Thanks for sticking in there with me as I slooooowwwwly put up the last few posts from my spring break trip. I'd much rather be blogging than thesis writing, but people convinced me that graduating is probably a bit more important. So finally.... Day 5 of Ready, Set, Go DC!
Friday was dedicated to learning about our nation's beginnings on Capitol Hill and at the National Archives. We started the day meeting my roommate Kathleen at the Rayburn Building where she works for a member of Congress. We had lunch in the cafeteria, but unfortunately we were not lucky enough to spot any politicos. I guess the cafeteria isn't really the place to go for Congressional sightings. You'll have more luck at The Palm or Occidental Room.
After lunch, Kathleen took us upstairs to see her office. Actually, anyone can walk right into the Congressional office buildings and visit their Senator or Congressman. It's where you can go to go get tickets for Capitol gallery tours and tickets for other tours like the White House (although I believe the typical wait time for that is 6 months or so and with Obama in office probably longer). Kathleen showed us her desk- she recently was promoted to special assistant! - and we met some of her co-workers. For a junior Congressman the office was a nice size with plenty of room for a full, hardworking staff to operate comfortably.
Kathleen graciously gave us two tickets to view the House Gallery and sent us on our way to the new Capitol Visitors Center located right beneath the steps of the Capitol Building between the Capitol and the Library of Congress. The new Visitors Center is a brand new museum that opened in December '08 and has quickly become my favorite museum in DC. Visitors to DC looking to explore the three branches of government should definitely incorporate this stop into their tour.
Inside the Visitors Center is a brand new museum detailing the history of the Capitol Building and its architecture as well as the history of the legislative process. The gallery is split into two parts. The first part highlights the legislative powers delegated to Congress by the Constitution. For example, a power of Congress is to promote Sciences and Arts, so in the display describing these responsibilities it featured a description along with an example-- the official letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to donate his collection of books to the Library of Congress. Very cool stuff.
The other wing of the exhibit told the chronological history of the Capitol building and the legislature complete with a scaled model of the Capitol grounds how it looked during progressive phases of construction. These wings were filled with photos, artifacts, and videos. I could have spent days reading over all the information. It was beautifully arranged. I was so intrigued.
After making our way through the exhibits, Josh and I took our tour of the House Gallery. It looks much smaller in person than on TV during the broadcasts of the State of the Union. Nevertheless, it's always a surreal experience to sit in the exact place where laws and legislation are being debated and implemented every day. Next on my growing list of things to do.... sit in on a session of Congress. Kathleen told me for major Presidential addresses there are strict rules in place about saving seats on the aisle. To avoid a stampede for the coveted aisle spot, prime location for shaking the President's hand, Congressmen are not allowed to pick their seats until 4pm, and once they sit down, there's no getting up. Furthermore, you can't have a staffer save your seat for you. You have to do the work yourself. It's like camping out over night for concert tickets, except picturing Congressmen in suits doing this just makes me laugh.
After we finished up at the Capitol Visitors Center we headed down the street to the National Archives. The Archives houses an original copy of the Magna Carta as well as the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. Although the founding documents are certainly a highlight of the Archives, the museum also puts up impressive temporary exhibits featuring the numerous primary source documents housed in their vaults.
During our visit we checked out the BIG exhibit, a show dedicated to large-in-scale documents and artifacts in archives. One of the most interesting pieces on display was the role call of House votes to declare war on Japan in WWII. Other impressive artifacts were the bathtub constructed for 300lbs+ President Taft, Shaquille O'Neal's autographed basketball shoe presented to President George W. Bush, and a 36sq ft. map of Gettysburg drafted during the Civil War.
We had a fantastic day learning more about our nation's history.
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