TEXAS, AUSTIN: STATE CAPITOL

 March 24, 2021

We had driven through Austin on a prior visit and had intended to visit the capitol building, but Bob couldn't find a place to park, traffic was awful, and we gave up. This time, however, Bob found a hotel (the Hampton Inn) with an underground parking lot just two blocks from the capitol.  Very nice. In fact, we wouldn't know how nice that parking lot was until the next night when a ferocious hailstorm woke us up in the middle of the night.

Hotel parking lot entrance

The first thing we did after checking into our hotel was walk to the capitol. Like everything in Texas, it is ginormous. In fact, it has the largest gross square footage of all the state capitols. Only the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., is larger. Built in 1888 to replace the previous (and smaller) capitol that was destroyed by fire, its neo-Renaissance style features the domes, columns, plasterwork, and pediments of classical architecture. It is made of red granite sourced from Granite Mountain near present-day Marble Falls, where we had spent the previous night.

Front view

View of dome from behind the building

As we approached the entrance, we passed by a small replica of the Statue of Liberty that was donated by the Boy Scouts of America as a "pledge of everlasting loyalty and fidelity" (at least that's how they felt in 1951 when the donation was made). The monument on the right is dedicated to the survivors of Pearl Harbor and has the caption "Remember Pearl Harbor. Keep America alert."

On the left below is the Texas World War II Memorial honoring the 830,000 Texans who served in the the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, including more than 22,000 who gave their lives. This is a replica of the Texas Pillar in Washington, D.C. I found these last few lines on the tribute a little ironic given the current role of Texas in our political divide: "[T]he Memorial stands as an abiding symbol of Texas' contribution to the American national unity during World War II and a timeless reminder of the moral strength and awesome power that comes when a free people are united and bonded together in a common and just cause." That statement is dated August 15, 2007. The statue on the right is entitled Texas Pioneer Woman, and it honors the stalwart pioneer women of early Texas. They were definitely worth honoring!

One of my favorite sculptures at the capitol is this Tribute to Texas Children Monument.  It was funded by students from 600 schools across the state and depicts a group of kids on a field trip to the capitol.  It looks like one of the kids is missing as there are five granite squares. Isn't that how it always is on field trips?

Large tents were erected near the front entrance to the building to provide a screening area for Covid. We were actually asked if we had verification of having been vaccinated. Of all places, we did not expect this in Texas. Luckily, I had taken photos of our vaccination cards before we left and was able to pull those up. I don't think we would have been kept out without them, but supposedly it gave us access to more areas of the building.

I love the brass plates on the front doors.

Given the exterior of the building, we were prepared to be blown away by the interior, but such was not the case. It was really one of the most boring capitol buildings we have ever been inside. Yes, the architecture was stunning, but the décor was sterile. We thought Texas pride would be overwhelmingly present, but aside from a few sculptures tucked away in side hallways, the only art we saw were hundreds of portraits. 

Even the inside of that massive dome is a bit boring.

The hallways were probably my favorite architectural feature of the building interior, but even they were not that memorable. What about this screams "Texas!"? Nothing.

Congress was in session, so we were not allowed in the Senate and House Chambers. One of the guards told us they meet for five months every two years. Could that be right?

As noted earlier, there were hundreds of portraits of Very Important Politicians hanging on the rotunda walls on each of its levels. I did not recognize most of them, but here are a few that I did.  L: John Connolly (Governor from1963 to 1969), who was riding in the Presidential limousine in Dallas when Kennedy was assassinated. Connolly himself was seriously wounded.  

R: Ann Richards (Governor from 1991 to 1995), a Democrat (in Texas!), the 2nd female governor of Texas, and an outspoken feminist.

L: George W. Bush (Governor from 1995 to 2000) defeated Ann Richards when she ran for re-election. George went on to be elected President of the United States in 2001. (We never did find the portrait of his famous father, who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Texas's 7th district and also President of the U.S.) 

R: Rick Perry (Governor from Dec. 2000--after Bush resigned to become U.S. President--to Jan. 2015), who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. President in the 2012 and 2016 elections.

On upper floors in less prominent galleries I found these two paintings.

L: Miriam Ferguson (Governor from 1925 to 1927), the first female governor of Texas and, along with Nellie Taylor Ross of Wyoming, one of the first two women to be governor of any U.S. state. Her husband was elected governor of Texas in 1915 but was impeached in 1917 and prohibited from holding office again. Miriam was pretty much a figurehead as governor with her husband running the show.

R: Miriam Ferguson in her second term as Governor (1933 to 1935). Let's just say she wasn't known for her strong leadership.

Here is one interesting fact about Miriam Ferguson: She had daughters named Ouida and Dorrace.  I am not sure what that says about her taste and/or judgment.

We did find a few marble sculptures down a side hallway. At first I thought this was Davy Crockett, famous for his role in the Battle of the Alamo.

But no, it is Sam Houston, leader of the Texas Revolution, first and third president of the Republic of Texas, and Texas Senator once Texas joined the Union. An interesting fact about Sam: He was elected governor of Tennessee (1827-1829) and governor of Texas (1859-1861), the only American to have served as governor of two different states. His role as governor got him a portrait in the gallery in addition to his statue.

Okay, then this must be Davy Crockett.

Nope. It is Stephen F. Austin, for whom the state capital is named. He is known as the "Father of Texas" for establishing a settlement of 300 pioneer families that he brought to the region in 1825.

Davy Crockett, legendary adventurer, merited only a painting. I guess he is more famous in Tennessee, where he spent most of his life and which he represented as a U.S. Congressman. Still--he was killed in the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. That got him a painting.

We got a good view of the rotunda floor from the upper balconies. Okay, this screams "Texas!"

We got a nice bird's-eye view of the Legislative Reference Library.

From four or five levels up, it was interesting to view the interior of the dome (L) and the rotunda floor (R).

But when I am so desperate for something interesting to take a picture of that I photograph a bench, that's saying something.

I think this was embossed on the elevator.  Desperate indeed.

This, this screams Texas!  I'm not even sure where it is in the building. It isn't one of the focal points.

But what really screams "Texas!" are the sculptures that are not in front of the capitol but off to the side and behind it. 

This monument, installed in 1961, was the subject of litigation in the Supreme Court Case Van Orden v. Perry (2005). The case involved determining whether a display of the Ten Commandments on the Texas State Capitol grounds violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The 5th Circuit Court  of Appeals ruled in 2003 that the display was constitutional because it conveyed both a religious and secular message. The decision was appealed by Erwin Chemerinsky, legal scholar and Dean of the CU Berkeley Law School, but in 2005 the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the display is a part of our American history and is constitutional.

"TEXAS! TEXAS!" This bronze statue by Constance Whitney Warren is a tribute to the "rough and romantic riders of the range" and states that Texas is "the native home of  the American cowboy."

The natural art of Texas. I have no idea what kind of tree this is, but it is very unique.

The Texas African America History Memorial honors the slaves who arrived with the first Spanish explorers and settlers, the participation of slaves in the Battle of the Alamo in 1836 and in later battles as free men, the workers in the cotton and oil industries, and the post-Civil War African-Americans who fought for their rights. It recognizes prominent African-American Texans such as musician Scott Joplin, boxer Jack Johnson, aviator Bessie Coleman, and Senator Barbara Jordan.

Front of monument as seen from street

Back of monument as seen from capitol

I think the astronaut at the far end of the memorial is Bernard Harris, the first African American to go on a spacewalk. It was during the second of his two Space Shuttle flights.

I especially like this line from one of the plaques: 

"For 200 years, Texans of African descent struggled for economic, social and political success. They fought to gain access to basic judicial and  human rights to secure their enfranchisement and their role in Texas society. In some cases, they achieved some success. In other areas, there is work yet to be done. This Memorial is dedicated to both the struggles and achievements of African-American Texans and the impact of both on the eocnnomic and cultural vitality of the State of Texas."

And then a few steps away . . . 

A monument to the Confederate soldiers who "died for state rights guaranteed under the Constitution."

"TEXAS! TEXAS!"

We stopped at one more monument: a series of bronze sculptures representing Spanish explorers and Tejanos (descendants of the Spanish explorers and colonizers who settled Texas).

I love this young family--the romantic gaze between mother and father, the baby's foot sticking out of the blanket, the daughter at their feet giving water to a sheep . . . 

. . . and their son up to no good.

READING

In The Moor’s Account, Laila Lalami tells the story of the first Spanish conquistador journey across what would become the Southern United States, which included what is now Texas. The group included one black slave from Morocco named Estebanico. There is no historical record of his role, only that he was part of the large group that began the excursion and one of only five who survived it.  The author imagines what the journey would have been like as experienced through Estebanico's eyes. The book is thoroughly researched and an interesting insight into pre-European Texas.