State Capitols – Juneau, Alaska – Part 1

Alaska Capitol in Juneau (16 May 2023)

Constructed: 1929-1931

Architect: James A. Wetmore

State Admitted to Union: January 3,1959 (49th)

State Population (2020): 733,391 (48th)

At the northwest corner of the North American continent, our forty-ninth state stands apart from the lower forty-eight. How big is Alaska? If you superimposed the state onto a map of the lower 48, the Aleutian Islands would extent to the California coast. Southeast Alaska, where we are, would be in Georgia. You can fit all of California, Texas, Montana and Idaho inside Alaska...and still have room for all but 4.5 square miles of Delaware.

Juneau, Alaska (16 May 2023)

On the other hand, Alaska’s population is at the opposite end of the scale. Only Vermont and Wyoming have fewer people. More than half of the state’s population reside in the Anchorage metro region.

Alaska Capitol, Juneau (16 May 2023)

‘50 by 76?’

My traveling companion and editor once had a quest of her own...to visit all 50 states before she turned 50. That mission was accomplished on our first Inside Passage cruise when she set foot in Juneau in 2002, her 49th year. Since the Inside Passage will always be our favorite big boat cruise and since Juneau was the last state house on the list and can be reached only by water (or air), we booked another run up the Pacific coast. The only set criterion for the trip was that the ship stop in Juneau on a weekday during business hours.

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. My last fears about the capitol being closed for Salmon Appreciation Day or Sarah Palin’s birthday were unfounded and we waltzed into a friendly, open public building...free to wander about and appreciate the space.

Alaska Capitol, Juneau (16 May 2023)

While some capitol visits are more involved because there are extensive grounds with monuments, memorials, tributes and displays, this one occupies a city block...period. No grounds here.

Preserved Cornerstone, Alaska Capitol,

Juneau (16 May 2023)

Next to the Liberty Bell is the preserved original cornerstone for the building. I’m guessing when they made improvements for earthquake resistance in 2012, the cornerstone was saved. Curious about why Andrew Mellon and the Treasury Department got top billing, I found that the Department’s Capital Projects Fund pays for this kind of construction. As the territorial capitol, the building also housed the offices of many federal agencies that operated in the area. Once you become a state, you have to assume the responsibilities and the feds need to find their own office space.

Lobby, Alaska Capitol, Juneau (16 May 2023)

The walls of the modest main entrance lobby are lined with an Alaska-quarried marble. The moldings at the ceiling are Alaska images – igloo, conifer tree, whale and miners’ tools. Straight ahead and behind me are clay relief murals that depict the fishing and hunting that is so prevalent in the state. The bust in the glass case on the left commemorates Elizabeth Peratrovich, a Tlingit woman who fought for civil rights in the 1940’s. It was a time when businesses could put up signs that said “No animals or Indians allowed.”

This was one of the rare times I’ve visited a state house when the legislature was still in session. Fortunately, the senators and representatives were on a break. The chambers were open and empty.

Alaska House of Representatives Chamber,

Juneau Capitol (16 May 2023)

The House has forty members who are elected to two-year terms. Alaska may have the coziest legislative chambers...certainly the ones with the lowest ceilings and tight surrounding walls. No room for statuary and memorials here. What they call the ‘gallery’ has two rows of seats in the back of the room.

 

Alaska Senate Chamber,

Juneau Capitol (16 May 2023)

The Senate has 20 members who are elected to four-year terms.

Alaska Capitol (16 May 2023)

The wide corridors showcase mementos of Alaska history, especially from the territorial period. Newspaper front pages that announced statehood in 1959 are also framed on the walls.

I’m not complaining, but with all the state houses I have seen, this modest, unpretentious government building was a bit of an anticlimactic end to the quest. Like the end of the Dead Presidents Quest, where LBJ’s grave was simple and off limits to visitors, the Alaska capitol lacks all grandeur...like a big county government building in one of our larger states.

That said, there is actually more to say about this final state house visit in Part 2.

Passed Chief Justices - # 1 – John Jay

Bust of Chief Justice Jay, U.S. Supreme Court,

Washington, D.C. (11 April 2019)

It’s time to get serious about my Dead Chief Justice Scramble. In 2019, I wrote about the magnificent U.S. Supreme Court building and announced my intent to visit the last resting places of the sixteen departed Chief Justices. In 2021, I posted the grave and story of Chief Justice # 10, which was easy because he was also President # 27, William Howard Taft.

I am on the home stretch to visit and photograph their graves. After this July’s meandering drive to the Midwest, only one Chief will remain to be visited. I suggest presenting them in the order of their times in office so that their terms can also track the nation’s history and development. That said, we find that Chief Justice # 1 was difficult to get close to.

Portrait by Henry Loop [1884]

U.S. Supreme Court (11 April 2019)

John Jay should rank among the more important of the nation’s Founding Fathers. When one thinks about it, the history of our country has some definite time stamps. With George Washington’s inauguration in 1789, the Executive and Legislative branches of our new government began to function. The first Supreme Court met after the first president appointed the six original justices; the number has not always been nine.

However, our country won its independence from Britain in 1783 when the Revolution ended with the Treaty of Paris. John Jay, along with John Adams and Ben Franklin, negotiated that agreement. During the Revolution, he represented New York in the First Continental Congress and was president of the Second Congress. He also served as our rebel nation’s Minister to Spain as he tried to gain aid and recognition for our cause.

Governor John Jay

Albany Capitol (5 April 2013)

This portrait of John Jay hangs in the Hall of

Governors of the New York capitol in Albany

In the years that followed independence, Jay served as our Secretary of Foreign Affairs and then Washington’s first Secretary of State. He also authored five of the Federalist Papers that helped ratify our Constitution.

Just like Washington’s performance in office must be judged by the fact that the presidency had not existed before, the Jay Court spent considerable time establishing its role and procedures. When cases finally came up, Jay tried to prioritize decisions based on whether the issues were supported by the Constitution.

In 1795, he was elected governor of New York and resigned as Chief Justice. After serving two terms as governor, he retired to his estate in Rye, a town in eastern Westchester County, New York.

The (Closed) Peter Augustus Jay House (20 May 2021)

The Jay Heritage Center property includes the home built by

John Jay’s son, Peter Augustus, after his father died.

On a pretty May day in 2021, I was visiting my sister in New York and drove to Rye to find the Jay Heritage Center. I knew that the home John’s son, Peter Augustus built, was preserved and the family grave yard was on the property.

I found a news release that announced the Jay Family had opened the private cemetery to the public on Memorial Day 2017. It happened again in 2018…but apparently not since. Repeated attempts failed to contact anyone who could confirm if or when it would open to the public again.

He's In there Someplace

The Private Jay Family Cemetery, Rye New York (20 May 2021)

I walked through the wild, forested acreage and found the Jay Family Cemetery…fenced in and securely locked…as expected. I walked around and shot through and above the fencing where I could.

Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun lays a

wreath at the grave of John Jay, October, 1987.

The justice gave a lecture to commemorate the 200th

anniversary of the publication of the Federalist Papers.

Grave of John Jay

Jay Family Cemetery, Rye, New York (20 May 2021)

Based on the one photograph of Justice Blackmun at the grave in 1987, I can surmise that the marker indicated above is the last resting place of Mr. Jay. Sadly, this is as close as I could get...but it counts as far as I’m concerned. Below is a better image of the grave.

Justice Blackmun’s remarks included the inscription on the Chief Justice’s grave.

“Eminent among those who asserted the liberty and established

the independence of this country which he long served in

the most important offices, legislative, executive, judicial, and

diplomatic, and distinguished in them all by his ability, firmness,

patriotism and integrity...”

Name – John Jay

Born – 23 December 1745

Died – 17 May 1829 (age 83)

Appointed by – George Washington

Preceded by – Office established

Succeeded by – John Rutledge

Served as Chief Justice – 26 September 1789 – 29 June 1795

(5 years, 253 days)

Resting Place – Jay Family Cemetery, Rye, New York

Date Visited – 5/20/2021

State Capitols – Honolulu, Hawaii

Hawaii Capitol in Honolulu (1 September 2022)

Constructed: 1965-1969

Architect: John C. Warnecke with Belt, Lemmon & Lo

State Admitted to Union: August 21,1959 (50th)

State Population (2020): 1,455,271 (40th)

Removed from the classical capitol styles, this modern government building sought to symbolize more of the tropical islands’ character. The eight columns that front the building are shaped like royal palms...eight to represent the main islands of the archipelago. The legislative chambers are cone-shaped, representing the volcanos that define the islands. Instead of a closed rotunda, the center of the building is open to the sky...also simulating a volcano.

Hawaii Capitol Inner Exterior (1 September 2022)

Note the top photo shows a wall that surrounds the capitol. It hides a reflecting pool that was an original component of the property, intended to signify the fact the state is surrounded by water. Sadly, the pool has had a persistent algae problem that has resisted control followed by leaking and other inconveniences. The state continues to grapple with the logistics and cost associated with fixing the problem.

‘Aquarius’, Central Rotunda Mosaic, Hawaii Capitol (1 September 2022)

The 36-foot installation is a mosaic that contains over 600,000

ceramic tiles. Fifty-seven different shades of blue, green and white

tiles were used to evoke the surrounding Pacific Ocean.

Our 50th state is unique in many ways. It is the only state outside of the North American continent, the only state that is an archipelago or group of islands and only state in the tropics. In addition to being the state that consumes the most Spam, it is the only state with two official languages – English and Hawaiian. It is one of four states that have outlawed billboards.

Hawaii’s Flag (1 September 2022)

The only state flag with the British Union Jack symbol, the banner

reflects the relationship the islands have had since Captain

James Cook became the first westerner to visit he islands in 1775.

Hawaii also has a history unlike any other state. The island chain was inhabited by Polynesians since AD 750 and by 1810, King Kamehameha unified the islands into a single kingdom. From then on, American missionaries and business interests worked to influence local governance. Sadly, the most effective way the outsiders ‘influenced’ the locals was to introduce numerous new diseases that decimated the island population and weakened its governance. A population that was estimated to approach a half million was reduced to 40,000 by 1890.

After Captain Cook, foreign, especially American business interests, descended on the islands. When hurricanes devasted the Caribbean sugar industry, plantations were created in Hawaii...and we love their pineapples, too. In 1893, with the help of the U.S. military, the foreign commercial interests engineered a coup and overthrew the internationally-recognized monarchy...another case of ‘might makes right.’

Statue of Saint Damien and the State Seal

Hawaii Capitol. Honolulu (1 September 2022)

For 16 years in the 19th century, the Catholic

missionary served islanders afflicted with leprosy.

He was canonized by the pope in 2019.

While we were easily admitted into the capitol, the legislative chambers were closed both from the floor and gallery levels. We explained in a plaintive way that we came 6000 miles to take a couple of photos and could some kindly employee allow us in for a few quick shots? The sad looks helped and we were admitted to the House chamber where 51 representatives meet for two-year terms.

We were only able to peer through the outside windows of the Senate chamber since it was really closed to the public. It was Election Season and since Hawaii is a vote-by-mail state, the chamber is where the votes were collected and tabulated. Even most state employees could not enter the Senate at this time.

The Speaker’s View of the House of Representatives

(1 September 2022)

Six American states have majority non-White populations but Hawaii is the only one with an Asian plurality. That might explain why its politics are as blue as the Pacific Ocean. Currently, the 25-member Senate has two Republicans. The House has 51 members and just six are Republicans.

Iolani Palace (1 September 2022)

Another distinction for this state, the Iolani Palace is the only royal palace on U.S. soil. Completed in 1879, it was the residence of the royal family until the monarchy was overthrown in 1893. It served as the capitol of the territory and the state until the current capitol was completed in 1969.

Statue of Queen Lili’oukalani (1 September 2022)

Queen Lili’oukalani was Hawaii’s last monarch. With the increasing influence of western missionary and American business interests, the tensions between royalists and anti-monarchists favoring annexation came to a head in 1893 when the queen was overthrown. She was imprisoned in the Iolani Palace for months after the coup. President McKinley formally annexed the islands in 1898.

For years after being deposed, the queen worked unsuccessfully to have crown land rights restored. Her last years were spent in Washington Place, a stately home she had lived in since she married in 1862. The former queen died there in 1917. Her freshly-decorated statue stands between the capitol and the Iolani Palace.

Hawaii House of Representatives (1 September 2022)

(Image made by pasting 10 photographs together)