on the national mall in washington. our capital are typically very impressive pieces of architecture. our capital has very unique firsts. the first skyscraper state capital. the first to depart from the federal state capitol. it really does take some guidance to understand the depth

of the narrative that was built into this building to tell the story of nebraska, particularly of democracy as a form of government. come see our capitol. i think you will be rather amazed what used the compared to even state capitols in other states. we have perhaps a bit more pride in this than your average person, i suppose. today'sast stop on c-span cities to her in lincoln, nebraska, is the williams jennings bryan house, where the three-time president of 1902-1914.ived from

>> the only republic, resting superior from the mountain of a terminal truth. all men are created equal, they are endowed with unalienable , and that government derived of just powers from the consent of the governed. why am jennings bryan is one of nebraska's most famous and prominent politicians and he is probably most famous for the fact that he was nominated three partyby the democratic but he lost the election all three times. he moved to lincoln in 1887. he was a lawyer in central illinois. he went into kansas to connect

-- collect some debts and thought he would stop in lincoln to visit an old law school friend from the law school in chicago. he saw where lincoln and the state of nebraska were just booming, some of the fastest growing areas in the country at the time. he felt weak democratic parties a week democratic party. he started construction of this house in 1901. they fell in love with the hill the house is built on so they bought 10 acres and built the house on this hell. construction was started in 1901 dad took three years to build it. it's 11,000 square feet. was 10,000. budget

it is estimated she may have spent up to $17,000. the main level of the home was used primarily for entertaining and political events and receptions etc. they would host a number of world leaders even, but all kinds of political leaders, i guess the most prominent being woodrow wilson came out here to give brian support when he was trying to get the nomination for the 1912 convention which he did give him support. there were a lot of people international and national leaders that would come stop by and see him at this home. right now, we are in the lower level which is really the main activity of the family took place he goes we are in the office area right now, and this and mary didn their work. it she was a very active partner in his career.

very a combo's lady, valedictorian of her college class. got a law degree at the university of nebraska. could readman so she the european newspapers to see what they were saying about bryan. she was a very active participant in his political career. of thesk is a replica desk that was in his study. you can see the two chairs, bryan sat in one chair, mary sat and the other which reflected the team they were in his political career. there are a couple telephones over there that i would point out. at the time, there were two independent telephone companies in lincoln. if you subscribed to one, you couldn't talk to somebody that just subscribed to the other. so they subscribed to both, of course. here is an example of a political newsletter they published for close to 20 years.

this is similar to the standard or the nation or the national review. it had a huge circulation in the country, probably adjusted for population changes, probably greater than any of those magazines i mentioned. he got a chance to tell his political views in that circulation. for being oneous of the greatest orators in the country at the time. the most famous is by far the speech he gave in the 1896 democratic convention. it really turned that nomination over to him. we cannot have the nation's surplus, we instead have a gold

standard. if they dare to come out and defend the gold standard, we will fight them to the uttermost. behind the masses of this nation and the world, supported by the commercial interests, the labor interest, we will answer the demand for the gold standard by saying to them, you shall not come down from the crown of thorns. you will not crucify man on a cross of gold. voice bryan had this huge that you could hear all over the whole because in those days, there were not any microphones and loudspeakers etc. he was in a huge hall and most

speakers couldn't be heard by a hadof people, but bryan this booming voice though they could hear him and he gave this rousing speech, the final line being, they'll shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold. again, it was the main issue in that election, monetary policy and whether we stay on gold standard or add silver to the money supply. after he made that speech, people got so excited, they carried him out on their behold, hend lo and was nominated as the presidential nominee at the eight of -- age of 36. the impact he had on public , i think this country very few people realize the impact he had both on the democratic party and on policy in general. on the scene, the democratic party was the more conservative party, and bryan

was very much a liberal in his politics, very conservative in his religion. he turned the party on its head and it has never gone back. he was really the predecessor to franklin roosevelt, the new deal , and president johnson's great society. in the wall street journal did a feature article comparing obama to bryan. >> the c-span cities were of lincoln nebraska continues tomorrow with the literary life of the state capital. we will look at the letters of novelist, will it have other -- willeck hazer. that starts at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow on c-span. >> tonight, on the