Cover of Glenn Brown's History of the Capitol.

House Document No. 108-240, Glenn Brown's History of the United States Capitol

Introduction and Annotations by William B. Bushong

Annotated Edition in Commemoration of The Bicentennial of the United States Capitol

Prepared by the Architect of the Capitol for The United States Capitol Preservation Commission

H. Doc. 108-240, Glenn Brown's History of the United States Capitol

Document Section
File Size and File Format Print Copy Pages
Front Matter PDF 376 KB i-iv
Preface by President Pro Tempore, U.S. Senate and Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives PDF 36 KB v
Foreword by Alan M. Hantman PDF 40 KB vii
List of Figures and Plates PDF 51 KB xiii
Acknowledgments by William B. Bushong PDF 38 KB xxi
List of Abbreviations PDF 26 KB xxiii
"Glenn Brown and the United States Capitol" by William B. Bushong PDF 1.1 MB 1-21
VOLUME I: THE OLD CAPITOL-1792-1850
Brown's Dedication PDF 194 KB 23-25
Author's Preface PDF 22 KB 27
Introduction PDF 52 KB 29-35
Chapter I - The selection of sites for Federal buildings; the first map of the city of Washington; the location of building sites, with reference to extended vistas; the site for the Capitol PDF 360 KB 37-42
Chapter II - The competition for a design; the first and second competition; the selection of the design by William Thornton; the employment of Hallet as superintendent; the
modification of Thornton’s design
PDF 1.7 MB 43-67
Chapter III - The work of Dr. William Thornton, Architect; laying the corner stone; change of exterior from brick to freestone; Hoban, principal superintendent; resignation of Hallet; appointment of Thornton commissioner; appointment of George Hadfield superintendent; the Capitol when occupied by Congress in 1800 PDF 2.1 MB 68-104
Chapter IV - The work of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Architect;
appointment of Latrobe; changes in original design; defense
by Thornton of his design; appearance of old Hall of Representatives; condition of woodwork, Senate wing; burning of interior of Capitol by the British, 1814; measures for reconstructing the Capitol; resignation of Latrobe
PDF 2.9 MB 105-155
Chapter V - The work of Charles Bulfinch, Architect; appointment; model made of Capitol; report on defective vaulting; acoustic properties of Hall; completion of the building; personal interest of the President in the work; the Architects and superintendents of the building PDF 3.0 MB 156-182
Chapter VI - The old Capitol as completed; the grounds and terraces; the arrangement of the rooms on each story; descriptions of the House and Senate, the Library, and committee rooms; the acoustic properties of the House; appointment of Robert Mills; heating and lighting of the Capitol PDF 3.0 MB 183-213
Chapter VII - Statuary and paintings in the old Capitol; statuary by Franzoni, Andrei, Iardella, Causici, Capellano, Gevelot, Valaperti, Persico, and Greenough; the Tripoli naval
monument; historical paintings by Trumbull, Chapman,
Vanderlyn, Wier, Scheffer, and Peale
PDF 4.9 MB 214-251
Chapter VIII - History of the Architects of the old Capitol,
Thornton, Latrobe, Bulfinch
PDF 353 KB 252-265
Chapter IX - History of the principal superintendents, Hoban, Hallet, Hadfield, Lenthal, Lenox, Blagden, Mills PDF 411 KB 266-273
Chapter X - Data concerning men and material connected with the old Capitol; departments in charge of the Capitol;
table of men, salaries, and duties of those in charge of the
Capitol; table of wages; dimensions of the Capitol; appropriations and expenditures on the old Capitol
PDF 345 KB 274-299
VOLUME II: HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL
Chapter XI - The competition for the extension of the Capitol; conditions of the competition; four plans selected; Robert Mills directed to make a plan from the four selected; plan approved by committee PDF 1.1 MB 300-316
Chapter XII - The work of Thomas U. Walter; his selection by President Fillmore; drawings as finally approved; laying of
the corner stone of the extension; the Senate and House not
consulted in the adoption of the plans; testing stone; letting
of contracts; appointment of M. C. Meigs as Superintendent;
report of committee on memorial of C. F. Anderson;
design for new Dome; progress of the work on the extension
and the Dome; the House occupies the south wing—
1857—and the Senate the north wing—1859; question of
authority between the Architect and the Superintendent;
W. B. Franklin appointed Superintendent; suspension of
work during the civil war; placing the figure of Freedom;
resignation of Thomas U. Walter
PDF 4.8 MB
PDF 2.5 MB
317-370
371-410
Chapter XIII - The work on the Capitol under the supervision
of Edward Clark, Architect; appointment of Edward Clark;
completion of the exterior of the Capitol extension; treatment
of the grounds; the introduction of elevators and electric
lighting and drainage system; the centennial anniversary
of the laying of the corner stone of the Capitol
PDF 57 KB 411-418
Chapter XIV - The heating and ventilation of the Capitol; report of committee on defective heating and ventilation with
proposed methods of rectifying the defects; new heating
apparatus; heating and ventilating apparatus again renewed
and altered; description of the latest scheme for heating
and ventilation
PDF 48 KB 419-425
Chapter XV - Elevators and lighting; the first elevators installed; gas lighting; electric gas lighting; experiments with electric lights; installation of electric lighting machinery; contract to light the grounds by electric lights PDF 1.0 MB 426-434
Chapter XVI - The building as completed from Walter’s designs; the basement, principal and attic floor plans; the exterior of the building; description of the various rooms; the Senate Chamber and the Hall of Representatives; the Library; the old portions of the building PDF 4.9 MB 435-472
Chapter XVII - The terraces and landscape work; Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect; treatment of the grounds;
the marble terraces; planting; the progress and effectiveness of this work
PDF 2.6 MB 473-492
Chapter XVIII - Recent alterations and proposed additions to the Capitol; removal of the Congressional Library from the
Capitol; new committee rooms; Walter’s schemes for central projections; additions suggested by Smithmeyer and Pelz; the explosion of 1898 and repairs
PDF 1.2 MB 493-506
Chapter XIX - Decorations; appointment of an art commission to report on the decoration of the Capitol; the recommendations of this commission; their criticisms of the art work already completed; the need of the most competent artists being employed PDF 33 KB 507-509
Chapter XX - Sculpture; the work of Greenough, Crawford,
Rogers, Powers, David d’Anvers, Houdon, Rinehart, French,
Story, Simmons, Ward, and other sculptors; table with list
of sculpture; table with list of sculptured busts; table with
list of medals formerly in the Capitol
PDF 2.1 MB
PDF 47 KB
510-535
536-541
Chapter XXI - Paintings and frescoes; paintings by Powell,
Walker, Leutze, Bierstadt, Gilbert Stuart, Chas. Wilson
Peale, Rembrandt Peale, Copley, Sully, Sargent; frescoes by
Brumidi; table giving a list of the paintings in the Capitol;
table giving a list of frescoes in the Capitol
PDF 3.3 MB 542-570
Chapter XXII - Architects of the Capitol extension; biographies of Thomas U. Walter, Edward Clark, Frederick Law Olmsted, Thomas Wisedell PDF 256 KB 571-579
Chapter XXIII - Superintendents of the Capitol extension,
M. C. Meigs, W. B. Franklin; biography of frescoe painter
C. Brumidi
PDF 263 KB 580-585
Chapter XXIV - Miscellaneous data of the Capitol extension; the jurisdiction of the work; day work; contract work; the price
of labor and material; the principal contractors; table giving
the names and salaries of the principal men connected with
the Capitol; table giving the general dimensions of the
building; table giving list of trees and shrubs in the Capitol
grounds; table giving appropriations for and expenditures
on the Capitol; table giving cost of the Capitol; bibliography
of the United States Capitol
PDF 159 KB 586-619
Bibliography PDF 88 KB 620-632
Index to the Annotated Edition PDF 59 KB 633-644