Visualizing History

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Making the most of my time in the Nation’s capitol, and at the suggestion of the James Madison Graduate Fellowship, I looked into meeting with my Senators from Nevada, Harry Reid and John Ensign. To my good fortune (as well as all Nevadans)the Senators have a meet and greet breakfast at the Capitol building every Thursday morning. I had the pleasure of not only meeting the Senators but having my photo taken with them (I will post this as soon as they mail it to me). To say the least this was a very special opportunity and I thank the Senators, and their staff, for being so available to your constituents (not all Senators do this, in fact Nevada may be the only delegation that provides this opportunity). After meeting with the Senators I visited the rest of the Capitol building and had the opportunity to sit in the gallery in the House of Representatives. One of the things that surprised me about the chamber is how small it is. Seeing the President deliver the State of the Union Address on T.V. makes the room look so large but that’s not the case. I also visitd the Capitol Rotunda also called the “dome” it was absolutely beautiful with all kinds of ornate architectual features and designs. I also visited the Old Hall of the House also called the National Statuary Hall, this is where the House of Representatives originally met. What is interesting about the hall is the fact that it was designed to carry the voices of representatives from one end of the room to the other, this would have been a noval idea in a time when there were no microphones. The room today houses statues representing the fifty states.
Representing Nevada is a beautiful bronze statue of
Sarah Winnemucca
Unfortunately with the amount of time I had I did not get to see everything I had wanted to but I had an excellent time visiting none the less.