State Capitols – Annapolis, Maryland

Maryland Capitol in Annapolis (29 March 2007)

Constructed: 1772-1779

Architect: Joseph Horatio Anderson

State Admitted to Union: April 28, 1788 (7th)

State Population [2010]: 5,988,927 (19th)

This Saturday, I’ll be leading my photo club field trip to the state capitol in Annapolis. Might as well use that opportunity to post the story here first.

Annapolis was first settled in 1649 and became the capitol of the Maryland Colony in 1695. It’s the 8th smallest capital city by population (38,394) and the smallest by land area. This means that other points of interest, like St. John’s College, the 3rd oldest in the nation (1696) and the U.S. Naval Academy are within blocks of each other.

No other state house in the country has as much colonial flavor as the Maryland capitol. It is the oldest one still in use. It is the only one employing the Georgian architectural style. It actually served as the nation’s capital for almost a year following the Revolution. The old Senate chamber was where George Washington resigned his commission as leader of the Continental Army (1783) and where the Treaty of Paris was signed ending our War of Independence (1784).

Statue of Roger Taney, Maryland Capitol Grounds (29 March 2007)

On the grounds of the capitol is a statue of Roger Taney, who was the Fifth Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He served in that position for 28 years until he died on the job in 1864 at age 87. He is most remembered (dare I say, reviled) as the author of the Dred Scott Decision (1857) which stated that African-Americans, whether enslaved or free, could not be American citizens and had no standing in federal courts.

In 1905, as state government grew, an annex was added to the capitol. It included the Senate and House of Delegates chambers that are used today. The Senate has 41 members and the House 141. I suppose that means that when all are present and voting, ties are impossible.

Maryland Senate Chamber (19 June 2012)

This image was made by pasting 10 wide angle shots together. The notable elements of the room include the Tiffany glass skylight and portraits of the four Maryland signers of the Declaration of Independence.

In the spirit of full disclosure, Truth, Justice and The American Way, I must also note the following. I really like the state. After living in places where it was too hot or too cold, I enjoy living here and the ‘Goldilocks Effect’ of our just-right climate. I appreciate (for the most part) the progressive politics here. However, this is the worst state house to visit. It should be re-named ‘The Velvet Rope - Do Not Enter – Only Authorized Personnel Beyond This Point’ Capitol.

‘The Federalist’ Under the Rotunda (1 September 2009)

The 15-foot replica of a gift made for George Washington was re-created for the Bicentennial of the Constitution in 1988. As of this writing, it and the ‘John Shaw Flag,’ an early version of the 13-star flag that was made for the 1783 Continental Congress, are no longer on display.

Maryland House of Delegates, Annapolis (1 September 2009)

I violated the velvet rope barrier so I might see what the House chamber looked like from the PUBLIC gallery. However, the door was locked (imagine my surprise) and this one image was taken through the window.

So far, I have toured and photographed 45 state houses. The joy was being able to wander the halls and stairways, see the legislative chambers (sometimes from both the main floor and the gallery) and photograph special design features where they might be. I do get off on the grandeur of these magnificent PUBLIC spaces. It’s ironic that my blue state’s capitol is THE most restrictive of all the one’s I’ve visited.

Detail of the Forbidden Stairway (1 September 2009)

This dumbfounds and annoys me. Go to the reddest state, where they have laws and rules that will shock you for their intolerance and ignorance and you will find capitol buildings wide open and accessible to anyone. No ID checks. No ‘empty your pockets and step through the machine, please.’ If the spaces are not being used for government business, they are open for you to enter. They are the houses of and for the people.

I was told by capitol staff that security increased after 9/11 and that our proximity to Washington further heightens such concerns--and that our new Republican governor has already tightened things up even more. I don’t mean to disparage good folks who are doing their job. I just wish their job wasn’t to keep the public out of their own house. On the other hand (there is always another hand), all it takes is one wackaloon with a gun or a jerk with spray paint to ruin it for the rest of us.

Places 8 – The Oklahoma City National Memorial

“It was twenty years ago today…”

Lost Lives, Empty Chairs (13 June 2008)

We interrupt the state capitol parade to remember.

In 1989, I used that line from Sgt. Pepper’ Lonely Hearts Club Band to introduce a cassette mix tape I made…on the 20th anniversary of Woodstock. For those of you who are too young to know what any of that means, I can’t go into it now. We all have a period that made the greatest impression on us. That was mine.

In a rare instance of actually being timely and blog-like, today I note another 20th anniversary. I still remember when we first heard the news on 19 April 1995. I was at work and our group secretary came through the cubicle farm to announce that something blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City. I recall the speculation in the first hours as we and the media tried to understand (once we learned it was a deliberate act) who did it and why. Well, imagine that…it wasn’t some A-rab, jihadi, America-hater. It was a home-grown, American, America-hater.

I also remember first learning how destructive a truck-load of fertilizer can be and can still see that photo of the fireman carrying the limp little body of one-year-old Baylee Almon. Timothy McVeigh later said he regretted that a day care center was in the building but innocents die in war and that’s the way it goes.

Five years later, on the anniversary of the bombing, President Clinton dedicated the Oklahoma City National Memorial. In 2008, I was passing through on what I call ‘Road Trip IV’, the 4900-mile journey that ended the Dead Presidents Quest and started the State Capitol Odyssey. I visited the state house that morning and wandered through the Memorial in the afternoon. Like the 9/11 memorials, I couldn’t help but feel profoundly for this event that happened in my lifetime.

The Outdoor Symbolic Memorial (13 June 2008)

The reflecting pool is in the space of the former SW 5th Street that fronted the building. The lawn beside the reflecting pool is the actual footprint of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Placed there now are 168 bronze chairs, one for each victim. They are arranged in nine rows to show the floor of the building where each person worked. Each chair sits on a clear, glass base that bears the name of the victim. Nineteen smaller chairs represent the lost children. At night each base is illuminated…a display that I am sorry I did not see.

The Survivor Wall (13 June 2008)

A portion of the building was retained to remind us of the survivors of the terrorist attack. The destroyed concrete and exposed re-bar also demonstrate the destructive force of the blast.

The Survivor Tree (13 June 2008)

The blast killed most of the vegetation near the building. This American elm was defoliated and burned but it survived and is now a gathering place to view the memorial and ponder human and nature’s resilience.

I can’t say what we’ve learned in the twenty years since this atrocity happened. Hating government seems to have become a standard platform position for too many citizens and candidates. I only hope the 168 are resting in peace, the injured have recovered and McVeigh has reaped his eternal reward.

State Capitols – Indianapolis, Indiana

Indiana Capitol in Indianapolis (15 June 2009)

Constructed: 1878-1888

Architect: Edwin May & Adolf Scherrer

State Admitted to Union: December 11, 1816 (19th)

State Population (2010): 6,483,802 (15th)

As I thought about how to resume presenting the State Capitol Odyssey, it seemed right to begin with my home state of Maryland and follow with the three states that were home before now. After that, unless some interesting format materialized, I imagined that some noteworthy event could prompt the presentation of the seat of government in that state.

Voila! The college basketball Final Four just happened in Indianapolis...inside a football stadium. How so many people paid so much to be so far away from the action on the court baffles me but kudos to the NCAA marketing team. On top of that, the state has made headlines and drawn attention with its new law to restore religious freedom…whatever that means. It seems that Big Business and other leaders agree with me that these measures are springing up to allow Christians to keep discriminating against gays. I propose that the poor, put-upon followers of the ‘Prince of Peace’ who insist that bigotry is a religious right consider that great question that is not asked of them often enough – What would Jesus do?

Under the Rotunda, Indiana Capitol, Indianapolis (15 June 2009)

Anyway…in 2009, a road trip to Wisconsin took us through the capitols in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In the middle of Indiana’s largest city, the state house is surrounded by downtown high-rise buildings.

Statue of Oliver P. Morton, Indiana Capitol, Indianapolis (15 June 2009)

In front of the main entrance is a monument to the state’s Civil War governor, Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton…a staunch Unionist and Lincoln supporter. The first picture of the capitol was taken from the city’s Soldiers and Sailors Memorial a few blocks away. The state’s view of the conflict is evident on the inscription of another statue of the governor at the Memorial. While most of us call it the ‘Civil War’ and some, more delicately, prefer ‘The War Between the States’, there are still some in the South who prefer the ‘War of Northern Aggression.’ The creators of the Indiana Memorial had another term for it - the ‘War of the Rebellion.’

The current capitol followed a familiar course toward its creation. When the Indiana Territory was carved out of the Northwest Territories in 1800, the first capitol, Vincennes, was selected because it was one of the few settlements of substance at the time, having been founded by French fur traders in 1732. Then, with commerce spreading west on the waterways, Corydon, near the Ohio River, was the capital when statehood was granted in 1816. As the state grew, the need for a centrally-located capital moved government to Indianapolis.

Under the Rotunda, Indiana Capitol, Indianapolis (15 June 2009)

Instead of statues of famous sons, this space has figures 

representing the eight values of civilization. Funny how women 

weren’t allowed to hold office, vote, become professionals or 

do much of anything yet their decorative and aesthetic qualities 

were just right to depict Law, Oratory, History, Commerce, 

Justice, Agriculture, Art and (especially) Liberty.

Completed in 1888, this is the second capitol at this location. Elected and appointed members of all three branches of government are located here. In addition to the legislature, the building has the office of the governor and the Supreme Court. Once again, the timing of this adventure was fortuitous since Indiana’s was one of the capitols that underwent recent major renovations. For many capitols, after years of alterations and expansions to accommodate modernization and growing government, the actions of the last 20 years were more about restoring these grand public spaces to their former glory.

Atrium, Indiana Capitol, Indianapolis (15 June 2009)

In 1988, for the building’s 100th anniversary, significant improvements were made to refurbish its Victorian elegance. Layers of paint and dirt were removed and original designs reapplied. As was done in the Springfield, Illinois capitol, the soot from years of gas light use hid fine materials and workmanship. The full-ceiling skylights now make the place shine.

Indiana House of Representatives (15 June 2009)

The House has 100 members and meets in a chamber that is dominated by a mural painted by Eugene Savage in 1963. The chandelier has 100 lights…one for each member. The Senate has 50 members and the chamber was modernized to add offices on three floors surrounding the space.

Indiana Senate (15 June 2009)

It was a short but pleasant visit to Indianapolis, the second most populous of the state capitals (after Phoenix, Arizona). Three years earlier, when I was in town to visit the grave of the only Hoosier president, Benjamin Harrison, I thought I might get into the capitol for a quick walk-and-shoot. However, the Colts were playing that day and downtown was way too crowded and busy for that to happen. Now that the Final Four is over and religious freedom is restored, I wish the state and her residents well.

Re-Introducing the State Capitol Odyssey

Rotunda in the Old Mississippi Capitol, Jackson (17 May 2012)

My State House Odyssey was first introduced the year this blogging adventure began. A month later, in October 2011, the first two were posted. I thought I could present them in the order they were visited (so I could get the earliest ones up before I forgot what I saw and photographed). The charming, small-town capitols in Concord, New Hampshire and Montpelier, Vermont provided some fun stories.

Rotunda, Indiana Capitol, Indianapolis (15 June 2009)

In 2012, the capitol in Cheyenne, Wyoming was shown in two parts. Later, after visiting Jackson, Mississippi, that post went up. With the concentrated schedule of the Dead Presidents Quest, the last state house, Springfield Illinois, was presented in January 2013, also in two parts. As is my prerogative, I will abandon the initial format and post capitol tales as the spirit moves me.

Chandelier, Vermont House of Representatives (6 October 2009)

I was going to start with the capitols of states I have lived in. There are four, each from a different region of the country. After that, a story might go up because the state was in the news or some governor was convicted and about to go to prison…oh, that’s right. I already did Illinois. As it turns out, another state will lead off.

Some of these places are just too interesting and photogenic. It will take more than one post to show and tell all I want to share.

We’ll see.
Hope you like the stories and images as much as I liked the visits.