Sunday, March 17, 2024

State Capitols – St. Paul, Minnesota – Outside

Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul (24 September 2009)

Constructed: 1896-1905
Architect: Cass Gilbert
State Admitted to Union: May 11, 1858 (32nd)
State Population (2020): 5,706,494 (22nd)

Since I followed posting the Kentucky vice presidents with the Frankfort capitol, I’m following Minnesota VP Hubert Humphrey with the stunning state house in St. Paul...a building so fine, I need two posts to do it justice.

The Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board (CAAPB) web site describes the state house as one that “many acknowledge today as one of the five most beautiful in the country.” The entire country. All of it. Five out of fifty. Top ten percent. I won’t argue with them. In 2011, two years after I was there, the Board undertook a $310 million restoration that addressed a number of structural and aesthetic issues. I bet the place gleams now...outside and in.

The current building is the state’s third capitol, all of which have been in St. Paul. The first, completed in 1854, began as the territorial capitol and burned down in 1881. The second, completed on the same site in 1883, was inadequate from the start and soon prompted the legislature to order the current structure.

Minnesota Capitol, St. Paul (24 September 2009)

Born in Ohio and raised in St. Paul, the capitol’s architect, Cass Gilbert, was one of the great designers of public buildings. His work on the Minnesota capitol put him on the map and he moved his practice to New York City where he went on to design two other state houses in Arkansas and West Virginia, the Customs House in New York and the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. Another Gilbert project, the Woolworth Building in New York, was the world’s tallest skyscraper from 1913-30.

Statue of Knute Nelson, by John Karl Daniels [1928]
Minnesota Capitol, St. Paul (24 September 2009)

Born in Norway, Knute Nelson was an important political figure in the early days of Minnesota and Wisconsin. He served as governor in the 1890’s. The accompanying figures are of him as a boy with his mother and as a Civil War soldier. Sadly, we rarely name our boy-children ‘Knute’ anymore.

Statue of John Johnson by Andrew O’Connor [1912]
Minnesota Capitol, St. Paul (24 September 2009)

Although Minnesota entered the Union in 1858, it did not have a native-born governor until John Johnson was elected in 1905. The popular three-term governor was responsible for civic reforms. He died in office at the age of forty-eight. The additional figures represent the state’s important early industries – agriculture, iron mining, timber and manufacturing.
 
Dome, Minnesota Capitol, St. Paul (24 September 2009)

After St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the capitol dome is the second largest self-supporting marble dome in the world. The dome actually has three layers with a brick and steel middle dome for additional support and water drainage and the inner dome that is seen from inside.

Architect Gilbert insisted on using bright Georgia marble for the dome instead of locally-mined stone. This upset some folks whose memories of the Confederate rebellion were still fresh but Gilbert prevailed and Minnesota rock was used in most other places.

The main (south) entrance does not have the Greek revival columns and triangular pediment common in many state houses. The portico is awash in allegorical statuary. Classically-draped women represent Prudence, Truth, Wisdom and Bounty while the males represent Integrity and Courage. Radiant above the Six Virtues is the golden quadriga (a chariot drawn by four horses abreast), shining like nothing else on the building.

‘Progress of the State’ [1906] by Daniel Chester French
Minnesota Capitol, St. Paul (24 September 2009)

Daniel Chester French was one of our great late 19th and early 20th century sculptors. He created the iconic seated figure of the president in the Lincoln Memorial. Architect Gilbert saw French’s ‘Columbus Quadriga’ at the Chicago World Exposition in 1893 and wanted one for Minnesota. Called ‘Progress of the State,’ it has four horses that represent the classical elements of nature – earth, fire, water and air. The two women embody industry and agriculture...civilization. (Remember – Man conquers. Woman civilizes). Instead of Columbus, the man driving it all is Minnesota. He holds a cornucopia of plenty.

The architect and planners wanted the rest of the country to know that Minnesota was more than immigrant miners, lumberjacks and farmers.

Minnesota Capitol, St. Paul (24 September 2009)

The next post will take us inside the capitol.

Monday, March 04, 2024

Passed Vice Presidents - # 38 – Hubert H. Humphrey

Grave of Hubert Humphrey (18 July 2023)

Served under Lyndon Johnson
20 January 1965 – 20 January 1969
Preceded by # 37 – Lyndon Johnson
Succeeded by # 39 – Spiro T. Agnew

Born – 27 May 1911
Died – 13 January 1978 (age 66)

Buried – Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN
Date Visited – 18 July 2023

With the assassination of John F. Kennedy, vice president Lyndon Johnson, ascended to the presidency. The VP office was vacant until the election of 1964 when Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater. His running mate, Minnesota senator Hubert Humphrey became our 38th vice president.

Born in South Dakota, the son of a druggist, Humphrey left college after one year to instead earn a pharmacist’s license and help in his father’s store. Eventually, Humphrey completed his academic training and joined the faculty at Macalester College in St. Paul. Political involvement grew from there. He helped found the Minnesota Democratic-Farm-Labor Party in 1944 and was elected the mayor of Minneapolis.

The official Vice President’s Portrait – 1965
(from Google Images)

At the 1948 Democratic National Convention, the young rising star in the party fired up the meeting by forcing a vote to put a stronger civil rights position on the party’s platform. Of course, this upset the Confederates in the crowd who believed that White supremacy and segregation of the races was still the most important issue. The southerners bolted the convention and formed their own party. Called the Dixiecrats, they hoped to spoil Harry Truman’s election. Strom Thurmond did carry four states but the favorable reaction from the rest of the country boosted Truman to that huge upset win over Tom Dewey.

Grave of Hubert Humphrey,
Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN (18 July 2023)

Below his name is the following quote from the man whose nickname was ‘The Happy Warrior.’

“I have enjoyed my life, its disappointments outweighed by its pleasures. I have loved my country in a way that some people consider sentimental and out of style. I still do and I remain an optimist, with joy, without apology, about this country and about the American experiment in democracy.”

Humphrey was elected to the Senate after that. A Democrat hadn’t done that since before the Civil War. He was reelected twice and rose to be Majority Whip in the early ‘60’s. He was the lead author of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and introduced the legislation that created the Peace Corps. He seemed the ideal running mate for the Texan LBJ in the 1964 election. The public agreed and gave them a landslide victory over the far-right Goldwater.

After his failed presidential run four years later, he returned to the Senate where he served until cancer ended his life in 1978 at age 66.

Grave of Hubert Humphrey,
Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN (18 July 2023)

Flanking the central marker with Humphrey’s quote are the
seals of the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis (here)
and the United States Senate and the Vice President.

Footstone at Grave of Muriel Humphrey Brown,
Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN (18 July 2023)

In 1981, Muriel Humphrey married Max Brown, a friend from childhood. She appreciated the new life and its freedom away from politics and formalities. They had seventeen years together before Muriel passed and reunited with Hubert.

Hubert was for fair labor practices, regulating economic activity, equal rights and basic universal freedoms...a prototype liberal...before Fox and the far right made it a dirty word they couldn’t say without sneering. I can imagine him now defending his liberal bona fides and resisting the left’s capitulation on the label. We’re ‘Progressives’ now. Is that better?

Footstone at Grave of Hubert Humphrey,
Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN (18 July 2023)

It’s a shame that at the time of my very first election, I didn’t know Mr. Humphrey better...and that I didn’t realize his opponent, Richard Nixon, was the scum bucket he was. 1968 was such a turbulent, upsetting year and this immature, draft-eligible, city kid was determined to cast his first vote for a change from the Johnson administration’s miserable prosecution of that failed escapade in Viet Nam. I wish I wasn’t so focused on shooting the grave to pause and apologize to the man for not being more understanding in 1968.

Monday, February 19, 2024

Shots of the Day – # 46 - Charleston Details

In 2015, we posted two pieces about the charming South Carolina city. One was an overview and the second promoted monochrome images of the old town. A third post was considered but was lost in the draft pile. As can often be the case, I’ve reconsidered and opted to present it another way.

Hibernia House, Charleston (10 March 2014)

Images are often about the bigger picture. My realistic, documentary, scientist side likes to show the whole thing...the building, the waterfall, the forest. Often, the better aesthetic appreciation comes from a shot of a portion or a detail of the bigger thing...a window, a ripple, a branch.

The keeper images from the Charleston visit include some that don’t say ‘Charleston’ per se. They might evoke the steamy south or class distinctions or a time gone by.

To Keep out the Riff-Raff, Charleston (9 March 2014)

A time-honored tradition. Since before the days of castles
with moats, those with stuff had to discourage
those without stuff not to take their stuff. This fence
addition certainly would make me keep walking.

Here Lyes Buried,
Circular Congregational Church
Charleston, South Carolina (11 March 2014)

Foothold Fern (9 March 2014)

Since a photograph (usually) does not include the words that explain it, we expect the better ones to draw us in with a pleasing composition and the elements that hold our attention.

Tuesday, February 06, 2024

State Capitols – Frankfort, Kentucky

Kentucky Capitol in Frankfort (9 June 2008)

Constructed: 1905-1909
Architect: Frank Mills Andrews
State Admitted to Union: June 1, 1792 (15th)
State Population (2020): 4,505,836 (26th)

On the great 2008 road trip that concluded the ‘Dead Presidents Quest,’ The ‘State House Odyssey’ began in earnest. Among the capitols between home and the last two graves was Kentucky’s. After posting the stories of three Kentucky vice presidents, it seems only right to include the state house.

Soon after our thirteen colonies became the first United States in 1789, Vermont was added in 1791. Kentucky, carved out of the Viginia Territory, was admitted to the union in 1792. With the larger towns of Louisville and Lexington competing to be the capital, Frankfort was the agreed upon compromise locale.

Pediment, North Entrance [1906] Designed by Charles Niehaus,
carved by Peter Rossack, Kentucky Capitol, Frankfort (22 April 2006)

The central heroic woman is Kentucky. The flanking allegorical 
figures, all classically unclothed, include Progress, Law, 
Plenty, Art and Labor along with the livestock that represent 
Agriculture. In the right corner are Native Americans 
who cower in fear of the encroaching ‘civilization.’

After the first two capitol buildings burned down, a third served the state until the need for more space prompted the construction of the current structure.

Seventy ionic columns surround the 403-foot-long capitol. The architect was clearly taken with the landmarks of France, since the dome, grand staircase and State Reception Room are all modeled after examples in Paris and Versailles.

Kentucky Capitol, Frankfort (9 June 2008)

The capitol building brochure refers to it as “one of the premier public examples of Beaux Arts classical architecture in the United States.” I would agree. The central nave/atrium is a spectacular space.

Great Hall, Kentucky Capitol, Frankfort (9 June 2008)

At each end of the atrium is a grand staircase. Thirty-six columns of solid Vermont granite are 26-feet tall and weigh ten tons. The capitol information boasts that the only machine used in the entire capitol construction was the cement mixer. Each solid column inside and out was lifted into place by pulleys and hand labor. When installed, each column cost $1,968. Today, you can’t get a formal drawing of a column for that amount.

The phosphate and calcium content of Kentucky soil makes it especially good for farming and raising the thoroughbred horses for which the Bluegrass State is known. Tobacco is the state’s leading cash crop and it was not until 2004 when the state finally banned smoking inside the capitol.

Kentucky Senate, Frankfort (9 June 2008)

The Senate has 38 members.

First Ladies Dolls, Kentucky Capitol, Frankfort (9 June 2008)

As in the Iowa state house, Kentucky has a display of female dolls dressed in what are believed to be replicas of the dresses they wore at their husbands’ inaugurations. One state journalist has called them creepy and said they should be removed.

Kentucky House of Representatives, Frankfort (9 June 2008)

The House has 100 members.

Abe and Jeff Together Again
Kentucky Capitol, Frankfort (9 June 2008)

Placed among the honored sons of Kentucky and one of four in the central rotunda space is the traitor president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis. Installed in 1936, the Daughters of the Confederacy decided the Lost Cause needed to be pumped up seventy years after its defeat. It shared the space with Henry Clay, pioneering surgeon Ephraim McDowell and vice president Alben Barkley. Righting rebel wrongs has finally caught on in the twenty-first century. In 2018, they decided to keep the statue but remove the plaque that called him a patriot and hero. Two years later, the statue was finally taken away.
 
Rotunda, Kentucky Capitol, Frankfort (9 June 2008)

With the Lincoln statue occupying the central location beneath
the oculus, I was unable to get the preferred balanced view.

An impressive state house this was.

Monday, January 22, 2024

Passed Vice Presidents - # 35 – Alben Barkley

Grave of Alben Barkley (13 July 2023))

Served under Harry S. Truman
20 January 1949 – 20 January 1953
Preceded by # 34 – Harry S. Truman
Succeeded by # 36 – Richard Nixon

Born – 24 November 1877
Died – 30 April 1956 (Age 78)

Buried – Mount Kenton Cemetery, Paducah, KY
Date Visited – 13 July 2023

Last summer’s road trip nabbed six VP graves. While I see a chance to maybe grab one or two more, it’s hard to imagine this endeavor being completed. Some of these guys are too far off the beaten path. Shame I didn’t think about this during earlier quests since two VP’s are in heartland state capitol cities. Thankfully, my circuitous drive to Wisconsin was ripe with opportunities.

While a few states have small portions of their territory in another time zone, Kentucky is the one state that is almost split down the middle. This is how you make up time – I leave my motel at 0900 and drive west. Fifteen minutes later, it’s 0815.Ta-DAAH.

Two days in Kentucky and I fully traversed the state and its two time zones, ending the second day in the once-bustling Ohio River town of Paducah. In the days of railroads and river boats, the city was a major hub of activity. The last of the four-grave, Kentucky haul ended with a visit to Harry Truman’s VP, Alben Barkley. Unlike some of the lightweights I’ve seen in my lifetime like Dan Quayle and Mike Pence...people picked for a job where nothing is expected, Barkley was working the Washington halls of power for thirty-six years before he landed the Number Two spot in 1948.

Grave of Alben Barkley, Mt. Kenton Cemetery,
Paducah, KY (13 July 2023)

In Barkley’s time, the party affiliation in the early 20th-century South was solidly Democratic. However, along with the Confederate segregationists, Barkley was the occasional liberal in their number.

After serving in county positions, he was elected to the House in 1913. He served there until 1927 after which he was elected to the Senate. He so effectively supported Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies, the Democrats elected him Senate Majority Leader, a position he held for ten years. When the war took most of the president’s attention, Majority Leader Barkley supported the administration’s domestic agenda.
 
Vice President Alben Barkley
By Hessler Studio, Washington, D. C. - Truman Presidential Library,

It stands to reason that Mr. Barkley would get along with fellow Democrat, Missouri Senator Harry Truman. After all, their states share the same river. Then Harry hits the career lottery by going from FDR’s latest invisible vice president to the top job.

The senator hung in there and helped the new president manage the domestic post-WW II scene. By election year, 1948, Truman’s unpopularity was an issue, but Barkley gave such a rousing endorsement speech at the Democrat convention, he was nominated as Truman’s running mate and they sailed to that famous upset win over Republican Tom Dewey.

As vice presidents go, I would suggest Barkley was one of the more-engaged examples. With president Truman preoccupied with the Korean War, the vice president fronted for the rest of the administration’s agenda.

Grave of Alben Barkley, Mt. Kenton Cemetery,
Paducah, KY (13 July 2023)

After his term as vice president, he considered a run for the presidency. When labor leaders refused to support him because of his age, he bowed out. He was 74 at the time...younger than the two presumptive nominees this year. With that settled, the diligent public servant returned to the Senate in 1954. Two years later, a heart attack proved the unions correct in their concerns...but it still ended a pretty successful career of public service.

In a special location under the rotunda of the Kentucky capitol in Frankfort, there is a statue of the vice president.

Statue of Alben Barkley
Kentucky Capitol, Frankfort (9 June 2008)

The plaque on the base says,

MEMBER OF THE UNITED STATES
HOUSE AND SENATE. MAJORITY
LEADER OF THE UNITED STATES
SENATE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED STATES

Grave of Dorothy Barkley, Mt. Kenton Cemetery,
Paducah, KY (13 July 2023)

Mr. Barkley’s first wife is buried with him. She also died of heart disease.

We conclude this tribute with the tabloid portion of the post.

Winning the 1948 election made Barkley, at 71, the oldest person elected to the vice presidency. That same year, he also remarried. Jane Hadley was 33 years younger AND (clutch your pearls) a Republican! In 1940, she worked for FDR’s opponent and felt strongly enough that when her milkman expressed support for Roosevelt, she left him a note – “No Wilkie, no milkie.” But the VP was smitten and he pursued her. They married in 1949. She died of a heart attack in 1964 at age 52 and is buried in Missouri. One wonders how today’s media would treat all that.

Tuesday, January 09, 2024

Passed Vice Presidents - # 9 – Richard Mentor Johnson

Grave of Richard M. Johnson (12 July 2023)

Served under Martin Van Buren
4 March 1837 – 4 March 1841
Preceded by # 8 – Martin Van Buren
Succeeded by # 10 – John Tyler

Born – 17 October 1780
Died – 19 November 1850 (age 70)

Buried – Frankfort Cemetery, Frankfort, KY
Date Visited – 12 July 2023

In a quaint cemetery in Kentucky’s capital city of Frankfort, you can find the last resting place of Daniel Boone and an impressive war memorial dedicated to those who fought in all the nation’s conflicts. Placed squarely in front of the Memorial is the grave of our ninth vice president, Richard Mentor Johnson.

Richard Mentor Johnson was a Kentucky lawyer, soldier, politician and slave owner. He served in the Kentucky legislature before representing the state in the U.S. House and Senate. Along the way, he also went to war. In the War of 1812, he raised a militia of Kentucky volunteers who fought the British and their Indian allies in the western territories and Canada. In the Battle of the Thames in Canada, Colonel Johnson served under future president William Henry Harrison who defeated the Shawnee Confederacy and their famous chief Tecumseh. Many reported that Johnson, who was shot five times in the battle, personally killed the chief. Though never verified, this attribution served him well in his future political career.

Kentucky War Memorial and
Grave of Richard Johnson (12 July 2023)

In the first half of the 19th century, as the new nation seriously expanded westward, there were inevitable conflicts with the people who had lived there for thousands of years. It was one thing to occasionally ally with certain tribes during our colonial wars, but the restless new nation had lands to settle and the native residents were now in the way. As a result, our electoral politics of the time favored Indian fighters. President Andrew Jackson was hugely popular for clearing out the natives from the southeast. William Henry Harrison won decades after he defeated Tecumseh.

Portrait of Richard Mentor Johnson by John Neagle [1843]
National Gallery of Art / Wikimedia Commons

The president who served after Jackson and before Harrison was Martin Van Buren. He was a dumpy dandy lawyer from New York with no military experience. Who better to have as a running mate but the guy who killed Tecumseh? His exploits helped the Van Buren ticket prevail.

But wait.

Van Buren, Andrew Jackson’s vice president, handily won the popular and Electoral College votes. However, the fine and proper gentlemen from Virginia became ‘faithless electors’ and refused to cast their 23 votes for Johnson because his deceased common-law wife was one of his slaves. Apparently, it was OK to rape your slaves or keep them as concubines but to call one your bride and educate the resulting children was a bridge too far. This forced a vote in the Senate where, under the authority of the Twelfth Amendment, Johnson secured his victory. This was the only time in our history when the Senate decided a vice presidential race.
   
Relief Figure on Grave of Richard Mentor
Johnson, Frankfort Cemetery (12 July 2023)

When his father died in 1815, Johnson was bequeathed Julia Chinn, an octaroon slave. Octaroon means she was seven-eighths White. But that don’t matter none in the land of ‘One Drop of Negro Blood Makes You Negro.’ She was property like the cows in the field. However, she was literate and educated and Richard was smitten. She became more than a mistress. He referred to her as his bride. She ran the plantation when he was away in Washington and the staff understood Julia was in charge. Kentucky law prohibited marrying a slave but Johnson would not free her. They had two daughters who were educated and married White men.

There are no accurate descriptions of Ms. Chinn but I’m guessing she could pass for White and did not look anything like the images used to besmirch Johnson when things got dicey.

Racialized Depiction of Julia Chinn
By Robinson, Henry R., -1850.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99631575

Johnson was a popular representative of the people, advocating on behalf of debtors, army reform issues, and bills for widows and veterans. He founded the Choctaw Academy, a school to educate Native boys. Julia Chinn ran it. She also nursed the sick there and died of the cholera that ravaged the Academy in 1833. I find it strange that we don’t know where she is buried. If she was so important to Johnson, one would think he would have provided a proper last resting place for her.

His personal life continued to dog him and by the time of the next election in 1840, seven years after Ms. Chinn was in the ground, the Democratic Party refused to renominate him with Van Buren...who ran without a running mate and lost to another Indian fighter, Harrison. The final insult happened after Johnson died in 1850. His surviving daughter had no standing to inherit any of the estate which was divided amongst other family members.

Whether he freed Julia or not, their relationship was a major issue in national politics at the time. If you have eight minutes, check out this video from Kentucky Educational Television. The contributing voices note how interracial acceptance was making progress until the southern politicians and racist publishers devoted so much effort to denigrating the vice president and his family.

Relief Sculpture Depicting the Killing of Tecumseh,
Grave of Richard Mentor Johnson,
Frankfort Cemetery, Frankfort, KY (12 July 2023)

I don’t know if the marble has weathered this way or the sculpture was vandalized but Johnson’s head appears to be missing.

The End.

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Tip of the Day – Play With Reflections - Part 3

When the glass is less smooth and the water is more disturbed, objects are less recognizable.

Harbor, Honfleur, France (9 April 2023)

The next ‘River Cruise Diary’ entry will be from this quaint old town near the mouth of the Seine River. The tiny harbor is fronted by colorful townhouses. The water surface is not smooth but not disturbed enough to mistake what you’re seeing.

Brookside Gardens, Maryland (16 April 2012)

The fresh green of early spring leaves is reflected off this local pond. If I simply shot that same set of trees in the air, it would have been quite ordinary. As a reflection, it takes on impressionist qualities. Upside down, it provokes further. This is another shot that can work flipped so the trees are growing upward...and painted by Monet on a bad day.

St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague (25 December 2009)

Christmas morning in Prague. We were lucky to be lodging near the great national cathedral and would walk past it to get anywhere else in town. On this day, the wet walkway reflected one of the church towers. I have plenty of shots of the building and its details. Now and then, one needs to see a subject in a different way. In this case, reflected in a puddle.

Light Snakes and Worms (22 January 2023)

Finally, another way to make abstract images is to use a slower shutter speed and move the camera at the same time. The railing on my back deck has a string of lights. On this rainy night, the lights are reflected off the top of a wet table cover. I moved the camera during a longer exposure.

So, there you have it. There are interesting images out there that you can make...made more so when they include or are exclusively reflections.

This will be the last post of the year.
We wish you and yours a fine holiday season and a promising New Year.