…continuing
with our July road trip.
What
other attractions could we explore in Lincoln?
The old depots and the old Haymarket area were nifty, but I had one more
venue in mind for our little family group.
Our next
stop was at Nebraska’s State Capitol building, in itself a tourist
attraction. The State Capitol building
is the result of a nationwide design competition won by New York architect
Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. (1869 – 1924) It is the USA’s first statehouse that,
with its ‘office tower’, was a radical departure from the prototypical design
of our national capitol building in Washington D.C.
With
burgeoning westward migration and growing demand for a trans-continental
railroad, President Franklin Pierce signed the Nebraska-Kansas Act in 1854,
thereby creating the Nebraska Territory.
After much area wide debate and controversy, Nebraska’s new capital
site, the village of Lancaster, was chosen and then renamed…and Lincoln
Nebraska was born.
No less
than 2 Territorial Capitol buildings plus 2 State Capitol buildings preceded
this structure. Both the first and
second State Capitol buildings suffered from poor construction, so in 1919, the
State Legislature passed a bit to provide for the construction of the current
State Capitol building. Built in 4
phases over a ten year period from 1922 to 1932, the total cost of the
building, complete with furnishings and landscaping, came in under budget at just
under $10 million…and it was fully paid for upon completion.
The
Lincoln Monument seen above is located on the West Plaza of the Capitol
building and it actually predates the Capitol itself. Sculptor Daniel Chester French, (1850 –
1931), received the commission for this monument in 1909. He is the same sculpture who created “The
Minute Man” in Concord Massachusetts and the Gallaudet Memorial in Washington
D.C. Lincoln’s attitude on this sculpture
is one of reverence over a grave. This
is fitting as the statue is standing on a granite pedestal with the Gettysburg
Address carved into the stone.
FYI, the
Nebraska Capitol Building is clad with Indiana limestone, it has a square base
measuring 437 feet on each side…and the overall plan was to build a cross
within a square. The 400 foot tall domed
tower rises from the center of this base and it in turn is topped with sculptor
Lee Lawrie’s 9.5 ton, 19 foot tall bronze figure of “The Sower”, a man
hand-sowing grain, symbolic of the importance of agriculture to the State of
Nebraska and the World… As you will read below, Lee Lawrie had an even broader
role in the completion of this striking structure.
The
Capitol’s architect, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, had selected Lee Lawrie, (1877
– 1962) as the sculptor for this monumental project. It wasn’t all about building a structure, it
also needed to commemorate history and have meaning for those who visit here
and work here. Consequently, the
structure’s exterior stone carvings represent historic events in the 3,000 year
evolution of democracy as a form of government.
All 4 sides of the Capitol display a variety of carvings…with the front
being the most spectacular. But…we
didn’t enter the building that way and it was 95 degrees Fahrenheit
outside! The carvings over the west
entrance to the Capitol show key events in Greek and Roman history.
FYI…Lee Lawrie also
created the famed sculpture of “Atlas” holding the world on his shoulders at New
York City’s Rockefeller Center.
My
photographic skills and my camera just aren’t up to the task of capturing the
impressive look and beauty of the domed corridor in the Nebraska Capitol
Building. The dim lighting didn’t help
and the glare from that big window was definitely factors. Nevertheless, I think that you can get a feel
for the ornate and detailed interior of this main passageway. Spectacular marble mosaic floors and vaulted
polychrome tile ceilings, combined with the detailed light fixtures and
statues/busts in niches along the way…it all results in a bit of sensory
overload…
This
first photo gives you an idea…just a partial ground level view…of the large
marble mosaic in the center of the Rotunda’s floor. The center piece is of “Earth as the
Life-giver” and surrounding her are symbols of Water, Fire, Air and Soil. In the borders around the elements one can glimpse
prehistoric life in Nebraska.
This is a
close up of yet another marble mosaic that I noted as we wandered through the
Capitol building. I don’t know if it has
a title or not but it appears to be ‘Mother Nature’ with some of her
creatures. The detail is pretty stunning
when you consider that it’s made from stone.
Hildreth Meiere
(1892 – 1961) was the artist that designed both these spectacular marble mosaic
floors and the polychrome tile ceilings.
She had worked on a number of commissions for the architect Bertram
Goodhue. Goodhue believed that
decoration was a fundamental element as regarded monumental architecture. Among other notable works, Meiere also
completed the mosaics in the dome of the National Academy of Science in
Washington D.C. However, credit for the
subject matter presented in her work in this Capitol Building really belong to the
University of Nebraska’s renowned
Professor of Philosophy, Hartley Burr Alexander. (1873 – 1939) He worked with
both Lawrie and Meire as the “Capitol thematic consultant” for the
project. The goal was to tell the story
of civilization as well as Nebraska’s place in that history.
If you
thought that the floors and sculptures were amazing, consider the spectacular
tile work on the ceilings, arches and domes throughout the building! While Hildreth Meiere designed the work with
the thematic guidance of Dr. Alexander, it was the De Paoli Company and the R.
Guastavino Company, both from New York City, which executed the designs. De Paoli worked on the marble and Guastavino
in ceramic and “Akoustolith” tiles.
I just
took a few photos of the ceilings and arches to provide viewers a glimpse of a
couple of the large number of themed designs that were executed by the artist
and the Cuastavino Company throughout the Capitol Building. In the vestibule, the theme is Nature’s Gifts
to Man on the Plains. On the ceiling of
the Senate Chamber, Native American Life is depicted in 4 large panels: Buffalo
Hunt, War Party, Women Hoeing Corn, and Peace Council. The arches and ceiling medallions, as
envisioned by Dr. Alexander, represent time, Traditions of the Past, Life of
the Present, and Ideals of the Future.
Yes…I did
have to look up “Akoustolith” tiles.
They are a porus ceramic material resembling stone that was a patented
product developed between Rafael Guastavino Jr. and Harvard professor Wallace
Sabine. It was used to limit acoustic
reflection and noise in large vaulted ceilings…
This striking
mural on the door of the former East Chamber of the Capitol Building, now
renamed the Warner Chamber, symbolizes the aboriginal life of the Native
Americans, the First People of Nebraska.
Corn, the Native People’s main agricultural crop and key food source, is
in the center of the doorway…represented as the tree of life. The Thunderbird, a symbol of rain and life,
is featured at its center. On opposite
sides of the door, a man is standing on an otter, a symbol of medicine and a
woman is standing on a turtle, a symbol of fertility.
While I
didn’t take a photo of the door leading to the West Chamber, aka known as the
Unicameral Chamber, its painting symbolizes the European age of settlement with
the successive appearances of Spanish, French and Anglo-Americans on Nebraska
soil.
The photo
shows the Unicameral Legislature’s Chamber in Nebraska’s Capitol Building. Note all the added plexi-glass dividers that were
installed in this era of Covid-19.
I
definitely learned something new… Nebraska, which I did know has a
unicameral/one house legislature, wasn’t originally set up that way. In the east and west arms of the cross on the
square structural design, are the two chambers of Nebraska’s legislature. The state had a bicameral government until
1937, when the unicameral format was initiated.
Members of the single house of the Nebraska Legislature are referred to
as Senators. Not only is the Legislature
unicameral, but it doesn’t officially recognize a political party affiliation…unique
among the other states in the USA. Also,
with only 49 members, it is also the smallest legislature in the country.
The
Unicameral Legislative Chamber is also known as the George W. Norris
Legislative Chamber. George Norris, a “New
Deal Republican” who had settled in McCook Nebraska, is given the bulk of the
credit for the elimination of the bicameral legislature. As he said, the two-house system was
outdated, inefficient and unnecessary. He
pointed out that the bicameral system was modeled after the British Parliament,
where members of the House of Commons are elected by the people and the King
appointed members of the House of Lords.
Since there was only one class of citizen in the USA, why should we
elect and pay people to overlap each other’s political jurisdiction?
This
mural in the Capitol’s vestibule, is entitled “The House Raising”. It was completed by James Penney in 1963. Penney has 3 murals on display in this
monumental building.
This
second mural is located in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building. It is entitled “Labors of the Hand” and it
was completed by Kenneth Evett in 1954. Two
other murals by Evett are also on display in the Rotunda.
This third
mural covers one of my nostalgic favorite topics. “The Coming of Railroad” is on display in the
Great Hall. It was completed by F. John
Miller in 1966 and it represents the development of Nebraska based on the
expansion of the railroads.
If you
compare the date the Capitol was completed with the dates of these murals, you
might ask, what took so long for their completion? Architect Bertram Goodhue did indeed plan for
20 murals in the monumental hallways, vestibule and great hall, even providing
recesses spaces for them. However in
1933, as the Great Depression worsened, the Nebraska Legislature
re-appropriated the Capitol Commission’s unspent budget and nothing happened with
the murals again until 1951 when the project was once again funded. Over the next several decades, a series of
competitions were held and artists were selected to complete the murals. Dr. Alexander’s original thematic plan guided
the subject matter for these murals. The
first mural was completed in 1954 and the last was on display by 1996. Seven
different artists completed works for this program.
Tours of
this historic Capitol Building are available.
There is so much more to see than I was able to photograph or write
about. To learn more, go to Nebraska State Capitol | National Historic Landmark |
Lincoln, Nebraska.
Then it
was time to go up to the viewing platform at the top of the Capitol’s
tower. Even the elevators are a work of
art! They are small inside though and
they are sort of hidden from view on the main level.
This is
one view from the Capitol’s tower. You
can see downtown Lincoln…definitely not a city of skyscrapers… The city is the
second largest in Nebraska with a metropolitan area of about 360,000 people.
Famous
people from Lincoln include William Jennings Bryan, Willa Cather, Dick Cavett,
Dick Cheney, Charles G. Dawes, Sandy Dennis, Lane Kiffin, Gordon MacRae and
Hilary Swank.
Off in
the distance, we could see these huge grain elevators. Agriculture is of major importance to the
local economy. Corn is the most widely
grown crop with annual production of over 1.6 billion bushels…and the state ranking
third in the USA in corn production.
Nebraska is 4th in soybean production as well.
Did you
know that Lincoln has large populations of Vietnamese, Burmese ethnic minorities
(Karen), Sudanese and Yazidi (Iraqi ethnic minority) that have resettled
here? The public schools provides
support for about 3,000 students from 150 countries who spoke 125 different
languages.
Note the
large railyard in the distance. Railroads
have been critical to Lincoln’s and Nebraska’s development. The first Burlington and Missouri River
Railroad’s first train arrived in Lincoln in June of 187o. The Midland Pacific (1871) and the Atchison
and Nebraska (1872) soon followed. The
Union Pacific Railroad began service in 1877.
By 1892, 3 more railroads had extended service to the city and it became
a true rail hub... I’m sure that this remaining railyard is but a shadow of
what used to be.
One other
striking view stood out from Nebraska’s State Capitol Building’s tower…and
later from ground level. St. Mary’s
Cathedral was dedicated on December 11, 1911.
It replaced an earlier church that had burned down. For many years, St. Mary’s was the only
parish in Lincoln to offer all grade levels through high school. In 1965, a new cathedral was built in
Lincoln, so now St. Mary’s is referred to as ‘the old Cathedral’. In 2019, St. Mary’s School was closed
permanently. In any case, this church is
a dominating and eye-catching structure.
That’s
all for now… Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.
Thanks
for stopping by for a visit!
Take
Care, Big Daddy Dave
