BGuthrie Photos: DC -- U.S. Capitol Visitor Center (Emancipation Hall)

DC -- U.S. Capitol Visitor Center (Emancipation Hall):

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. CAPVC_221229_001.JPG: POW/MIA Chair of Honor This Chair of Honor commemorates American service men and women who are prisoners of war or missing in action. The Basics Year: 2017 Location: Emancipation Hall, Capitol Visitor Center POW/MIA chairs are found across the United States, in sports arenas and stadiums, town halls and state capitols. The chairs are meant to represent those service members who are unable to fill them because of their sacrifices. They also remind us of the men and women who serve our country every day. The display of this chair was authorized by Congress in legislation that became law in 2016 and directed the Architect of the Capitol to obtain an appropriate chair featuring the POW/MIA symbol and place it in a permanent location in the U.S. Capitol. Resting upon a platform made of marble, the chair is flanked by the flag of the United States and the POW/MIA flag. A sash placed across its arms displays the POW/MIA symbol. A plaque recognizing captured or missing U.S. personnel is located on the wall above and behind the chair. The POW/MIA symbol appears at the top of the plaque, above the following text: Let this empty chair serve as a memorial to those who served in the military of our great nation, but have not returned home to us. They are Prisoners of War and Missing in Action. America will forever be grateful for your bravery and sacrifice in service to our nation. We will never forget. The insignia of the United States Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard are aligned across the bottom. It is common for POW/MIA commemorative chairs to be associated in some way with the location in which they are displayed; for example, one at a sports venue might be a folding stadium seat, and one in a town hall might correspond to the building's architectural style or historic period. The chair displayed in Emancipation hall is part of the history of the Capitol: it was one of 262 chairs ordered in 1857 for the new House of Representatives Chamber. The order was split between two manufacturers: Desk Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia, who made this chair, and Bemb� and Kimbel of New York. Designed by Architect of the Capitol Thomas Ustick Walter, these oak rococo revival chairs feature leather upholstery and deeply carved ornaments of scrolls, leaves and shields. Walter also designed accompanying desks, and this furniture was used in the House Chamber from 1857 until 1873, except for one year in which it was replaced by benches as part of an effort to facilitate hearing and more orderly debate. The desks and chairs were finally replaced with new ones that were arranged to accommodate increased membership in the House. Later the Walter chairs were sold or given to representatives. Over the years, some have turned up at auction. The above from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/pow-mia-chair-honor
2. CAPVC_221229_009.JPG: Let this empty chair serve as a memorial to those who served in the military of our great nation, but have not returned home to us. They are Prisoners of War and Missing in Action. America will forever be grateful for your bravery and sacrifice in service to our nation. We will never forget. [ Seals for US Army, US Marine Corps, US Navy, US Air Force, US Coast Guard ]
3. CAPVC_221229_019.JPG: Maria Sanford Statue The Basics Artist: Evelyn Raymond Materials: Bronze Year: 1958 Location: Emancipation Hall, Capitol Visitor Center This statue of Maria Sanford was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Minnesota in 1958. Maria Sanford was born in Saybrook, Connecticut, on December 19, 1836. Her love for education began early; at the age of 16 she was already teaching in county day schools. She graduated from Connecticut Normal School, using her dowry funds for tuition. She rose in the ranks of local and national educators, becoming principal and superintendent of schools in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and serving as professor of history at Swarthmore College from 1871 to 1880. She was one of the first women named to a college professorship. When the University of Minnesota asked her to join its faculty, she did so enthusiastically. During her tenure at the university (1880-1909) Sanford was a professor of rhetoric and elocution, and she lectured on literature and art history. She was a champion of women's rights, supported the education of blacks, pioneered the concept of adult education, and became a founder of parent-teacher organizations. Sanford was also a leader in the conservation and beautification program of her new state. She traveled throughout the United States delivering more than 1,000 patriotic speeches, the most famous being the powerful address "An Apostrophe to the Flag," that she delivered at a national Daughters of the American Revolution convention. She died on April 21, 1920, at the age of 83. In June of that year the University of Minnesota held a memorial convocation in her honor. She was called "the best loved woman of the North Star State." The above from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/maria-sanford-statue
4. CAPVC_221229_023.JPG: Learn more about the statues in Emancipation Hall with Who Are the People? Download the app here...
5. CAPVC_221229_028.JPG: The best known and best loved woman in Minnesota Maria L. Sanford Educator * Orator * Civic Leader Sturdy and resilient puritan, whose perceptive mind and reverence for classic truth and beauty quickened intellectual life within the Pioneer State of Minnesota and beyond its frontiers. December 19, 1836 * April 21, 1920
6. CAPVC_221229_032.JPG: Raoul Wallenberg Bust The bronze portrait bust of Raoul Wallenberg was donated to the United States Congress in 1995. The shaft was a gift from the government of Sweden. The Basics Artist: Miri Margolin Materials: Bronze Year: 1995 Location: Emancipation Hall, Capitol Visitor Center Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish humanitarian who worked at his country's legation in Budapest during World War II and used his diplomatic status to save the lives of tens of thousands of Jews threatened by the occupying Nazi forces and their Hungarian collaborators. His determination and accomplishments in the face of great opposition and personal danger have made him a figure honored around the world. Born into a prominent and wealthy family near Stockholm on August 4, 1912, Raoul Wallenberg came to the United States in 1931 to study architecture at the University of Michigan. When he returned to Sweden and was unable to find work as an architect, he obtained positions with a Swedish firm in Cape Town, South Africa, and the Holland Bank in Haifa (today in northern Israel). In 1936, he returned to his native country and joined an export-import company owned by a Hungarian Jew, Kalman Lauer. After Hungary's adoption of anti-Jewish policies in 1938, Wallenberg learned Hungarian and in 1941 began frequent trips to Budapest, where Lauer could no longer travel easily. When the persecution and deportation of Hungarian Jews became widely known in 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt created the War Refugee Board to take action to rescue Jews from Nazi extermination. The Board's representative in Sweden, Ivor Olsen, identified Wallenberg as a person who could lead this effort in Hungary with funding and assistance from the U.S. Department of State. Wallenberg agreed to go to Budapest to undertake this task. The Swedish government assisted by designating Wallenberg as a first secretary in the Swedish Legation in Budapest. Wallenberg worked with a colleague in the Swedish Legation and with Jewish organizations in Budapest to save Jewish lives. One of his creative innovations was to issue what Germans called Shutz-Passe (protective passports), which identified individuals as Swedish subjects, and thus not eligible for deportation to death camps. Though the documents were not legally valid, they did save the lives of many Hungarian Jews. With funds provided by the United States government, Wallenberg also rented 32 buildings and declared them Swedish diplomatic facilities, thus protected by diplomatic immunity. Eventually, an estimated 13,000 people were housed there; among them was the young Tom Lantos, who would later become the only Holocaust survivor elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. For his own safety, Wallenberg slept in a different house each night. As the Soviet Army reached the outskirts of Budapest, and it was clear that the Nazis would lose Hungary, German military authorities planned to destroy the central Budapest Ghetto and kill the estimated 70,000 Jews there. Wallenberg learned of the plan and sent a message to SS General August Schmidthuber, commander in Budapest, telling him that if he destroyed the ghetto, he (Wallenberg) would personally see that Schmidthuber was tried for murder and genocide in the War Crimes Tribunal being planned after the end of the war. In January 1945, the Soviet Army liberated the city of Budapest and Nazi troops withdrew to the West. Wallenberg was directed by the Soviet commander in Hungary to come to the eastern Hungarian city of Debrecen, where his headquarters was located. The day he left Budapest, Soviet leaders issued a secret order for Wallenberg's arrest. He was taken to Moscow's infamous Lubyanka Prison, and he was never seen outside prison after that time. In 1956, Soviet officials requested a report on the fate of Wallenberg. The report said he had died of a heart attack in 1947. It also indicated that he had been arrested for spying for Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union. Although Soviet officials said he had died in 1947, reports that Wallenberg was still alive in the Soviet Gulag were circulating until as late as 1991. Family members and others concerned about his fate continued to press the Soviet Government for information. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, additional intelligence information was made public, but no satisfactory explanation of his fate has been forthcoming. In October 1981, Raoul Wallenberg was made an honorary citizen of the United States with the adoption of legislation introduced by Representative Lantos and signed by President Ronald Reagan, and he was honored on a U.S. postage stamp in 1997. The Bust The smaller-than-life-size bust seems to capture Raoul Wallenberg's modesty and slim physique. Wallenberg's head is positioned looking straight ahead and his facial expression is solemn. The sculptor, Miri Margolin, depicted the subject's strong nose and showed him in a business suit and tie. The surface is enlivened by the tool marks in the original rough clay from which the bronze was cast. The shaft of polished Swedish granite, on which the bust sits, was a gift from the government of Sweden. In June 1994, Congress adopted a resolution "to accept a bust of Raoul Wallenberg and to place the bust in an appropriate location in the Capitol" (H. Con. Res. 222). The bust was donated by Mrs. Lillian Hoffman of Denver, Colorado, the organizer of the Colorado Committee of Concern for Soviet Jewry and chairperson of the Raoul Wallenberg National Commission. On November 2, 1995, it was dedicated at a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda; the unveiling was performed by Ms. Nina Lagergren, Raoul Wallenberg's sister, as well as Mrs. Lantos, the sculptor, and the donor. Remarks were made by the Speakers of the Hungarian parliament, the Knesset of Israel, and the Swedish parliament in addition to members of the congressional leadership. After being displayed in the Capitol's first-floor small House rotunda for 14 years, the bust was placed in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center in April 2009, as approved by the Joint Committee on the Library. The Sculptor Israeli sculptor Miri Margolin, the aunt of former Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu, created the bronze bust. Born in Poland, she immigrated to Israel with her family in 1920. Originally a ceramic artist, she began creating portraits to be cast in bronze late in her career; her first depicted her nephew who died commanding the rescue of Jewish hostages held in Entebbe, Uganda. She then created a series of portrait busts of Israeli leaders and international peace makers, including David Ben-Gurion, Yitzhak Shamir, Shimon Peres, Moshe Dayan, Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat, and President Jimmy Carter. She created the portrait of Wallenberg after meeting his half brother and being given photographs of him from which to work. The above from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/raoul-wallenberg-bust
7. CAPVC_221229_040.JPG: Raoul Wallenberg Swedish Humanitarian Raoul Wallenberg's mission of mercy on behalf of the United States during World War II was unprecedented in the history of mankind. He was responsible for saving tens of thousands of lives during the Holocaust. A shining light in the dark and depraved world, he proved that one person with the courage to care can make a difference. Dedicated on November 2, 1995, Fifty years after his disappearance
8. CAPVC_221229_049.JPG: Helen Keller Statue The Basics Artist: Edward Hlavka Materials: Bronze Year: 2009 Location: Emancipation Hall, Capitol Visitor Center This statue of Helen Keller was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Alabama in 2009. Helen Adams Keller was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. When she was 19 months old, an illness (possibly scarlet fever or meningitis), left her deaf, blind and unable to speak. From her childhood teacher and life-long companion, Annie Sullivan, she learned to communicate by touch, Braille, and the use of a special typewriter; in 1890 a teacher from a Boston school for the deaf taught her to speak. She attended the Cambridge School for Young Ladies and then entered Radcliffe College, from which she graduated with honors in 1904. Settling outside Boston, Keller and Sullivan collaborated on Helen's autobiography, The Story of My Life. Soon, encouraged by Sullivan's husband, Keller embraced a variety of social causes, including woman suffrage. She lectured and wrote in support of these causes as well as to call attention to the plight of the physically handicapped. Following World War II, she and her secretary, Polly Thompson, traveled abroad to support the blind. She died on June 1, 1968, in Westport, Connecticut; her ashes are interred at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The Statue The statue by Edward Hlavka depicts a moment made famous in the biographical play and movie The Miracle Worker. It shows Keller as a seven-year-old girl wearing a pinafore over her dress. Details of the Helen Keller statue. She stands at an ivy-entwined water pump with her right hand on the pump handle and her left beneath the spout to feel the flow of the water. Her expression of astonishment shows the moment when she and Annie Sullivan first communicated, by touch, the word "water." On the front of the statue's self base, above the name "Helen Keller," is a relief image of Ivy Green, the Keller family estate, accompanied by explanatory text. On the proper left and right sides are, respectively, a statement about the significance of her college graduation and a quotation from Keller about Annie Sullivan’s importance to her life. The pedestal is clad with panels of Alabama White Marble. On the front is a bronze plaque bearing another quotation: "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart." The inscriptions appear in both raised letters and Braille characters. The Sculptor Edward Hlavka, a native of South Dakota, began to create and exhibit sculpture while in grade school. Later, inspired by the works of Renaissance masters during travel in Italy, he attended the College of Art and Design in Minneapolis and continued his studies in workshops, classes, and apprenticeships. His work has received awards in national exhibitions. Among his sculptures are portraits of Presidents Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and George Bush for the City of Presidents; and a monument representing the Oneida Indian Nation for the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian. The above from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/helen-keller-statue
9. CAPVC_221229_056.JPG: Helen Keller "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart." -- Helen Keller Alabama
10. CAPVC_221229_058.JPG: Ivy Green is located on 640 acres. It was built by Helen's grandparents and named for the ivy that covered its exterior. Helen Keller "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart." -- Helen Keller Alabama
11. CAPVC_221229_060.JPG: Ivy Green is located on 640 acres. It was built by Helen's grandparents and named for the ivy that covered its exterior.
12. CAPVC_221229_065.JPG: In June 1904 Helen graduated from Radcliffe with honors, the most well educated deaf-blind person in the world
13. CAPVC_221229_079.JPG: "My birthday can never mean as much to me as the arrival of Annie Sullivan on March 3, 1887. That was my soul's birthday." -- Helen Keller
14. CAPVC_221229_086.JPG: Sakakawea Statue The Basics Artist: Leonard Crunelle Materials: Bronze Year: 2003 Location: Capitol Visitor Center This statue of Sakakawea was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by North Dakota in 2003. In 1800, at about the age of 12, a Shoshone girl was captured by the Hidatsa tribe in an area that is now North Dakota. Her original name is not known, but she was given a new name by her captors. The State of North Dakota has adopted Sakakawea as the most accurate English representation of this name, which means "Bird Woman," although other spellings (e.g., Sacagawea and Sacajawea) are also used. By 1804 Sakakawea had become the wife of a French-Canadian, Pierre Charbonneau, who was hired in that year as an interpreter for the northwest expedition headed by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. She traveled with the party and assisted with translation and made contacts with Shoshone and Hidatsa people, who considered the presence of a woman a sign that the expedition was peaceful. She served as a guide and gathered edible plants along the route. Her son Jean Baptiste was born on February 11, 1805, in winter quarters at Fort Mandan in North Dakota, and she carried him with her when travel resumed. After the return of the expedition in 1806, Sakakawea and her husband and son lived in the Mandan and Hidatsa villages. She is believed to have died of a fever in 1812 at Fort Manuel near Kenel, South Dakota. The Statue The statue is a replica of one dedicated in 1910 on the grounds of the state capitol in Bismarck at the entrance to the North Dakota Heritage Center. The statue is by Leonard Crunelle (1872–1944), who was born in France and emigrated to United States in 1882. He worked in mines in Illinois until 1893, when he became a student and apprentice of sculptor Lorado Taft in Chicago. His model for Sakakawea was her granddaughter, Mink Woman, from the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. The General Federation of Women's Clubs of North Dakota raised funds for the replica, as they did for the original statue. The replica was cast by Arizona Bronze Atelier, whose owner is a Bismarck native. It weighs 875 pounds and stands on a granite pedestal weighing over two tons. The replica was displayed in North Dakota before it was transported to Washington, D.C. In selecting Sakakawea as the subject of this statue, the state legislature chose to honor her as a " traveler and guide, a translator, a diplomat, and a wife and mother" and to recognize that " her indomitable spirit was a decided factor in the success of Lewis and Clark's...expedition." Their choice appears to agree with the sentiment expressed by William Clark in a letter to Sakakawea's husband almost two centuries ago: "your woman who accompanied you that long dangerous and fatiguing rout to the Pacific Ocean and back deserved a greater reward for her attention and services on that rout than we had in our power to give her." The statue was in place in the Capitol for the beginning of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The above was from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/sakakawea-statue
15. CAPVC_221229_094.JPG: North Dakota Sakakawea A member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 1804-1806
16. CAPVC_221229_099.JPG: Sakakawea -- Copyrighted Oct. 11, 1910 By Leonard Crunelle
17. CAPVC_221229_102.JPG: Kamehameha I Statue The Basics Artist: Thomas R. Gould Materials: Bronze Year: 1969 Location: Emancipation Hall, Capitol Visitor Center This statue of King Kamehameha I was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Hawaii in 1969. King Kamehameha I was born at Kokoiki in the Kohala district of the Island of Hawai'i about 1758. He grew into a courageous warrior and was said to have overturned the huge Naha Stone in Hilo. According to native belief, such a feat indicated superhuman strength and foreshadowed the inevitable conquest of all of Hawai'i. Upon the death of his uncle, Chief Kalaniopu'u, Kamehameha received custody of the war gods and the temples, while the late chief's son, Kiwala'ō, inherited the island. However, district chiefs became dissatisfied with Kiwala'ō's methods of redistricting the lands. A struggle ensued between Kiwala'ō's forces and the various chiefs under the leadership of Kamehameha. His cousin was killed, and Kamehameha attained control of half the Island of Hawai'i. During the struggle, Kamehameha's "divine right" was exemplified by a rare explosive eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, which wiped out parts of the opposing army. In 1785 Kamehameha married Ka'ahumanu, the daughter of one of his most trusted advisors. In 1790, after attaining control of the remainder of Hawai'i Island, he successfully invaded the Islands of Maui, Lāna'i, and Moloka'i. By 1810, he had unified all the inhabited islands of Hawai'i under his rule. As king, Kamehameha placed capable followers in charge of large districts. He encouraged trade and peaceful activities, and he presided over the opening of Hawai'i to the rest of the world. On May 8, 1819, King Kamehameha I, also referred to today as Kamehameha the Great, died at Kailua in the district of Kona on his home Island of Hawai'i. His remains were hidden with such secrecy, according to ancient custom, that "only the stars know his final resting place." The Statue American sculptor Thomas R. Gould depicted Kamehameha in his regal garb, including a helmet of rare feathers attached to woven plant fibers. The gilded cloak is based on one that Kamehameha's subjects made for the king by weaving yellow feathers of native birds into a fine mesh net. The sandals, although not historically accurate, suggest the type of footwear that Kamehameha would have worn. The spear in his left hand symbolizes the ability to defend oneself and one's nation; it is also a reminder that Kamehameha ended the wars among the Hawaiian people. His right hand is extended in a gesture of aloha, the traditional spirit of friendly greeting. Gould was commissioned to create a statue of Kamehameha by the legislature of the Kingdom of Hawai'i and modeled the figure at his studio in Rome in 1879. It was cast in bronze at a Paris foundry in 1880 but was lost in a shipwreck on its way to Hawai'i. A second statue was cast from the same model and arrived safely; it was unveiled by Hawai'i's last king, Kalakaua, in 1883 in front of the Judiciary Building in Honolulu, where it still remains. The first statue was subsequently recovered and brought to Hawai'i; in 1912 it was placed at Kohala Court House in Kapa'au on the Island of Hawai'i, in Kamehameha's home district. The statue in the Capitol was made from molds taken of the Honolulu statue. It was dedicated along with a statue of Father Damien, Hawai'i's other gift to the National Statuary Hall collection, at a ceremony held on April 15, 1969 in the Capitol Rotunda. The statue was moved to National Statuary Hall in June of that year. The great weight of the bronze statue and its solid granite base (over 6 tons) make it one of the heaviest objects in the collection, so a major factor in its location is the need to support it safely. In 2008 the statue was moved to Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center. Every year on Kamehameha Day (June 11, a state holiday in Hawai'i), Emancipation Hall is the scene of a ceremony in honor of the king. The statue is draped with leis of flowers from Hawai'i and hula dancers per-form before portrayers of Kamehameha and Ka'ahu-manu. The above was from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/kamehameha-i-statue
18. CAPVC_221229_113.JPG: First King of All Hawaii United the island chiefdoms into a peaceful kingdom c. 1758-1819
19. CAPVC_221229_122.JPG: T.R. Gould Inv. et. Fetit Florence, 1879
20. CAPVC_221229_131.JPG: William Edgar Borah Statue The Basics Artist: Bryant Baker Materials: Bronze Year: 1947 Location: Capitol Visitor Center This statue of William Edgar Borah was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Idaho in 1947. William Edgar Borah was born on June 29, 1865, on a farm in Jasper, Illinois. His schooling included the Wayne County common schools and the Southern Illinois Academy at Enfield. Graduating from the University of Kansas at Lawrence in 1889, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in September 1890. After practicing law in Lyons, Kansas, and Boise, Idaho, Borah was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1907 and served until 1940. A member of the Republican National Committee from 1908 to 1912, he was a delegate to the 1912 Republican National Convention. As a Senator he was dedicated to principles rather than party loyalty. He disliked entangling alliances in foreign policy and became a prominent isolationist. He encouraged the formation of a series of world economic conferences and favored a low tariff. From 1925 to 1933, Borah served as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Domestically, he sponsored bills that created the Department of Labor and the Children's Bureau. He was one of the Senators responsible for uncovering the scandals of the Harding Administration. Borah supported Roosevelt's New Deal, especially old age pensions and the reduced gold content of the dollar. Known for his integrity, eloquent speaking ability, and genuine concern for his constituents, William E. Borah died in Washington, D.C., on January 19, 1940. The above was from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/william-edgar-borah-statue
21. CAPVC_221229_138.JPG: William E. Borah 1865-1940 Idaho
22. CAPVC_221229_140.JPG: Slave Labor Commemorative Marker The Basics Materials: Sandstone Year: 2012 Location: Emancipation Hall, Capitol Visitor Center On Tuesday, February 28, 2012, Congress unveiled a marker to commemorate the important role played by laborers, including enslaved African Americans, in building the United States Capitol. Their contributions were essential for the constructing what would later become known as the Temple of Liberty. When construction of the U.S. Capitol Building began in 1793, Washington, D.C., was little more than a rural landscape with dirt roads and few accommodations beyond a small number of boarding houses. Skilled labor was hard to find or attract to the fledgling city. Enslaved laborers, who were rented from their owners, were involved in almost every stage of construction. The federal government relied heavily on enslaved labor to ensure the new capital city would be ready to receive Congress when it moved to Washington from Philadelphia in 1800. A Mark of Remembrance To commemorate the role that slave labor played in the construction of the Capitol Building, House Concurrent Resolution 135 was passed by Congress directing the Architect of the Capitol to design, procure and install a slave labor marker in a prominent location in Emancipation Hall. The design and location incorporated the recommendations developed by the Congressional Slave Labor Task Force Working Group. The marker features a single block of Aquia Creek sandstone, which was originally part of the Capitol’s East Front Portico, presented on a platform clad in Cedar Tavernalle marble. The original chisel marks on the sandstone are in view so visitors can see the physical effort required to hew the stone. A hole in the top of the stone was cut to receive a lifting ring used to raise the stone out of the quarry. A bronze plaque is centered on the presentation wall, with an inscription approved by Congress, acknowledging the efforts of all who worked on the Capitol Building. The inscription reads: THIS SANDSTONE WAS ORIGINALLY PART OF THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL'S EAST FRONT, CONSTRUCTED IN 18-24-1826. IT WAS QUARRIED BY LABORERS, INCLUDING ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS, AND COMMEMORATES THEIR IMPORTANT ROLE IN BUILDING THE CAPITOL. A Historic Contribution Although the entire contribution of enslaved African Americans in the construction of the Capitol Building cannot be determined due the scarcity of documentation, there is enough information to know that the role they played had a significant impact on the project. The site of the new capital city was located in an area that had few carpenters, bricklayers, stone cutters and other tradesmen necessary to construct such a project. Engineers and architects were brought in from other areas, but the majority of the work fell upon the laborers in the area, who were comprised mostly of African American slaves. These slaves, as well as other the laborers, quarried the stone used for the floors, walls and columns of the Capitol, sawed both wood and stone, and became skilled in brick making and laying. Carpentry was also one of the more significant contributions slaves made to the construction of the Capitol as they framed the roof and installed its shingle covering. One of the most significant contributions by an African American slave was made by Philip Reid, who deciphered the puzzle of how to separate the five-piece plaster model of the Statue of Freedom. Today, he and countless others are recognized for the role they played in building this monumental and historic symbol of democracy. The marker is located towards the western end of the northern wall of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) where it is bathed in sunlight for a portion of each day and will not interfere with visitor flow. The intensity of the daylight will enhance the visibility of tool marks on the presentation stone. The marker is open to all visitors to the CVC, where visitors can learn more about the Capitol Building and its history. The above was from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/slave-labor-commemorative-marker
23. CAPVC_221229_143.JPG: This sandstone was originally part of the United States Capitol's East Front, constructed in 1824-1826. It was quarried by laborers, including enslaved African Americans, and commemorates their important role in building the Capitol.
24. CAPVC_221229_159.JPG: Jeannette Rankin Statue The Basics Artist: Terry Mimnaugh Materials: Bronze Year: 1985 Location: Capitol Visitor Center This statue of Jeannette Rankin was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Montana in 1985. Jeannette Rankin was born on June 11, 1880, near Missoula, Montana. Educated in the public schools, she graduated from the University of Montana in 1902 and studied at the School of Philanthropy in New York City. She undertook social work in Seattle, Washington, in 1909 and in subsequent years worked for woman suffrage in Washington, California and Montana. She traveled to New Zealand in 1915 and gained first-hand knowledge of social conditions by working as a seamstress. In 1916, Rankin became the first woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican Senate nomination in 1918, engaged in social work for the next three decades, and was re-elected to the House in 1940. She did not seek re-election in 1942. In her last 30 years she was a rancher, a lecturer, and a lobbyist for peace and women's rights. Rankin supported the cause of peace throughout her life. She voted against America's entry into World Wars I and II, and she was the only member of Congress to oppose the declaration of war on Japan. She died in Carmel, California, on May 18, 1973. The above was from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/jeannette-rankin-statue
25. CAPVC_221229_166.JPG: Jeannette Rankin "I cannot vote for war" 1880-1973
26. CAPVC_221229_168.JPG: God grant us the courage and wisdom to insist the abundance we have here today may be shared with all mankind, that freedom, justice, righteousness, brotherhood and everlasting peace be established throughout the world. -- Jeannette Rankin
27. CAPVC_221229_177.JPG: Po'pay Statue The Basics Artist: Cliff Fragua Materials: Marble Year: 2005 Location: Capitol Visitor Center This statue of Po'pay was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by New Mexico in 2005. Po'pay was born around 1630 in the San Juan Pueblo, in what is now the state of New Mexico; his given name, Popyn, means "ripe squash" in the Tewa language. As an adult he became a religious leader and was responsible for healing as well as for his people's spiritual life. He also knew of his people's suffering under Spanish settlers, who forced them to provide labor and food to support the Spanish community. The Spaniards also pressured them to give up their religion and way of life and to adopt Christianity—those found practicing their religion were tortured and sometimes executed. In 1675, Po'pay and 46 other Pueblo leaders were convicted of sorcery; he was among those flogged, while others were executed. In 1680 Po’pay organized the Pueblo Revolt against the Spanish. According to legend, to coordinate the timing of the uprising, he and his followers sent runners to each pueblo with knotted deerskin strips. One knot was to be untied each day, and the revolt would begin on the day the last one was untied. However, the Spaniards arrested two of the runners, and the pueblos were quickly notified to accelerate the revolt. The attacks began on August 10, two days before the last knot would have been untied. The Spaniards took refuge at Santa Fe; the besieging Indians cut off their water supply but soon permitted them to leave the area. The Pueblo Revolt helped to ensure the survival of the Pueblo culture and shaped the history of the American Southwest. The Statue In 1997, the New Mexico Legislature selected Po'pay as the subject of the state's second statue for the National Statuary Hall Collection and created the New Mexico Statuary Hall Commission, whose members were appointed by Governor Gary Johnson. Four sculptors were selected to create maquettes, and Cliff Fragua was awarded the commission in December 1999. It will be the seventh statue of a Native American in the collection; the others are King Kamehameha I, Will Rogers (who had Cherokee ancestors), Sakakawea, Sequoyah, Washakie and Sarah Winnemucca. The seven-foot-high statue was carved from pink Tennessee marble (making it the only colored marble statue in the collection) and stands on a three-foot-high pedestal comprised of a steel frame clad in black granite. Its acceptance marked the first time at which every state in the Union has been represented by two statues in the collection. In addition, Po'pay is historically the first person represented in the collection to be born on what would become American soil. No image or written description of Po'pay is known to exist. Sculptor Cliff Fragua describes the statue thus: In my rendition, he holds in his hands items that will determine the future existence of the Pueblo people. The knotted cord in his left hand was used to determine when the Revolt would begin. As to how many knots were used is debatable, but I feel that it must have taken many days to plan and notify most of the Pueblos. The bear fetish in his right hand symbolizes the center of the Pueblo world, the Pueblo religion. The pot behind him symbolizes the Pueblo culture, and the deerskin he wears is a humble symbol of his status as a provider. The necklace that he wears is a constant reminder of where life began, and his clothing consists of a loin cloth and moccasins in Pueblo fashion. His hair is cut in Pueblo tradition and bound in a chongo. On his back are the scars that remain from the whipping he received for his participation and faith in the Pueblo ceremonies and religion. * Please Note: We realize that many choose to visit the U.S. Capitol to honor Po'pay by placing ceremonial offerings on his statue. For security purposes, however, cornmeal and other offerings may not be placed on any statues in the Capitol. The Sculptor Cliff Fragua, an Indian from Jemez Pueblo, studied sculpture in Italy, California, and New Mexico; he created his first stone sculpture in 1974. The above was from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/popay-statue
28. CAPVC_221229_183.JPG: New Mexico Po' Pay Holy Man -- Farmer -- Defender Leader of the Indian Pueblo Revolt Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan Pueblo) 1680
29. CAPVC_221229_186.JPG: Due to security requirements, please do not leave customary offerings on this statue.
30. CAPVC_221229_198.JPG: Joseph Ward Statue The Basics Artist: Bruno Begh� Materials: Marble Year: 1963 Location: Emancipation Hall, Capitol Visitor Center This statue of Joseph Ward was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by South Dakota in 1963. Joseph Ward was born at Perry Center, New York, on May 5, 1838. After attending public schools, he taught and farmed before entering Phillips Academy, Andover. He graduated from Brown University and Andover Theological Seminary. Accepting a missionary appointment, he was ordained in 1869 at Yankton, capital of the Dakota Territory, where he organized and directed church efforts. Because there were no public school funds, Ward opened a private school, which became Yankton Academy. Later given over to public control, it became the earliest high school in Dakota. Ward was instrumental in the founding of Yankton College, the first collegiate-rank institution of the upper Mississippi Valley, and served as its president. He played an important part in keeping school lands out of the control of eastern speculators. He was the first president of the Yankton Board of Education. He also helped establish in 1879 the Dakota Hospital for the Insane. Ward was a leader in the movement for South Dakota statehood, serving as a delegate to the various conventions and as a member of the 1885 committee to present the petition for statehood to Congress. He drafted much of the constitution and was chairman of the committee charged with keeping the convention records. He composed the state motto and wrote the description for the state seal. Bedridden and unable to attend the final constitutional convention in 1889, he died on December 11, 1889. The above was from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/joseph-ward-statue
31. CAPVC_221229_225.JPG: The Model for the Statue of Freedom
32. CAPVC_221229_251.JPG: Sojourner Truth Bust This bust is the first sculpture to honor an African American woman in the United States Capitol. The Basics Artist: Artis Lane Materials: Bronze Year: 2009 Location: Emancipation Hall, Capitol Visitor Center The woman whom history remembers as Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree in 1797. Her parents, James and Elizabeth Baumfree, were slaves on an estate in Ulster County, New York, north of New York City. She was one of 13 children and grew up speaking Dutch. She was first sold at auction around the age of 9. In 1815 she bore her first child, a daughter, to a slave named from a neighboring farm whose owner forbade them to marry. Two years later Isabella's owner compelled her to marry one of his own slaves, with whom she had a son and three daughters. Before she was 30 Isabella had had five owners. In 1826, a year before the state of New York completed its gradual emancipation of slaves, her owner, Dumont, reneged on a promise to free her as a reward for hard work. Infuriated, she worked until she believed that she had satisfied her obligation to him and then walked away with her infant daughter. A couple named Van Wenger took them in and paid her owner $20 as compensation for her services until emancipation took effect in 1827. During her time with the Van Wengers, Isabella successfully sued for the return of her son, Peter, whom Dumont had illegally sold to an owner in Alabama. After a profound religious experience, she became a devout Christian and began to preach. She and Peter moved in 1829 to New York City, where she worked for and with two Christian evangelists over more than a decade. On June 1, 1843, Isabella changed her name to Sojourner Truth and set out to travel and preach about abolition and women's rights, telling her friends, "The Spirit calls me, and I must go." The next year she joined an abolitionist community in Massachusetts, but it dissolved in 1846, and Truth again supported herself as a housekeeper. The year 1850 was a momentous one for her: her memoirs, which she had dictated to a friend, were published as The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave; she purchased a home in Northampton; and she spoke at the first National Women's Rights Convention in Worcester. In 1851, traveling with abolitionist speaker George Thompson, she attended the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio, and delivered her famous speech "Ain't I a Woman?," in which she drew attention to the stark contrast between treatment of white and black women and supported the rising feminist movement: That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get it—and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne five children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman? . . . If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it. The men better let them. Her renown spread during the next decade, as she spoke before abolitionist and suffragist audiences in Ohio, New York (where she met Harriet Beecher Stowe, who later wrote about Truth as "the Libyan Sibyl"), and Michigan. In 1857 she bought a house in Harmonia, Michigan, west of Battle Creek, where she settled with her daughter Elizabeth and two grandsons. During the Civil War, Truth helped recruit black troops for the Union Army, and her grandson James Caldwell enlisted. In 1864, while working for the National Freedman's Relief Association in Washington, D.C., to improve conditions for African-Americans, she met with President Abraham Lincoln. After the war she worked at the Freedman's Hospital in Washington, and she helped force the desegregation of local streetcars. Beginning in 1868, she spoke all around the East Coast for several years on the subjects of abolition and women's rights; she also unsuccessfully sought federal land grants for former slaves. She returned to Battle Creek, where she had bought a home in 1867, and spent many of her remaining years preaching and lecturing. On November 26, 1883, she died at her home, and she was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek. The Bust The bronze bust of abolitionist and women's-rights advocate Sojourner Truth is the first sculpture to honor an African American woman in the United States Capitol. The over-life-size bust shows her in a cap and shawl similar to those in which she was often photographed. She is depicted with a smile suggesting confidence and determination. The texture of her hair and shawl contrast with the smooth surfaces of the face and underblouse. Acceptance of a bust of Sojourner Truth was authorized by Public Law 109–427, signed by the president on December 6, 2006. The bust was donated by the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. Having Sojourner Truth represented in the Capitol was a long-time dream of the organization's co-founder and first president, the late C. Delores Tucker. Her decades-long efforts were fulfilled under the leadership of Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esquire, National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, Inc. The bust was unveiled on April 28, 2009, in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center, where it will be on permanent display as approved by the Joint Committee on the Library. The Sculptor Artis Lane is a California-based sculptor known for her bronze and painted portraits of famous Americans of political and cultural significance; she has also created expressive figurative sculpture representing timeless, generic men and women emerging from the ceramic mold. Lane has also created portraits of Rosa Parks and designed the Rosa Parks Congressional Medal of Honor. Born in Ontario, Canada, in 1927, she studied at the Art College in Toronto and at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and University of California in Los Angeles. She has been actively exhibiting her work and fulfilling commissions since the 1980s. In 2007, the California African American Museum mounted a retrospective exhibition of 60 years of her work. The above was from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/sojourner-truth-bust
33. CAPVC_221229_255.JPG: Learn more about Sojourner Truth Download the Who Are the People? app ...
34. CAPVC_221229_257.JPG: Sojourner Truth Suffragist/Abolitionist 1797-1883
35. CAPVC_221229_286.JPG: The tour guide was showing us the photo that the sculpture was based on.
36. CAPVC_221229_295.JPG: Frederick Douglass Statue The Basics Artist: Steven Weitzman Materials: Bronze Year: 2013 Location: Emancipation Hall, Capitol Visitor Center Born to an enslaved mother and unidentified white father in Talbot County, Maryland, in early 1818, he was first named Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. In the first two decades of his life, he was given, lent, or hired out to various masters, but he also learned to read and write after a white woman taught him the alphabet. Reading books and newspapers gave him a new perspective on slavery that was doubtlessly reinforced by his time with an especially brutal "slave-breaker," and he dedicated himself to becoming a free man. After his first escape plan was discovered he was jailed for a time, but in 1838 he managed to reach New York. Less than two weeks later he married Anna Murray, a free black housekeeper whom he had met a year earlier at a debating club and who had helped in his escape. The couple, who would have five children, moved to Massachusetts and took the surname Douglass. Douglass entered public life as a speaker at antislavery meetings. In 1845 he published "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," the first of his three autobiographies; it became a bestseller but also drew attention to his escape from slavery, making him a potential target for arrest and return to his former owner. He travelled and spoke for two years in Britain and Ireland, where supporters raised enough money to purchase his manumission, allowing him to return to the United States a legally free man. Settling in Rochester, New York, he began publishing The North Star, one of several abolitionist newspapers with which he would be involved. He also spoke in favor of women’s rights at the famous Seneca Falls convention, sheltered escaped slaves, and fought to end segregation in public schools. During the Civil War, Douglass was a recruiter for the first African-American army regiment, which two of his sons joined. He met twice with President Lincoln, first about the pay and treatment of black soldiers and then to discuss the president’s desire to assist escaping slaves. After the Union victory and the abolition of slavery, he worked as a newspaper publisher and then as president of the Freedman’s Savings Bank. After his Rochester home was destroyed by fire (which Douglass believed resulted from arson), he moved his family to Anacostia in Washington, D.C., and purchased an estate that he would expand to twenty-four acres. The home, named Cedar Hill, has been designated the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. He was successively appointed a U.S. marshal and the recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia. Two years after his wife died in 1882, he married feminist Helen Pitts, his former secretary; the fact that she was white was controversial. In 1886–1887 the couple toured England, France, Italy, Egypt, and Greece. In 1888, he received a vote for president at the Republican National Convention, becoming the first African American ever so honored by a major party. Frederick Douglass died at his home on February 20, 1895. He is buried in the family plot at Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester. The Statue In 2006, Steven Weitzman was awarded the commission to create this statue of Frederick Douglass by the Washington, D.C., Commission for the Arts and Humanities. Citizens of the District of Columbia had chosen the subject of the statue through a voting process. In 2012, the Congress passed and the president signed P.L. 112-174, which directed the statue's placement in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center's Emancipation Hall. The statue, which is approximately seven feet tall, depicts Douglass as a man in his fifties in the act of giving a speech with a determined expression. He stands beside a lectern, leaning slightly forward and holding up a crushed sheaf of papers. His left hand firmly grasps the top of the lectern, where an inkwell and a quill pen sit in reference to his work as an author. He is dressed in a formal double-breasted frock coat, bow tie, and vest with a watch chain. The statue's pedestal is two and one-half feet high and is clad in pink marble. On the front and sides of the pedestal are these inscriptions: Front: FREDERICK DOUGLASS 1818-1895 WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Proper Right: The soul that is within me no man can degrade. —Quoted by Booker T. Washington in Up from Slavery, 1901 Proper Left: If there is no struggle there is no progress. —Address on West India emancipation, 1857 This statue is not a part of the National Statuary Hall Collection. The Joint Committee on the Library approved the statue's acceptance into the joint art collection of the Capitol; the Congress approved its unveiling on June 19, 2013, a date also known as Juneteenth that commemorates the arrival in Galveston, Texas, of Union troops who brought the news that the Emancipation Proclamation had abolished slavery in the states then in rebellion. The Sculptor Sculptor Steven Weitzman was born in New York City in 1952 and began his artistic career as an illustrator and painter. Since the 1980s he has worked increasingly in sculpture, with a significant accomplishment being a 1985 work dedicated on the grounds of the United Nations in New York City. The above was from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/frederick-douglass-statue
37. CAPVC_221229_298.JPG: If there is no struggle there is no progress. -- Address on West India emancipation, 1857
38. CAPVC_221229_305.JPG: FREDERICK DOUGLASS 1818-1895 WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
39. CAPVC_221229_307.JPG: The soul that is within me no man can degrade. -- Quoted by Booker T. Washington in Up from Slavery, 1901
40. CAPVC_221229_350.JPG: Weitzman '07
41. CAPVC_221229_364.JPG: John Swigert Jr. Statue The Basics Artist: George and Mark Lundeen Materials: Bronze Year: 1997 Location: Capitol Visitor Center This statue of John L. Swigert Jr., was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Colorado in 1997. John L. "Jack" Swigert Jr., was born on August 30, 1931, in Denver, Colorado. He attended the University of Colorado, where he played varsity football and earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering. He served with the Air Force as a combat pilot in Korea and then became a test pilot. After earning a master of science degree in aerospace science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master of business administration degree from Hartford College, he was accepted into the NASA Apollo program. Swigert was one of three astronauts aboard the Apollo 13 moon mission, which was launched on April 11, 1970. The third lunar landing attempt, the mission was aborted after the rupture of an oxygen tank on the spacecraft's service module. Swigert and fellow astronauts James A. Lovell Jr., and Fred W. Haise Jr., returned safely to earth on April 17 after approximately 5 days and 23 hours in space. He later became staff director of the Committee on Science and Technology of the U.S. House of Representatives. Elected to Colorado's newly created Sixth Congressional District in 1982, he died on December 27, 1982, before taking office. The above was from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/john-swigert-jr-statue
42. CAPVC_221229_398.JPG: Mother Joseph Statue The Basics Artist: Felix W. de Weldon Materials: Bronze Year 1980 Location: Emancipation Hall, Capitol Visitor Center This statue of Mother Joseph was given to the National Statuary Hall Collection by Washington in 1980. On April 16, 1823, Esther Pariseau was born in St. Elzear near Montreal, Canada. At the age of 20, when she entered the Sisters of Charity of Providence in Montreal, her carriage-maker father remarked, "I bring you my daughter, Esther, who wishes to dedicate herself to the religious life. She can read, write, figure accurately, sew, cook, spin and do all manner of housework. She can even do carpentering, handling a hammer and saw as well as her father. She can also plan for others and she succeeds in anything she undertakes. I assure you, Madam, she will make a good superior some day." In 1856, Mother Joseph was chosen to lead a group of five missionaries to the Pacific Northwest Territories of the United States. There she was responsible for the completion of 11 hospitals, seven academies, five Indian schools, and two orphanages throughout an area that today encompasses Washington, northern Oregon, Idaho and Montana. An architect and artist, she was actually responsible for designing the buildings, supervising their construction, and fund raising. Each of her "begging tours" into mining camps lasted several months and raised between $2,000 and $5,000 toward the realization of her goal. A stickler for detail, Mother Joseph often inspected rafters and bounced on planks to ensure their support. Mother Joseph died of a brain tumor in 1902, leaving a legacy of humanitarian service. She is recognized as one of the first architects in the Northwest. The above was from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/mother-joseph-statue
43. CAPVC_221229_409.JPG: Felix de Weldon Sculptor 1980
44. CAPVC_221229_410.JPG: Mother Joseph A Sister of Providence 1823 - 1902 She made monumental contributions to health care, education and social works throughout the northwest. State of Washington
45. CAPVC_221229_412.JPG: Mother Joseph A Sister of Providence 1823 - 1902 She made monumental contributions to health care, education and social works throughout the northwest. State of Washington
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: United States Capitol Visitor Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The United States Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) is an addition to the United States Capitol which serves as a gathering point for up to 4,000 tourists and an expansion space for the US Congress. It is located below the East Front of the Capitol, between the Capitol and 1st Street East. The complex contains 580,000 square feet (54,000 m2) of space below ground on three floors. The overall project's budget was $621 million.

The CVC has space for use by the Congress, including multiple new meeting and conference rooms. On the House side, there is a large room which will most likely be used by a committee. The new Congressional Auditorium, a 450-seat theater, will be available for use by members of Congress or for either House of Congress should their respective chamber be unavailable.

The CVC officially opened on December 2, 2008. This date was selected to coincide with the 145th anniversary of placing Thomas Crawford's Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol building in 1863, signifying the completion of construction of its dome.

Design:

The CVC contains three under-ground levels: a balcony level entrance, the Emancipation Hall (second) level and a third restricted level for new Congressional offices and meeting rooms. The construction of the CVC represents the largest-ever expansion of the United States Capitol and more than doubles the footprint of the US Capitol building complex.

Construction:

Construction of the CVC is supervised by the Architect of the Capitol. That post was held Alan Hantman, FAIA until his term expired on February 4, 2007; the Architect of the Capitol position is currently vacant, and Deputy Architect of the Capitol Stephen T. Ayers, FAIA, is currently serving as the acting Architect.

The ceremonial ground breaking for the CVC took place on June 20, 2000. Although originally planned to be completed by January 2004, the final completion date (not including the Senate and House expansion space) was extended to December 2, 2008. The proposed cost was originally $71 million, but it has risen to $621 million. The CVC has caused controversy for being over budget and behind schedule. Much of this is blamed on the rising cost of fuel, post-9/11 security measures, and inclement weather. At a hearing on the CVC cost-overruns Representative Jack Kingston called it "a monument to government inefficiency, ineptitutde and excessiveness."

The first major construction contract, worth nearly $100 million, was awarded to Balfour Beatty (formerly Centex Construction), in the spring of 2002. This contract involved site demolition, slurry wall construction, excavation, construction of columns, installation of site utilities, construction of the concrete and structural steel, waterproofing, and construction of a new service tunnel. By July 2005, Balfour Beatty Construction completed all excavation and structural activities, and the roof deck covered the entire CVC structure.

Visitor Center:

The space is mainly designed for use as a holding zone for visitors waiting to take tours of the Capitol. The number of annual visitors to the Capitol has tripled from 1,000,000 in 1970 to nearly 3,000,000 as of recent times, and it has become difficult to deal with the congestion caused by such crowds. In the past, visitors were required to line up on the Capitol's east stairs, sometimes stretching all the way to 1st Street East. This wait could last hours and no protection was offered against inclement weather. Tickets were not timed and were on a first come, first served basis.

With the addition of the CVC, visitors now have a secure, handicap-accessible, and educational place to wait before their Capitol tours commence. Visitors are free to explore the CVC, which houses an exhibition hall, two gift shops, and a 530-seat food court. Visiting the CVC and the Capitol are free. Tickets for Capitol tours are also free and are available online for order ahead of time for the first time ever.

Emancipation Hall:

Emancipation Hall is the main hall of the CVC and measures in at 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2). It was originally designated the Great Hall, but this was changed to Emancipation Hall when a bill cosponsored by Congressmen Zach Wamp and Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. was passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush in January 2008. Some signage in the CVC still reads Great Hall rather than Emancipation Hall, due to the last-minute change in nomenclature. Emancipation Hall contains two large skylights, which each measure 30 feet (9.1 m) by 70 feet (21 m) and allow for a view of the Capitol dome never before seen. The skylights allow a significant amount of natural light into the hall and are surrounded by pools of water and seating on the roof deck.

The Hall displays the original plaster cast of the Statue of Freedom, the bronze statue that stands atop the Capitol dome. Since January 1993, the plaster cast has been on display in the basement rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building, across Constitution Avenue from the Capitol.
CVC skylight looking up at the Capitol dome. Dust is present due to ongoing construction. Taken 2008-05-02.

The Hall is also a display space for 24 statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection. The complete collection is made up of two statues from each state. The statues are donated by their respective state to honor notable residents. In the past years, all 100 statues have been housed in the Capitol, many in Statuary Hall. This has led to overcrowding of statues and relocating some of them to Emancipation Hall has allowed for some space in the Capitol to be reclaimed. According to the Acting Architect of the Capitol Steven T. Ayers, more-recently added statues to the Capitol have been given preference for a move to Emancipation Hall.

Exhibition Hall:

The Exhibition Hall includes an 11-foot high tactile polyurethane model of the Capitol dome. The hall is dominated by a pair of curving 93-foot marble walls lined with artifacts and interactive touch-screen displays. Six scale models of the complete Capitol illustrate how the building expanded over time. Two alcoves off the main Exhibition Hall hold large flat screen televisions to allow viewers to watch live telecasts of the House and Senate floor proceedings. A third alcove located behind the tactile dome model on the main axis of the Capitol holds the Lincoln catafalque, which used to be displayed in the basement beheath the Rotunda.

Other Facilities:

Two theaters located above the Exhibition Hall continuously show a 13-minute video on the history of Congress and the Capitol Complex. Visitors enter the theaters at the Emancipation Hall (lower) level and exit at the Capitol Crypt (upper) level. The theaters will show the same film, but on a staggered schedule to allow a smooth flow of tourists into the Capitol.

Off of Emancipation Hall are two gift shops, one at the north end of the Hall and on at the south end. These replace the single gift shop previously located in the Capitol Crypt.

The CVC includes a 530-seat food court, which is expected to alleviate overcrowding in the cafeterias in the Congressional office buildings.

Congressional Space:

About 170,000 square feet (16,000 m2) has been reserved for use by Congress. Much of the space is for a new Congressional Auditorium. Most of the rest of the space will be made into committee meeting rooms.

Service Space:

A number of tunnels were constructed as part of the CVC project. The first is a 1,000 feet (300 m) long truck service tunnel, whose entrance is located north of Constitution Avenue near the underground Senate parking garage. Its goal is to alleviate traffic on the plaza and to enhance security by checking delivery and service trucks at a safe distance from the Capitol itself. A second tunnel was constructed to connect the CVC to the Library of Congress. Part of East Capitol Street was closed during construction and the tunnel was completed in the winter of 2005
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