Thursday, 11 June 2009
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A Capitol Good Time
Just catching up...
Several weeks back, I organized a field trip to the Virginia State Capitol Building and the Governor's Mansion for our homeschool group. Once again, we used a knowledgable guide from Richmond's Valentine History Museum.
The tour started off in the morning with a walking tour of Capitol Square, which is a beautiful little park that surrounds the Capitol Building and the Governor's Mansion. The square has all sorts of monuments and statues of famous Virginian historical figures, such as the ones below.
However, the most recent monument in the Square is different than all the others. It's origins are rather interesting. Several years ago, the young daughter of (the then) Governor (Mark Warner) asked her Dad why all the statues in the Square were of old men who were up high off the ground. As a result, the newest monument is a street level memorial that honors a group of young black students who challenged segregation in Farmville, VA in the 1950's. Their challenge became part of the famous Brown vs. the Board of Education case which ultimately ended segregation in public schools.
We also got to visit "Old City Hall" which is an absolutely spectacular building,
and then we got to go inside the Governor's Mansion. After the tour of the mansion, we had a picnic lunch in front of the Capitol Building and after lunch, we got a guided tour of that building. Can you guess who designed Virginia's Capitol Building?
Yep--it was Thomas Jefferson.
Inside the Capitol Building, we got to see the most life-like stature of George Washington in existence. Reportedly, the sculptor took all sorts of plaster molds of Washington and as a result, the final product is almost an exact replica of what he looked like in real life.
All in all, it was a great tour and we will definitely return.
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