Gakusei Travels

E pluribus unum

Today our internship arranged for us to take a tour of the Capitol. I actually didn’t know that this was something you could do and I didn’t really know what to expect either. We were separated into two tour groups, and since my friend and I were in a later group, we got breakfast at iHop before heading to our destination. What I didn’t realize is that the Capitol has strict rules. Bags can’t be larger than a certain size, no outside water or even food was allowed. The security actually made one girl throw away the food in her lunchbox. I had my work bag and my lunch, which I refused to part with. So my friend and I had to detour to work to drop off my bag. The subway of course was delayed due to an emergency which made it backed and made us lose some time. When we made it to work and I dropped off my bag, we just took an Uber to the Capitol building. We barely made it in time.

After we got through security and got our tickets from the internship coordinators we were guided to a theater and got to watch a brief video on the history of the Capitol and Congress. Now I remember scarcely some of the things I learned about the government in middle school but it arguably has been a long time since then so most of my knowledge has been forgotten lol. It’s quite interesting to learn about my country’s history and the fact that America, compared to some countries, dynasties and kingdoms, is relatively young.

After the video, we met our tour guide. It was neat. Since there was so many of us, we were given headsets to be able to hear the guide. She was really knowledgeable and I made sure to take notes on my phone so that I could remember all the fun facts I learned today and put them on my blog.

“E pluribus unum” – Out of many, one: motto of the United States created to represent from the initial 13 colonies, it became one nation

Most of the Capitol is actually made of sandstone due to when the time it was built, it was the easiest resource to acquire. Much of the outside is marble. The dome at top is called the temple of liberty or the crypt and serves as a connection between the House of Representatives on the south side and the Senate to the north. In this dome there’s 13 statues for the original thirteen colonies. Each state provides two historical representatives from their state. The only caveat is that the person has to be deceased. The statue is made in either bronze or marble.

Next we moved upstairs to this rotunda. This rotunda apparently is only 200 years old and opened up on July 4, 1866. It’s a massive circular room with this gorgeous mural on the ceiling. Hung around the wall are historic paintings with George Washington and moments like the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The mural itself, though it doesn’t look like it, is around 433 square meters which is larger than a professional basketball court. It pictures George Washington I think in the center surrounded by 13 women to represent the 13 colonies. The woman in blue is named Liberty and the one in green is named Victory. There are other Roman gods and goddesses too. I think I recognized Athena.

Next the band around the rotunda that looks like carvings are actually paintings. They represent 400 years of American history starting from early exploration up to the Wright Brothers flying the first airplane.

After the rotunda, we were led to National Statuary Hall. This is where the other state statutes were that I mentioned earlier. I found one of Indiana’s which was a guy named Lew Wallace. No idea who that was but the tour guide said he was an author and a diplomat. He apparently played a role in finding the man that assassinated president Abraham Lincoln. Apparently though, you can write to your state legislature to make a case for why your state should change the statue, because they can and do get rotated out. I think Indiana should petition to change it to Michael Jackson. (Just a suggestion)

Some cool ones there was Arkansas’s Daisy Lee Gatson Bates and Florida’s Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. Kansas had Amelia Earhart. Rosa Park has a statue too and hers was commissioned by congress and therefore cannot be removed. She is the only woman to have had a presidential lay in the Capitol at her death. 

Overall, the tour was very interesting! I learned a lot today and would highly recommend making time to tour the Capitol if you find yourself in D.C.