1.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
White House
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The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D. C. It has been the residence of every U. S. president since John Adams in 1800, the term White House is often used to refer to actions of the president and his advisers, as in The White House announced that. The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the Neoclassical style, construction took place between 1792 and 1800 using Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he added low colonnades on each wing that concealed stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior, reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817. Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semi-circular South portico in 1824, because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. Eight years later in 1909, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office, in the main mansion, the third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as an area for social events. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space, by 1948, the houses load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under Harry S. Truman, the rooms were completely dismantled. Once this work was completed, the rooms were rebuilt. The Executive Residence is made up of six stories—the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, the property is a National Heritage Site owned by the National Park Service and is part of the Presidents Park. In 2007, it was ranked second on the American Institute of Architects list of Americas Favorite Architecture, in May 1790, New York began construction of Government House for his official residence, but he never occupied it. The national capital moved to Philadelphia in December 1790, the July 1790 Residence Act named Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the temporary national capital for a 10-year period while the Federal City was under construction. The City of Philadelphia rented Robert Morriss city house at 190 High Street for Washingtons presidential residence, the first president occupied the Market Street mansion from November 1790 to March 1797, and altered it in ways that may have influenced the design of the White House. As part of an effort to have Philadelphia named the permanent national capital, Pennsylvania built a much grander presidential mansion several blocks away. President John Adams also occupied the Market Street mansion from March 1797 to May 1800, on Saturday, November 1,1800, he became the first president to occupy the White House. The Presidents House in Philadelphia became a hotel and was demolished in 1832, the Presidents House was a major feature of Pierre Charles LEnfants plan for the newly established federal city, Washington, D. C
4.
Constitution Avenue
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Constitution Avenue is a major east-west street in the northwest and northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D. C. in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and its section was greatly lengthened and widened between 1925 and 1933. It received its current name on February 26,1931, Constitution Avenues western half defines the northern border of the National Mall and extends from the United States Capitol to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. Its eastern half runs through the neighborhoods of Capitol Hill and Kingman Park before it terminates at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, a large number of federal departmental headquarters, memorials, and museums line Constitution Avenues western segment. In Pierre Charles LEnfants original plan for the city in 1791, B Street NW began at 6th Street NW and its eastern segment, which was unimpeded by any water obstacles, ran straight to the Eastern Branch river. Along its entire length, B Street was 60 feet wide, LEnfant proposed turning Tiber Creek into a canal. His plan included cutting a new canal south across the side of the United States Capitol grounds. The Washington Canal Company was incorporated in 1802, and after several false starts substantial work began in 1810, the Washington City Canal began operation in 1815. The canal suffered from problems and economic competition almost immediately. Traffic on the canal was adversely affected by forces, which the builders had not accounted for. At low tide, portions of the canal were almost dry, after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad built Washington Branch into the city in 1835, competition from railroads left the canal economically unviable. Although the Washington City Canal remained in use after the coming of the railroad, by 1855 it had filled with silt and it remained in this condition throughout the 1860s. In 1871, Congress abolished the elected mayor and bicameral legislature of the District of Columbia, territorial government only lasted until 1874, but during this period the D. C. Board of Public Works enclosed the canal and turned it into a sewer, B Street NW from 15th Street to Virginia Avenue NW was constructed on top of it. Work began in October 1871 and was complete in December 1873 and this reclaimed land — which today includes West Potomac Park, East Potomac Park, the Tidal Basin — was largely complete by 1890, and designated Potomac Park by Congress in 1897. B Street NW extended through the newly created West Potomac Park between Virginia Avenue NW and 23rd Street NW, however, since this area was considered parkland, the street narrowed to just 40-foot in width. But Congress appropriated no money for the design or construction due to the onset of World War I, but after President Warren G. Congress approved funding for design work on June 12,1922, and authorized construction of the Arlington Memorial Bridge on February 24,1925. The 1925 legislation specified that B Street NW be treated as an approach to Arlington Memorial Bridge
5.
National Mall
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The National Mall is a national park in downtown Washington, D. C. the capital of the United States. The National Park Service administers the National Mall, which is part of its National Mall, a smaller designation, sometimes referred to as the Mall proper, excludes both the Capitol grounds and the Washington Monument grounds, applying only to an area between them. The National Mall contains a number of museums and memorials and receives approximately 24 million visitors each year, in his 1791 plan for the future city of Washington, D. C. The National Mall occupies the site of this grand avenue. The Washington Monument stands near the site of its namesakes equestrian statue. Mathew Careys 1802 map is reported to be the first to name the area west of the United States Capitol as the Mall, during the early 1850s, architect and horticulturist Andrew Jackson Downing designed a landscape plan for the Mall. Over the next century, federal agencies developed several naturalistic parks within the Mall in accordance with Downings plan. Two such areas were Henry Park and Seaton Park, in addition, railroad tracks crossed the Mall on 6th Street, west of the Capitol. Near the tracks, a market and a railroad station rose on the north side of the Mall. Greenhouses belonging to the U. S. Botanic Garden appeared near the east end of the Mall, the plan differed from LEnfants by replacing the 400 feet wide grand avenue with a 300 feet wide vista containing a long and broad expanse of grass. Four rows of American elm trees planted fifty feet apart between two paths or streets would line each side of the vista. Buildings housing cultural and educational institutions constructed in the Beaux-Arts style would line each outer path or street, on the opposite side of the path or street from the elms. In subsequent years, the vision of the McMillan plan was followed with the planting of American elms. In accordance with a plan that it completed in 1976, the NPS converted the two innermost boulevards into gravel walking paths, the two outermost boulevards remain paved and open to vehicular traffic. Although the Navy intended the buildings to provide quarters for the United States military during World War I. Much of the area then became Constitution Gardens, which was dedicated in 1976. From the 1970s to 1994, a model of a triceratops named Uncle Beazley stood on the Mall in front of the National Museum of Natural History. The life-size statue, which is now located at the National Zoological Park in Northwest Washington, in 2003, the 108th United States Congress enacted the Commemorative Works Clarification and Revision Act
6.
President's Park
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Presidents Park, located in Washington, D. C. encompasses the White House, a visitor center, Lafayette Square, and The Ellipse. Presidents Park was the name of Lafayette Square. The current Presidents Park is administered by the National Park Service, contests were held to solicit designs for both the United States Capitol and the Presidents residence. James Hobans design was selected, and he supervised the construction, later on, the White House was expanded with the West Wing, which now houses the office of the president and staff. The White House grounds include the South Lawn, Rose Garden, Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, Lafayette Square is a seven-acre public park located directly north of the White House on H Street, bounded by Jackson Place on the west, Madison Place on the east, and Pennsylvania Avenue. The square and the structures were designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1970. Planned as part of the grounds surrounding the Executive Mansion, this square was originally called Presidents Park. The park was separated from the White House grounds in 1804, in 1824, the park was officially renamed in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, the Frenchman who fought in the American Revolutionary War. Lafayette Square has been used as a racetrack, a graveyard, a zoo, a market, an encampment for soldiers during the War of 1812. Andrew Jackson Downing landscaped Lafayette Square in 1851 in the picturesque style, Presidents Park South is a 52 acres park located just south of the White House fence. Properly, the Ellipse is the name of the five-furlong circumference street within the park, the entire park is open to the public, and features various monuments. The Ellipse is also the location for a number of annual events, D. C. locals can often be heard to say they are on the Ellipse, which is understood to mean that the individual is on the field that is bounded by Ellipse Road. The Army Corps of Engineers began work on the Ellipse in 1867, the White House Visitor Center is located in the north end of the Herbert C. Hoover Building. Since September 11,2001, the center no longer serves as a starting point for those going on a reserved tour of the White House. The various exhibits provide a visitor experience for those who did not schedule a tour. The themes of the six permanent exhibits are First Families, Symbols & Images, White House Architecture, White House Interiors, Working White House, other exhibits change throughout the year. Washington, U. S. Department of the Interior, official website The White House White House Historical Association The Shape and History of The Ellipse in Washington, D. C. by Clark Kimberling
7.
Pierre Charles L'Enfant
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Pierre Peter Charles LEnfant was a French-born American architect and civil engineer best known for designing the layout of the streets of Washington, D. C. the LEnfant Plan. In 1758, his brother Pierre Joseph died at the age of six and he studied art at the Royal Academy in the Louvre, as well as with his father at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. He left school in France to enlist in the American Revolutionary War on the side of the rebelling colonials, LEnfant was recruited by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais to join in the American Revolutionary War in the American colonies. He arrived in 1777 at the age of 23, and served as an engineer in the Continental Army with Major General Lafayette. He was commissioned as a captain in the Corps of Engineers on April 3,1779 to rank from February 18,1778, despite his aristocratic origins, LEnfant closely identified with the United States, changing his first name from Pierre to Peter. LEnfant served on General George Washingtons staff at Valley Forge, while there, the Marquis de Lafayette commissioned LEnfant to paint a portrait of Washington. He was wounded at the Siege of Savannah on October 9,1779 and he recovered and became a prisoner of war at surrender of Charleston, South Carolina on May 12,1780. He was exchanged in November 1780 and served on General George Washingtons staff for the remainder of the Revolutionary War, LEnfant was promoted by brevet to Major of Engineers on May 2,1783, in recognition of his service to the cause of American liberty. He was discharged when the Continental Army was disbanded in December 1783, after the war, LEnfant designed the badge of the Society of the Cincinnati, an organization of former officers of the Continental Army, shaped as an eagle, at the request of Washington. He was sent to France to have made for members of the Society. Following the American Revolutionary War, LEnfant established a successful and highly profitable civil engineering firm in New York City and he achieved some fame as an architect by redesigning the City Hall in New York for the First Congress of the United States. He also designed furniture and houses for the wealthy as well as coins and medals and he was also a friend of Alexander Hamilton. While LEnfant was in New York City, he was initiated into Freemasonry and his initiation took place on April 17,1789, at Holland Lodge No. 8, F & A M, which the Grand Lodge of New York F & A M had chartered in 1787, LEnfant took only the first of three degrees offered by the Lodge and did not progress further in Freemasonry. Included in the new district were the port towns of Georgetown. LEnfant arrived in Georgetown on March 9,1791, and began his work, Washington arrived later on March 28, to meet with LEnfant and the Commissioners for several days. On June 22, LEnfant presented his first plan for the city to the President. On August 19, he appended a new map to a letter that he sent to the President, President Washington retained a copy of one of LEnfants plans, showed it to the Congress, and later gave it to the three Commissioners
8.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
9.
Washington Monument
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It is the tallest monumental column in the world if all are measured above their pedestrian entrances. Although the stone structure was completed in 1884, internal ironwork, the knoll, a difference in shading of the marble, visible approximately 150 feet or 27% up, shows where construction was halted and later resumed with marble from a different source. The original design was by Robert Mills, but he did not include his proposed colonnade due to a lack of funds, despite many proposals to embellish the obelisk, only its original flat top was altered to a pointed marble pyramidion, in 1884. Upon completion, it became the worlds tallest structure, a previously held by the Cologne Cathedral. The monument held this designation until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris, the monument was damaged during the 2011 Virginia earthquake and Hurricane Irene in the same year and remained closed to the public while the structure was assessed and repaired. After 32 months of repairs, the National Park Service and the Trust for the National Mall reopened the Washington Monument to visitors on May 12,2014, as of September 2016, the monument has been closed indefinitely due to reliability issues with the current elevator system. On December 2,2016, the National Park Service announced that the monument would be closed until 2019 in order to modernize the elevator. The $2 to 3 million project will correct the elevators ongoing mechanical, electrical and computer issues, the National Park Service has also requested funding in its FY2017 Presidents Budget Request to construct a permanent screening facility for the Washington Monument. The Washington Monument is expected to re-open to visitors in 2019, even his erstwhile enemy King George III called him the greatest character of the age. At his death in 1799 he left a legacy, he exemplified the core ideals of the American Revolution. Washington was the unchallenged public icon of American military and civic patriotism, starting with victory in the Revolution, there were many proposals to build a monument to Washington. After his death, Congress authorized a memorial in the national capital. The Republicans were dismayed that Washington had become the symbol of the Federalist Party and they also blocked his image on coins or the celebration of his birthday. Further political squabbling, along with the North-South division on the Civil War, by that time, Washington had the image of a national hero who could be celebrated by both North and South, and memorials to him were no longer controversial. As early as 1783, the Continental Congress had resolved That an equestrian statue of George Washington be erected at the place where the residence of Congress shall be established, currently, there are two equestrian statues of President Washington in Washington, D. C. Ten days after Washingtons death, a Congressional committee recommended a different type of monument, John Marshall, a Representative from Virginia proposed that a tomb be erected within the Capitol. Progress toward a memorial began in 1832. That year, which marked the 100th anniversary of Washingtons birth, in 1836, after they had raised $28,000 in donations, they announced a competition for the design of the memorial
10.
History of the Philadelphia Athletics
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The Oakland Athletics, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Philadelphia. This article details the history of the Philadelphia Athletics, from 1901 to 1954, see also, Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame The Western League had been renamed the American League in 1900 by league president Bancroft Johnson, and declared itself the second major league in 1901. Johnson created new franchises in the east and eliminated some franchises in the West, Philadelphia had a new franchise created to compete with the National Leagues Philadelphia Phillies. Former catcher Connie Mack was recruited to manage the club, Mack in turn persuaded Phillies minority owner Ben Shibe as well as others to invest in the team, which would be called the Philadelphia Athletics. Mack himself bought a 25% interest, while the remaining 25% was sold to Philadelphia sportswriters Sam Jones, the new league recruited many of its players from the existing National League, persuading them to jump to the American League in defiance of their National League contracts. One of the players who jumped to the new league was second baseman Nap Lajoie and he won the A. L. s first batting title with a.426 batting average, still a league record. The Athletics and the American League received a setback when, on April 21,1902, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court invalidated Lajoies contract with the Athletics and this order, though, was only enforceable in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Lajoie was sold to Cleveland, but was out of road games in Philadelphia until the National Agreement was signed between the two leagues in 1903. In the early years, the As established themselves as one of the dominant teams in the new league, winning the A. L. pennant six times and they won over 100 games in 1910 and 1911, and 99 games in 1914. The team was known for its $100,000 Infield, consisting of Stuffy McInnis, Eddie Collins, Jack Barry, Rube Waddell was also a major pitching star for the As in the early 1900s. According to Lamont Buchanan in The World Series and Highlights of Baseball, Plank holds the franchise record for career victories, with 284. In 1909, the As moved into the leagues first concrete-and-steel ballpark. This remains the second and last time in history where a new ballpark was built specifically for the As. Later in the decade, Mack bought the 25% of the stock owned by Jones. Shibe ceded Mack full control over the side while retaining control over the business side. In 1914, the Athletics lost the 1914 World Series to the Miracle Braves in a four-game sweep, Mack traded, sold or released most of the teams star players soon after. In his book To Every Thing a Season, Bruce Kuklick points out there were suspicions that the As had thrown the Series, or at least laid down. Mack himself alluded to that years later, but debunked it
11.
United States Army Corps of Engineers
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The United States Army Corps of Engineers, also sometimes shortened to CoE is a U. S. Although generally associated with dams, canals and flood protection in the United States, the Corps of Engineers provides outdoor recreation opportunities to the public, and provides 24% of U. S. hydropower capacity. The corps mission is to Deliver vital public and military engineering services, partnering in peace and war to strengthen our Nations security, energize the economy and their most visible missions include, Planning, designing, building, and operating locks and dams. Other civil engineering projects include flood control, beach nourishment, design and construction of flood protection systems through various federal mandates. Design and construction management of military facilities for the Army, Air Force, Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve and other Defense and Federal agencies. The history of United States Army Corps of Engineers can be traced back to 16 June 1775, colonel Richard Gridley became General George Washingtons first chief engineer, however, it was not until 1779 that Congress created a separate Corps of Engineers. One of its first tasks was to build fortifications near Boston at Bunker Hill, the first Corps of Engineers was mostly composed of French subjects who had been hired by General Washington from the service of Louis XVI. that the said Corps. Shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York, until 1866, the superintendent of the United States Military Academy was always an officer of engineer. During the first half of the 19th century, West Point was the major and, for a while, the General Survey Act of 1824 authorized the use of Army engineers to survey road and canal routes. Separately authorized on 4 July 1838, the U. S and it was merged with the Corps of Engineers on 31 March 1863, at which point the Corps of Engineers also assumed the Lakes Survey District mission for the Great Lakes. In 1841, Congress created the Lake Survey, the survey, based in Detroit, Mich. was charged with conducting a hydrographical survey of the Northern and Northwestern Lakes and preparing and publishing nautical charts and other navigation aids. The Lake Survey published its first charts in 1852, in the mid-19th century, Corps of Engineers officers ran Lighthouse Districts in tandem with U. S. Naval officers. The Army Corps of Engineers played a significant role in the American Civil War, many of the men who would serve in the top leadership in this institution were West Point graduates who rose to military fame and power during the Civil War. Some of these men were Union Generals George McClellan, Henry Halleck, George Meade, and Confederate generals Robert E. Lee, Joseph Johnston, the versatility of officers in the Army Corps of Engineers contributed to the success of numerous missions throughout the Civil War. They were responsible for building pontoon and railroad bridges, forts and batteries, the destruction of supply lines. The Army Corps of Engineers served as a function in making the war effort logistically feasible. This method of building trenches was known as the zigzag pattern, from the beginning, many politicians wanted the Corps of Engineers to contribute to both military construction and works of a civil nature. During World War II the mission grew to more than 27,000 military, included were aircraft, tank assembly, and ammunition plants, camps for 5.3 million soldiers, depots, ports, and hospitals, as well as the Manhattan Project, and the Pentagon
12.
Ulmus americana
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The American elm is an extremely hardy tree that can withstand winter temperatures as low as −42 °C. Trees in areas unaffected by Dutch elm disease can live for several hundred years, for over 80 years, U. americana has been identified as a tetraploid, i. e. having double the usual number of chromosomes, making it unique within the genus. However, a study published in 2011 by the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA revealed that about 20% of wild American elms are diploid, and may even constitute another species. Moreover, several trees known only in cultivation, such as Jefferson, are possessed of a high degree of resistance to Dutch elm disease which ravaged American elms in the 20th century. This suggests that the parent trees, which have markedly smaller cells than the tetraploid. Ulmus americana was first described and named by Carl Linnaeus in his Species Plantarum, no subspecies or varieties are currently recognized within the species. The leaves are alternate, 7–20 cm long, with double-serrate margins, the perfect flowers are small, purple-brown and, being wind-pollinated, apetalous. The flowers are protogynous, the female parts maturing before the male, thus reducing, but not eliminating, self-fertilization. The fruit is a flat samara 2 cm long by 1.5 cm broad, as in the closely related European White Elm Ulmus laevis, the flowers and seeds are borne on 1–3 cm long stems. American Elm is wholly insensitive to daylight length, and will continue to grow well into autumn until injured by frost, on more elevated terrain, as in the Appalachian Mountains, it is most often found along rivers. The species wind-dispersed seeds enable it to spread rapidly as suitable areas of habitat become available, American elm produces its seed crop in late spring and the seeds usually germinate right away with no cold stratification needed. A sugar maple-ironwood-American elm cover type occurs on some hilltops near Témiscaming, the leaves of the American elm serve as food for the larvae of various lepidopterans. The American elm is susceptible to Dutch elm disease and elm yellows. In north America, there are three species of elm bark beetles, one native, Hylurgopinus rufipes, and two invasive, Scolytus multistriatus and Scolytus schevyrewi, although intensive feeding by elm bark beetles can kill weakened trees, their main impact is as vectors of DED. U. americana is also the most susceptible of all the elms to verticillium wilt, however, the condition is far less serious, and afflicted trees should recover the following year. Dutch elm disease is a disease which has ravaged the American elm. It has been estimated that only approximately 1 in 100,000 American elm trees is DED-tolerant, however, in some areas still not populated by Dutch elm disease, the American elm continues to thrive, notably in Florida, Alberta and British Columbia. Spores introduced outside of this period remain largely static within the xylem and are relatively ineffective
13.
Baseball field
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A baseball field, also called a ball field or a baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term is used as a metonym for baseball park.5 inches. Adjacent to each of the two parallel 8. 5-inch sides is a batters box, the point of home plate where the two 12-inch sides meet at right angles is at one corner of a ninety-foot square. The other three corners of the square, in order from home plate, are called first base, second base. Three canvas bags fifteen inches square mark the three bases and these three bags along with home plate form the four points at the corners of the infield. All the bases, including home plate, lie entirely within fair territory, thus, any batted ball that touches those bases must necessarily be in fair territory. Thus, although the points of the bases are 90 feet apart, the lines from home plate to first and third bases extend to the nearest fence, stand or other obstruction and are called the foul lines. The portion of the field between the foul lines is fair territory, the rest is foul territory. The area in the vicinity of the square formed by the bases is called the infield, most baseball fields are enclosed with a fence that marks the outer edge of the outfield. The fence is set at a distance ranging from 300 to 420 feet from home plate. Most professional and college baseball fields have a right and left foul pole and these poles are at the intersection of the foul lines and the respective ends of the outfield fence and, unless otherwise specified within the ground rules, lie in fair territory. Thus, a ball that passes over the outfield wall in flight and touches the foul pole is a fair ball. First base is the first of four bases that must be touched by a player on the team in order to score a run. Unlike when a player reaches second or third base, it is permissible for a batter-runner to overrun first base without being in jeopardy of being put out. After contact is made with the base, the batter-runner may slow down and return to first base at his leisure, the runner cannot be tagged out if he is touching the base with any part of his body. The first baseman is the player responsible for the area near first base. A professional first baseman is often a slow runner and tall, a tall first baseman presents a large target to which other fielders can throw, and his height gives him a larger range in reaching and catching errant throws. Also, a right-handed first baseman must, when setting himself up to receive a throw from an infielder, execute a half-pivot near the base, there are three infield positions that can only effectively be occupied by right-handed players, 2nd base, 3rd base, and shortstop
14.
Tennis court
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A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be used to create a tennis court, Tennis is played on a rectangular flat surface, usually of grass, clay or hard material. The dimensions of a court are defined and regulated by the International Tennis Federation governing body and are written down in the annual Rules of Tennis document. The court is 78 feet long and its width is 27 feet for singles matches and 36 feet for doubles matches. The service line is 21 feet from the net, additional clear space around the court is needed in order for players to reach overrun balls for a total of 60 feet wide and 120 feet long. A net is stretched across the width of the court, parallel with the baselines. The net is 3 feet 6 inches high at the posts, the net posts are 3 feet outside the doubles court on each side or, for a singles net,3 feet outside the singles court on each side. Tennis is played on a variety of surfaces and each surface has its own characteristics which affect the style of the game. There are four types of courts depending on the materials used for the court surface, clay courts, hard courts, grass courts. The Australian Open switched to hard courts in 1988 and in its years the French championship alternated between clay and sand/rubble courts. ITF uses the classification for tennis court surface types, Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone. The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament to use clay courts, Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a high bounce in comparison to grass courts or hard courts. For this reason, the court takes away many of the advantages of big serves. Clay courts are cheaper to construct than other types of tennis courts, Clay courts need to be rolled to preserve flatness. The clays water content must be balanced, green courts generally require the courts to be sloped to allow water run-off, Clay courts are more common in Europe and Latin America than in North America and tend to heavily favour baseline players. Grass courts are the fastest type of courts in common use and they consist of grass grown on very hard-packed soil, which adds additional variables, bounces depend on how healthy the grass is, how recently it has been mown, and the wear and tear of recent play
15.
National Christmas Tree (United States)
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The National Christmas Tree is a large evergreen tree located in the northeast quadrant of The Ellipse near the White House in Washington, D. C. Each year since 1923, the tree has been decorated as a Christmas tree, every December, the tree is lit by the President of the United States. Every president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has made remarks during the tree lighting ceremony. Since 1954, the event has marked the start of month-long festivities known as the Pageant of Peace, smaller trees representing the U. S. states, District of Columbia, and the five territories around the National Christmas Tree are referred to as the Pathway to Peace. The idea of a decorated, outdoor national Christmas tree originated with Frederick Morris Feiker, Feiker was a highly educated engineer who had been a technical journalist for General Electric from 1906-1907 and editor of Electrical World and Electrical Merchandising from 1915 to 1921. In 1921, Feiker joined the staff of United States Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover as a press aide. Vermont Republican Senator Frank L. Greene accompanied Feiker to the White House, Feiker arranged for Paul Moody, president of Middlebury College in Vermont to donate a 48-foot tall balsam fir as the first National Christmas Tree. Middlebury College alumni paid to have it shipped via express to Washington, the branches on the lower 10 feet of the tree were damaged in transit, so cut branches from a local evergreen were tied to the tree to restore its appearance. Feiker put together a group of civic organizations to erect the tree in the center of the Ellipse and decorate it. The site for the tree was personally approved by Grace Coolidge, arrangements were also made to have 3,000 city school children present to sing Christmas carols and the United States Marine Band to play music. The National Broadcasting Company agreed to broadcast the event on radio, the tree was decorated with more than 2,500 electric bulbs in red, white, and green donated by the Electric League of Washington. At 3,00 P. M. on December 24,1923, a 100-voice choir from the First Congregational Church assembled on the South Portico of the White House and began a two-hour concert of Christmas carols. At 5,00 P. M. on Christmas Eve, President Coolidge touched a button at the foot of the tree which lit the lights and electric candles adorning the tree, but he did not speak. A searchlight from the nearby Washington Monument was trained on the tree to illuminate it as well. The Coolidge family invited citizens of the city to sing Christmas carols on the Ellipse after dark, between 5,000 and 6,000 people thronged the park, joined by 3,000 more people by 9,00 P. M. The crowds were joined by the Epiphany Church and First Congregational Church choirs, which sang carols, the singing ended shortly before midnight. After the white residents of the city had dispersed, African American residents of the city were permitted on the grounds to see the National Christmas Tree. An outdoor Christian worship service was held, and a choir composed of signing groups from area community centers sang more Christmas carols
16.
Abies balsamea
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Abies balsamea or balsam fir is a North American fir, native to most of eastern and central Canada and the northeastern United States. Balsam fir is a small to medium-size evergreen tree typically 14–20 metres tall, rarely to 27 metres tall, the bark on young trees is smooth, grey, and with resin blisters, becoming rough and fissured or scaly on old trees. The leaves are flat and needle-like,15 to 30 mm long, dark green above often with a patch of stomata near the tip. They are arranged spirally on the shoot, but with the leaf bases twisted so that the appear to be in two more-or-less horizontal rows on either side of the shoot. The seed cones are erect,40 to 80 mm long, dark purple, ripening brown, there are two varieties, Abies balsamea var. balsamea – bracts subtending seed scales short, not visible on the closed cones. Abies balsamea var. phanerolepis – bracts subtending seed scales longer, the southeast of the species range, from southernmost Quebec to West Virginia. The name Canaan fir derives from one of its native localities, some botanists regard this variety as a natural hybrid between balsam fir and Fraser fir, which occurs further south in the Appalachian mountains. On mountain tops, stands of balsam fir occasionally develop fir waves, often found in association with black spruce, white spruce and trembling aspen. The needles are eaten by some caterpillars, for example the Io moth. Both varieties of the species are popular as Christmas trees. The wood is milled for framing lumber, siding and pulped for paper manufacture, balsam fir oil is an EPA approved nontoxic rodent repellent. The balsam fir is used as an air freshener and as incense. Prior to the availability of foam rubber and air mattresses, balsam fir boughs were a preferred mattress in places where trees greatly outnumbered campers, many fir limbs are vertically bowed from alternating periods of downward deformation from snow loading and new growth reaching upward for sunlight. Layers of inverted freshly cut limbs from small trees created a pleasantly fragrant mattress lifting bedding off the wet ground, upper layers of limbs were placed with the cut ends of the limbs touching the earth to avoid uncomfortably sharp spots and sap. The cultivar A. balsamea Hudsonia group, has gained the Royal Horticultural Societys Award of Garden Merit, the Native Americans used it for a variety of medicinal purposes. Balsam fir is the tree of New Brunswick. Balsam of Peru Hunt, Richard S. Abies balsamea, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. International Union for Conservation of Nature, gymnosperm Database, Abies balsamea Karen Legasy, Shayna LaBelle-Beadman & Brenda Chambers
17.
Blue spruce
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The blue spruce, green spruce, white spruce, Colorado spruce, or Colorado blue spruce, with the scientific name Picea pungens, is a species of spruce tree. It is native to the Rocky Mountains of the United States, the blue spruce has blue coloured needles and is a coniferous tree. In the wild, Picea pungens grows to about 23 m and it is a columnar or conical evergreen conifer with densely growing horizontal branches. It has scaly grey bark on the trunk with yellowish-brown branches, waxy grey-green leaves, up to 3 cm long, are arranged radially on the shoots which curve upwards. The pale brown cones are up to 10 cm long, the specific epithet pungens means sharply pointed, referring to the leaves. The blue spruce is the State Tree of Colorado, Picea pungens and its many cultivars are often grown as ornamental trees in gardens and parks. It is also grown for the Christmas tree industry, the blue spruce is attacked by two species of Adelges, an aphid-like insect that causes galls to form. Nymphs of the gall adelgid form galls at the base of twigs which resemble miniature pineapples. The larva of the spruce budworm eat the buds and growing shoots while the spruce needle miner hollows out the needles and makes them coalesce in a webbed mass, mites can also infest the blue spruce, especially in a dry summer, causing yellowing of the oldest needles. Another insect pest is the beetle which bores under the bark. It often first attacks trees which have blown over by the wind, the blue spruce is susceptible to several needle casting diseases which cause the needles to turn yellow, mottled or brown before they fall off. Various rust diseases also affect the tree causing yellowing of the needles as well as needle fall, canker caused by Cytospora attacks one of the lower branches first and progressively makes its way higher up the tree. The first symptom is the needles turning reddish-brown and falling off, meanwhile, patches of white resin appear on the bark and the branch eventually dies. In traditional medicine, an infusion of the needles is used to treat colds and this liquid is also used externally for rheumatic pains. Early people used their wood for building
18.
York, Pennsylvania
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York, known as the White Rose City, is the city serving as the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States, both being located in the south-central region of the state. The population within Yorks city limits was 43,718 at the 2010 census, when combined with the adjacent boroughs of West York and North York and surrounding Spring Garden, West Manchester, and Springettsbury townships, the population of Greater York was 108,386. York is the county seat of York County and is located at 39°58′00″N 76°45′00″W, York is currently the 11th largest city in Pennsylvania. The city is home to four national historic districts, Fairmount Historic District, Northwest York Historic District, Springdale Historic District, and York Historic District. York, also known as Yorktown in the mid 18th to early 19th centuries, was founded in 1741 by settlers from the Philadelphia region, by 1777, most of the area residents were of either German or Scots-Irish descent. York was incorporated as a borough on September 24,1787, during the American Revolutionary War, York served as the temporary capital of the Continental Congress. The Articles of Confederation were drafted and adopted in York, though they were not ratified until March 1781, York styles itself the first Capital of the United States, although historians generally consider it to be the fourth capital, after Philadelphia, Baltimore and Lancaster. The claim arises from the assertion that the Articles of Confederation was the first legal document to refer to the colonies as the United States of America and this does not, however, prevent modern businesses and organizations in the York area, such as the First Capital Dispensing Co. First Capital Engineering and First Capital Federal Credit Union from using the name, the Conway Cabal, a political intrigue against General George Washington, had its origins in the Golden Plough Tavern in York. According to U. S. census reports from 1800 through 1840, gordon marched to the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville and back. Early laid York under tribute and collected food, supplies, clothing, shoes, the sprawling York U. S. Army Hospital on Penn Commons served thousands of Union soldiers wounded at the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg. York also features unique architecture ranging from colonial era buildings to large gothic churches. The York Motor Car Co. built Pullman automobiles on North George St. from 1905 thorough 1917, an early and unique six-wheeled prototype was involved in one of the citys first known automobile accidents. The York area had also been home for more than 100 years to the Pfaltzgraff company, though now produced by The Hershey Company, the York Peppermint Pattie was created in York in 1940. Throughout the middle 20th Century, the residents of the city were subject to hostile racial prejudice. Between 1955 and 1970, the people of York experienced racial discrimination leading to riots, most notably the 1969 York Race Riot, which resulted in the death of Lily Allen and Henry C. These murders were left ignored until 31 years later, when allegations of murder and racial prejudice were raised against the mayor at the time. Additionally, throughout the century, the city commonly held unopposed Ku Klux Klan rallies and public meetings
19.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
20.
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
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Maintained by the General Services Administration, it is occupied by the Executive Office of the President, including the Office of the Vice President of the United States. It was for years the worlds largest office building, with 566 rooms, many White House employees have their offices in the massive edifice. The building—originally called the State, War, and Navy Building because it housed the Departments of State, War, and it was designed by Alfred B. The OEOB was referred to by Mark Twain as the ugliest building in America, President Harry S. Truman called it the greatest monstrosity in America. Historian Henry Adams called it Mulletts “architectural infant asylum, the total cost to construct the building came in at $10,038,482.42 when construction ended in 1888, after 17 years. The original tenants of the building quickly outgrew it and finally vacated it completely in the late 1930s, the building gradually came to be seen as inefficient and was nearly demolished in 1957. In 1969, the received the highest recognition possible, becoming a National Historic Landmark. In 1981, plans began to restore all the secretary of suites, the main office of the Secretary of the Navy was restored in 1987 and is now used as the ceremonial office of the Vice President of the United States. Shortly after September 11,2001, the 17th Street side of the building was vacated and has since been modernized and its most public function is that of the Vice Presidents Ceremonial Office, which is mainly used for special meetings and press conferences. Many celebrated national figures have participated in events that have taken place within the Old Executive Office Building. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Johnson, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush all had offices in this building before becoming President. It has housed 16 Secretaries of the Navy,21 Secretaries of War, sir Winston Churchill once walked its corridors and Japanese emissaries met there with Secretary of State Cordell Hull after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. President Herbert Hoover occupied the Secretary of the Navys office for a few months following a fire in the Oval Office on Christmas Eve 1929, President Eisenhower held the first televised Presidential news conference in the buildings Indian Treaty Room on January 19,1955. In more recent history, Richard Nixon had an office there during his presidency. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was the first in a succession of Vice Presidents who have had offices in the building. The first wife of a Vice President to have an office in the building was Marilyn Quayle, wife of Dan Quayle, Vice President to George H. W. Bush. The Old Executive Office Building was renamed the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building when President Bill Clinton approved legislation changing the name on November 9,1999, President George W. Bush participated in a rededication ceremony on May 7,2002. A small fire on December 19,2007 damaged an office of the vice-presidents staff, according to media reporting, the office of the Vice Presidents Political Director, Amy Whitelaw, was heavily damaged in the fire
21.
Accessibility
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Accessibility refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people who experience disabilities. The concept of design and practice of accessible development ensures both direct access and indirect access meaning compatibility with a persons assistive technology. Accessibility can be viewed as the ability to access and benefit from some system or entity and this is about making things accessible to all people. Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities commits signatories to provide for full accessibility in their countries. Accessible facilities therefore extend to such as Braille signage, elevators, audio signals at pedestrian crossings, walkway contours, website design. Government mandates including Section 508, WCAG, DDA are all enforcing practices to standardize accessibility testing engineering in product development, existing private businesses are required to increase the accessibility of their facilities when making any other renovations in proportion to the cost of the other renovations. The United States Access Board is A Federal Agency Committed to Accessible Design for People with Disabilities, the Job Accommodation Network discusses accommodations for people with disabilities in the workplace. Many states in the US have their own disability laws, in Australia, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 has numerous provisions for accessibility. In South Africa the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 2000 has numerous provisions for accessibility, in the UK, the Equality Act 2010 has numerous provisions for accessibility. In Sri Lanka, the Supreme Court, on 27 April 2011 gave an order to boost the inherent right of disabled persons to have unhindered access to public buildings. The Act refers to legislation regarding accessibility in e. g. ICT. In Canada, relevant federal legislation includes the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Employment Equity Act, legislation may also be enacted on a state, provincial or local level. In Ontario, Canada, the Ontarians with Disabilities Act of 2001 is meant to improve the identification, removal, the European Union, which has signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, also has adopted a European Disability Strategy for 2010-20. A European Accessibility Act was proposed in late 2012 and this Act would establish standards within member countries for accessible products, services, and public buildings. Assistive technology is the creation of a new device that assists a person in completing a task that would otherwise be impossible. Adaptive technology is the modification, or adaptation, of existing devices, methods, or the creation of new uses for existing devices, to enable a person to complete a task. Examples include the use of controls, and the autocomplete feature in computer word processing programs. Adaptations to wheelchair tires are another example, widening the tires enables wheelchair users to move over soft surfaces, such as snow on ski hills
22.
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
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Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand Steuben, also referred to as the Baron von Steuben, was a Prussian and American military officer. He served as general and major general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is credited with being one of the fathers of the Continental Army in teaching them the essentials of military drills, tactics, and disciplines. He wrote Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States and he served as General George Washingtons chief of staff in the final years of the war. Baron von Steuben was born in the town of Magdeburg on September 17,1730. Baron Wilhelm von Steuben, and his wife, Silvia Sue Steuben, in 1740 Steubens father returned to Prussia and Friedrich was educated in the garrison towns Neisse and Breslau by Jesuits. It is said that at age 14 he served as volunteer with his father in one of the campaigns of the War of the Austrian Succession, Baron von Steuben joined the Royal Prussian Army at age 17. He served as a lieutenant during the Seven Years War in 1756. He served as adjutant to the battalion of General Johann von Mayer and was promoted to first lieutenant in 1759. In August 1759 he was wounded a second time at the Battle of Kunersdorf, in June 1761, he was appointed deputy quartermaster at the general headquarters. Later that year he was prisoner by the Russians at Treptow. Upon the reduction of the army at the end of the war, in 1763, towards the end of his life, Steuben indicated in a letter that an inconsiderate step and an implacable personal enemy led to his leaving the Prussian army. In 1764 Steuben became Hofmarschall to Fürst Josef Friedrich Wilhelm of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, in 1769 the Duchess of Wurttemberg, niece of Frederick the Great, presented him with the Cross of the Order of De la Fidelite. In 1771 he was made a baron and that same year he accompanied the prince to France in 1771, hoping to borrow money. Failing to find funds, they returned to Germany in 1775, in 1763 Steuben had been formally introduced to the future French Minister of War, Claude Louis, Comte de Saint-Germain in Hamburg. They met again in Paris in 1777, the Count, fully realizing the potential of an officer with Prussian general staff training, introduced him to Benjamin Franklin. Franklin, however, was unable to offer Steuben a rank or pay in the American army, the Continental Congress had grown tired of foreign mercenaries coming to America and demanding a high rank and pay. Promoting these men over qualified American officers caused discontent in the ranks, Von Steuben would have to go to America strictly as a volunteer, and present himself to Congress
23.
Albert Jaegers
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Albert Jaegers was an American sculptor. Jaegers was born on March 28,1868, in Elberfeld and he moved with his family to Cincinnati, Ohio, as a boy. He apprenticed to his father as a carver, then studied at the Cincinnati Art Academy, and later in London, Paris. In 1890, he married Matilda Holdt and launched his career as a sculptor and he won competitions sponsored by the National Sculpture Society. He exhibited at the Pan-American Exposition and Louisiana Purchase Exposition, for the latter he was commissioned to create the statue representing Arkansas. In 1906 he won the commission for the Steuben Monument in Washington and his bronze sculptures included an eleven-foot-high figure of the military leader set atop a granite pedestal almost 20 feet high. Alongside the pedestal are two groups, in the one called Commemoration, a seated female figure, unclothed above the waist, represents America instructing a small child from a scroll he holds up to her as he kneels at her feet. In the other, Military Instruction, an adult soldier, naked but for an elaborate helmet, in the prime of life. With his other hand, as if providing instruction, he points to his unsheathed sword, when the U. S. government selected sculptors to create figures for the U. S. Following the U. S. declaration of war on Germany in 1917, Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo asked him to modify it to represent Belgium, Jaegers refused to alter it, but the sculpture was modified over his objections. He said his work could not be modified with a little camouflage with a relabel. His sculptures of German-American historical figures were sometimes targeted when the U. S. the dedication of his figure of Monsignor Anthony Stein met with protest and threats of violence. In 1918 he contributed a small sculpture called The Grenade Thrower to a show of patriotic, Jaegers was a member of the National Sculpture Society and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. He was the brother of sculptor Augustine Jaegers, whose career paralleled his and he lived on Washington Square Park in New York City. He died from disease on July 22,1925 in Suffern, New York. Josephs School, Paterson, New Jersey 1925 - German Pioneers - Minnesota State Capitol, St
24.
Boy Scout Memorial
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The Boy Scout Memorial is a public artwork by American sculptor Donald De Lue, located at The Ellipse in Washington, D. C. This sculpture was surveyed in 1993 as part of the Smithsonians Save Outdoor Sculpture, the Boy Scout Memorial serves as a tribute to the Boy Scouts of America. The sculpture consists of three figures, a Boy Scout in the center wearing a uniform stepping forward and carrying a walking stick in his left hand. Flanking him are two allegorical figures of a man and woman. They represent American Manhood and Womanhood and the ideals they will pass onto the youth, to the Boy Scouts right side is the male figure, nearly nude, who carries a bundle of leaves and drapery in his left arm. Part of the drapery blows across his middle as he strides forward with his right leg, to the Scouts left side is the female figure who holds a torch in her left hand that has a gold-colored flame. Her left hand extends slightly and her palm is facing upward, the three figures are mounted on a hexagonal-shaped base and in front of the sculpture is a circular pool of water. The three figures represent various concepts, according to the National Park Service the Boy Scout represents the aspirations of all past, present, and future Scouts throughout the world. The male figure exemplifies physical, mental, and moral fitness, love of country, good citizenship, loyalty, honor and he carries a helmet, a symbol of masculine attire. The female figure symbolizes enlightenment with the love of God and fellow man, justice, freedom and she holds the eternal flame of Gods Holy Spirit. The sculpture was founded by Modern Art Foundry in New York, in 1959, the 50th anniversary year of Scouting, Lyndon B. Johnson, then Senate majority leader, introduced a measure to establish the memorial, upon approval, funds for the sculpture were raised by Boy Scouts collecting dimes throughout the country, therefore no government spending was used. The names of all the collecting Scouts are inscribed on scrolls that are placed inside the base of the unit, the sculpture sits at the location of the 1937 National Scout Jamboree, the first jamboree. It was dedicated on November 7,1964 and accepted by Associate Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark who celebrated his 50th anniversary of being an Eagle Scout on that day and this sculpture was surveyed by Save Outdoor Sculpture. in 1993 and was described as well maintained. List of public art in Washington, D. C. Ward 2 Scouting in Washington, Boy Scout Memorial on dcMemorials Roadside Americas Boy Scout Memorial - Sparingly Clad Chums The memorial is one of Lonely Planets Top 5 Secret Statues in Washington
25.
Donald De Lue
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Donald Harcourt De Lue was an American sculptor, best known for his public monuments. De Lue studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and later served as an assistant to sculptors Richard Recchia and this was followed by five years in Paris where he continued his study, while working as an assistant to various French artists. He returned to the United States where he was engaged by Bryant Baker, in 1940 he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1943. In 1941, De Lue won a competition to create sculpture for the U. S, post Office and Courthouse Building in Philadelphia, and from then on he stopped being an assistant for other artists and only worked on his own commissions and creations. De Lues works can be found in museums across America. Like many other sculptors of his generation, he executed architectural works and he was also a prolific designer of medals and medallions. De Lue taught at the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York City during the early 1940s, in 1967, De Lue won the American Numismatic Societys J. Sanford Saltus Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Art of the Medal, known as the Saltus Award. In his later years, De Lue and his wife Naomi lived in the Leonardo section of Middletown Township, New Jersey, De Lue cited the 23rd Psalm and the words He leadeth me beside the still waters. As the inspiration by which he arrived in Leonardo from New York City, although he continued to maintain his NYC apartment, it was in his Leonardo studio that many of his largest statues were made. One of the last was a commission by a private individual intended for the Alamo in San Antonio, the bigger-than-life statue of Bowie, Travis and Crockett was considered too violent by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas for placement in a sacred chapel. A compromise was sought, that the statue be installed outside the building in the courtyard rather than inside. DeLue and his patron, a wealthy Texan, preferred the statue be installed in the space for which it was made. Unfortunately, the impasse was never resolved in De Lues lifetime, Donald and Naomi De Lue are buried in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey. The Alchemist, Chemistry Building, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,1940, law and Justice, Robert N. C. Eagles, Old Federal Reserve Bank Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,1941, triton Fountain, Old Federal Reserve Bank Building, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,1941. Harvey S Firestone Memorial, Akron, Ohio,1950, normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, France, 1953–1956, Harbeson, Hough, Livingston and Larson, architects. The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves, surrounding the 22-foot statues base is the inscription, MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE COMING OF THE LORD. Allegorical figures of France and America, chancel sculpture at the War Memorial Chapel at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, dedicated May 29,1960
26.
U.S. Capitol Gatehouses and Gateposts
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The U. S. Capitol Gatehouses and Gateposts — designed circa 1827 by celebrated architect Charles Bulfinch — originally stood on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D. C. Two of the gatehouses are listed on the National Register of Historic Places in their new locations, one gatehouse and three of the gateposts now stand at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue within the Presidents Park South historic district. The other gatehouse is at 17th and Constitution, also within the PPS, four other gateposts have been relocated to the main entrance of the National Arboretum at New York Avenue NE and Springhouse Road NE. Bulfinch designed the structures as part of the original Capitol design, the gatehouses stood at the base of Capitol Hill on the west side at a carriage entrance to the grounds. The gatehouses were removed from the Capitol grounds in 1874 as part of landscaping renovations designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, in 1880, the west gatehouse was relocated at Constitution Avenue and 17th Street NW, and the east gatehouse at Constitution and 15th. They are placed to flank the White House - Washington Monument axis, the deterioration of the gatehouse sandstone required complete reconstructions in 1938. These restorations were completed under the direction of National Park Service architect Thomas T. Waterman, four of the original Bullfinch gateposts from the former fence around the Capitol grounds were moved to Constitution Avenue at the same time as the gatehouses. The posts are twelve feet high and five feet square, the gatehouses are small temple-like stone structures, with rough-coursed masonry on the sides and rear and a small Tuscan order porch on the front. The material is Aquia Creek sandstone of a poor grade. The east gatehouse bears two high water marks carved into the stone to commemorate flooding in 1877 and 1881, National Register of Historic Places listings in the District of Columbia Media related to U. S. Capitol Gatehouses and Gateposts at Wikimedia Commons Historic American Buildings Survey No. DC-35, U. S. Capitol, Gateposts, Nineteenth Street & Constitution, Washington, District of Columbia, dC-719, Bulfinch Capitol Gatepost, Constitution Avenue & Seventh Street, Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, DC,1 measured drawing
27.
Charles Bulfinch
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Charles Bulfinch was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first native-born American to practice architecture as a profession. Bulfinch split his career between his native Boston and Washington, D. C. where he served as Commissioner of Public Building and built the intermediate United States Capitol rotunda, Bulfinch was born in Boston to Thomas Bulfinch, a prominent physician, and his wife, Susan Apthorp. He was educated at Boston Latin School and Harvard University, from which he graduated with an AB in 1781, Thomas Jefferson became something of a mentor to him in Europe, as he would later be to Robert Mills. Upon his return to the United States in 1787, he became a promoter of the ship Columbia Redivivas voyage around the world under command of Captain Robert Gray and it was the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe. In 1788 he married Hannah Apthorp, his first cousin and their sons include Thomas Bulfinch, author of Bulfinchs Mythology, and Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch, Unitarian clergyman and author. Bulfinchs first building was the Hollis Street Church and he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1791. He built several churches in Boston, of which New North is the last standing, serving from 1791 to 1795 on Bostons board of selectmen, he resigned due to business pressures but returned in 1799. From 1799 to 1817, he was the chairman of Bostons board of selectmen continuously, and served as a paid Police Superintendent, improving the streets, drains. Under his direction, both the infrastructure and civic center of Boston were transformed into a classical style. Bulfinch was responsible for the design of the Boston Common, the remodeling and enlargement of Faneuil Hall, there was no payment for his services as selectman, and he received only $1,400 for designing and overseeing the construction of the State House. In the summer of 1817, Bulfinchs roles as selectman, designer, in this position he was paid a salary of $2,500 per year plus expenses. In 1829 Bulfinch completed the construction of the Capitol,36 years after its cornerstone was laid, during his interval in Washington, Bulfinch also drew plans for the State House in Augusta, Maine, a Unitarian Church and prison in Washington, D. C. In 1827, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary member and he returned to Boston in 1830, where he died on April 15,1844, aged 80, and was buried in Kings Chapel Burial Ground in Boston. His tomb was moved to Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. In 1943, a United States Liberty ship named the SS Charles Bulfinch was launched, the ship was scrapped in 1971. Bulfinch was known for attaching tunnels to the homes he erected within New England, the tunnel would run 2 to 5 feet within these homes and the chimneys and fireplaces would be built above their terminus. This would alleviate the problem of poor flashing in between the homes and the tunnel and the flue created a draw system bringing fresh air into the tunnel. This advance might have first been realized by General Jonathan Waldo when he restructured the old fort in Salem
28.
Butt-Millet Memorial Fountain
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The Butt-Millet Memorial Fountain is a memorial fountain located in the Presidents Park in Washington, D. C. in the United States. Dedicated in October 1913, it commemorates the deaths of Archibald Butt, both men died during the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15,1912. Archibald Butt was a Captain in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps who had served in The Philippines from 1898 to 1904, Washington, D. C. from 1904 to 1906, and Cuba from 1906 to 1908. Theodore Roosevelt had become acquainted with Butts logistics and animal husbandry work in the Philippines and was impressed by his hard work, Taft had served as chair of the Second Philippine Commission from 1900 to 1901 and as Governor-General of the Philippines from 1901 to 1904. Taft knew Butt well from their time together overseas, Roosevelt asked Butt to serve as his military aide in April 1908. When Taft became president in March 1909, he asked Butt to stay on as military aide, Butt proved to have strong negotiating skills and a good head for numbers, which enabled him to become Tafts de facto chief negotiator on federal budget issues. In 1911, Butt was promoted to the rank of major, Butt lived in a large mansion at 2000 G Street NW. Since about 1910, Butt and Millet had lived together in the house, Millet, my artist friend who lives with me was Butts designation for his companion. They were known for throwing spartan but large parties that were attended by members of Congress, justices of the Supreme Court, newspapers characterized the intense, deep friendship the men shared as a Damon and Pythias relationship. By 1912, Tafts first term was coming to an end, Roosevelt, who had fallen out with Taft, was known to be considering a run for president against him. Close to both men and fiercely loyal, Butt began to suffer from depression and exhaustion, Millet asked Taft to give him a leave of absence to recuperate before the presidential primaries began. Taft agreed and ordered Butt to go on vacation, Butt left on a six-week vacation to Europe on March 1,1912, accompanied by Millet. Butt booked passage on the RMS Titanic for his return to the United States and he boarded the Titanic on April 10,1912, Millet boarded the ship at Cherbourg, France, later that same day. Butt and Millet were playing cards on the night of April 14 in the smoking room when the Titanic struck an iceberg. The ship sank two and half later, with a loss of over 1,500 lives. Both Butt and Millet went down with the Titanic, millets body was recovered on April 27, and he was buried in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Taft was devastated by Butts death, when he learned Butt had not survived, he broke down and wept, his whole body was shaken with convulsive sobs. On May 2,1912, a service was held in the Butt family home in Atlanta
29.
Daniel Chester French
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French was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, to Henry Flagg French, a lawyer, judge, Assistant US Treasury Secretary and author of a book that described the French drain, and his wife Anne Richardson. In 1867, French moved with his family to Concord, Massachusetts, where he was a neighbor and friend of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his decision to pursue sculpting was influenced by Louisa May Alcotts sister May Alcott. Frenchs early education included training in anatomy with William Rimmer and in drawing with William Morris Hunt, French spent a year studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and also several years in Florence, Italy studying in the studio of Thomas Ball. French first earned acclaim for the Minute Man, commissioned by the town of Concord, Massachusetts and he soon established his own studio, first in Washington DC, moving later to Boston and then to New York City. Frenchs reputation grew with his Statue of the Republic for the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893, in addition to the Lincoln Memorial, French collaborated with architect Henry Bacon on numerous memorials around the country and on the Dupont Circle fountain in Washington DC. In 1893, French was a member of the National Sculpture Society. French also became a member of the National Academy of Design, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Architectural League, and he was a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and a co-founder of the American Academy in Rome. He was a member of the U. S. Commission of Fine Arts, serving from 1910 to 1915, including as chairman from 1912 to 1915, in 1917, French and a colleague, H. Augustus Lukeman, designed the Pulitzer Prize gold medal presented to laureates. French was one of many sculptors who frequently employed Audrey Munson as a model, together with Walter Leighton Clark and others, he was also one of the founders of the Berkshire Playhouse, which later became the Berkshire Theatre Festival. French also taught, among his pupils was the sculptor Edith Howland, French died in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1931 at age 81 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord, Massachusetts. Chesterwood, Frenchs summer home and studio – designed by his architect friend, in 1940, French was selected as one of five artists to be honored in the 35-stamp Famous Americans series. Chester French was an American indie band named for the artist. C and his 24-foot gilt-bronze reduced version made in 1918 survives in Chicago. S. The Spirit of Life, memorial to Spencer Trask, in Saratoga Springs, New York at Congress Park,1915 Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial, samuel Francis du Pont Memorial Fountain, Dupont Circle, Washington, D. C. Alfred Tredway White Memorial, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Henry Bacon architect Russell Alger Memorial Fountain, Grand Circus Park, Detroit, gen. William Franklin Draper, Draper Memorial Park, Milford, Massachusetts. Peace and Vigilance US Customhouse & Post Office, St. Louis, Missouri, deWitt Clinton, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay. Three statues prepared in 1902 for the New York Chamber of Commerce, the building was declared a landmark in 1977. Greek Epic, Lyric Poetry, and Religion, sculptures for the 1908 Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences building on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New York
30.
Enid A. Haupt
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Enid Annenberg Haupt was an American publisher and philanthropist whose gifts supported horticulture, the arts, architectural and historic preservation, and cancer research. She has been described as the greatest patron American horticulture has ever known by Gregory Long, Haupt was born in Chicago to Sadie and Moses Annenberg, the founder of a publishing empire based on The Daily Racing Form and The Philadelphia Inquirer. She was fourth of eight children and last surviving child born to the couple, the boy was Walter H. Annenberg, one of her sisters was Janet Annenberg Hooker. She was tall and thin as a girl, and resolved to impress her older sisters by memorizing a new word each day. She attended Mount Ida Seminary in Newton, Massachusetts, during which time her family moved to New York and her father was convicted of tax evasion during the 1930s and sentenced to two years in prison, he died in prison. In 1953, she was charged with publishing Seventeen magazine, a post she would hold until 1970 and she also wrote Young Living, a syndicated fashion, beauty and lifestyle column. Haupts first marriage, to Norman Bensinger, ended in divorce, they had one child and she later married Ira Haupt, who died in 1963. It was through marriage that she became involved with gardening, particularly in the growing of flowers. Haupt is quoted as often having said Nature is my religion, as an heiress to a family fortune, she was able to make significant contributions to her personal causes and interests, foremost among which was horticulture. The Enid A. Haupt Garden at the Smithsonian is intended by its architect, Jean Paul Carlihan, to interpret nearby museums. It is situated atop the underground portions of the Quadrangle building, which includes the National Museum of African Art, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, and the S. Dillon Ripley Center. She donated River Farm, a 27-acre plantation, located near Mount Vernon and once owned by George Washington, a Victorian style conservatory located in the New York Botanical Garden was saved from demolition through her efforts and funding. She spent large sums over the years to maintain the gardens of The Cloisters and she contributed to the garden of Claude Monet in Giverny, France, and to Lady Bird Johnsons National Wildflower Research Center. Among her other contributions are works of art for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art, Enid Haupt died at age 99 at her home in Greenwich, Connecticut. Enid A. Haupt Garden at the Smithsonian Institution Enid A. Haupt Conservatory at the New York Botanical Garden
31.
First Division Monument
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The First Division Monument is located in Presidents Park, south of State Place Northwest, between 17th Street Northwest and West Executive Avenue Northwest in Washington, DC, United States. The Monument commemorates those who died serving in the 1st Infantry Division of the U. S. Army. The monument was conceived by the Society of the First Division, later additions to the monument commemorate the lives of First Division soldiers who fought in subsequent wars. The World War II addition on the west side was dedicated in 1957, the Vietnam War addition on the east side in 1977, Cass Gilbert was the architect of the original memorial and Daniel Chester French was the sculptor of the Victory statue. Gilberts son, Cass Gilbert Jr. designed the World War II addition, both the Vietnam War addition and the Desert Storm plaque were designed by the Philadelphia firm of Harbeson, Hough, Livingston, and Larson. Congressional approval was obtained to erect the First Division Monument and its later additions on federal ground, the Society of the First Division raised all the funds for the original monument and its additions. Today, the monument and grounds are maintained by the National Park Service, list of public art in Washington, D. C. Ward 2 First Division Monument. Webpage from the National Park Service website
32.
2nd Infantry Division (United States)
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The 2nd Infantry Division is a formation of the United States Army. Its current primary mission is the defense of South Korea in the stages of an invasion from North Korea until other American units can arrive. There are approximately 17,000 soldiers in the 2nd Infantry Division, with 10,000 of them stationed in South Korea, accounting for about 35% of the United States Forces Korea personnel. The 2nd Infantry Division is unique in that it is the only U. S. Army division that is made up partially of South Korean soldiers and this program began in 1950 by agreement with the first South Korean president, Syngman Rhee. Some 27,000 KATUSAs served with the U. S. forces at the end of the Korean War, as of May 2006, approximately 1,100 KATUSA soldiers serve with the 2ID. There were also more than 3,000 Dutch soldiers assigned to the division between 1950 and 1954, combined Division, the division is augmented by rotational BCTs from the rest of the U. S. Armys divisions. The 2nd Division was first constituted on 21 September 1917 in the Regular Army and it was organized on 26 October 1917 at Bourmont, Haute Marne, France. The division spent the winter of 1917–18 training with French and Scottish veterans, though judged unprepared by French tacticians, the American Expeditionary Force was committed to combat in the spring of 1918 in a desperate attempt to halt a German advance toward Paris. Major General Edward Mann Lewis Commanded the 3rd Brigade as they deployed to reinforce the battered French along the Paris to Metz road, the Division first fought at the Battle of Belleau Wood and contributed to shattering the four-year-old stalemate on the battlefield during the Château-Thierry campaign that followed. On 28 July 1918, Marine Corps Major General Lejeune assumed command of the 2nd Division and remained in that capacity until August 1919, the division went on to win hard-fought victories at Soissons and Blanc Mont. Finally the Indianhead Division participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive which ended any German hope for victory, on 11 November 1918 the Armistice was declared, and the 2nd Division entered Germany, where it assumed occupation duties until April 1919. 2nd Division returned to U. S. in July 1919, the 2nd Division was three times awarded the French Croix de guerre for gallantry under fire at Belleau Wood, Soissons, and Blanc Mont. This entitles current members of the division and of those regiments that were part of the division at time to wear a special lanyard, or fourragère. The division lost 1,964 killed in action and 9,782 wounded in action, third Battle of the Aisne Belleau Wood Château-Thierry campaign St. S. Government Printing Office,1950, pp. 510–592 and it remained there for the next 23 years, serving as an experimental unit, testing new concepts and innovations for the Army. Indianhead soldiers pioneered concepts of air mobility and anti-tank warfare, which served the army for the two decades on battlefields in every corner of the globe. The 2nd Division started participated in maneuvers at Christine, Texas between 3 and 27 January 1940 and it then moved to Horton, Texas for maneuvers from 26 April to 28 May 1940, followed by maneuvers at Cravens, Louisiana from 16 to 23 August 1940. It returned to Fort Sam Houston, where it continued training and refitting, until it moved to Brownwood, Texas for the VIII Corps maneuvers from 1 June through 14 June 1941 at Comanche, Texas
33.
James Earle Fraser (sculptor)
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James Earle Fraser was an American sculptor during the first half of the 20th century. His work is integral to many of Washington, D. C. s most iconic structures, Fraser was born in Winona, Minnesota. His father, Thomas Fraser, was an engineer who worked for companies as they expanded across the American West. As a child, James Fraser was exposed to life and the experience of Native Americans. Fraser began carving figures from pieces of limestone scavenged from a quarry close to his home near Mitchell. He attended classes at the The School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 1890 and studied at the École des Beaux Arts, early in his career, Fraser served as an assistant to Richard Bock and Augustus Saint-Gaudens, he formed his own studio in 1902. He also taught at the Art Students League in New York City beginning in 1906, among his earliest works were sculptural pieces at the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893 and, for the San Francisco Exposition of 1915, one of his most famous pieces, End of the Trail. While it was meant to be cast in bronze, material shortages due to World War I prevented this, after the Exposition, the original plaster statue was moved to Mooneys Grove Park in Visalia, CA. Exposed to the elements, it deteriorated until it was obtained by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1968. The restored statue is currently on display in the entryway of the Oklahoma City museum, the original bronze replica statue of the End of the Trail Statue is located in Shaler Park, in Waupun, Wisconsin. The statue was purchased by inventor and sculptor, Clarence Addison Shaler and his commissions also include coins and medals, such as the World War I Victory Medal, the Navy Cross, and the Indian Head nickel. This coin was discontinued after 1938, but has since been reprised in 2001 on a US commemorative coin, Fraser’s major works include two heroic bronze equestrian statues titled The Arts of Peace, designed for the entrance to the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, behind the Lincoln Memorial. The pair was a companion to sculptor Leo Friedlanders The Arts of War, the groups had been designed in the 1930s but were not cast until the 1950s, because of a shortage of metals during World War II. Fraser was a member of the National Academy of Design, the National Sculpture Society, and his numerous awards and honors include election to the National Institute of Arts and Letters and gold medal from the Architectural League in 1925. Commission of Fine Arts in Washington, D. C. from 1920 to 1925, muralist Barry Faulkner, a friend of Fraser’s from their days in Paris together described Fraser like this, His character was like a good piece of Scotch tweed, handsome, durable and warm. James Earle Fraser died on October 11,1953, at Westport, Connecticut, los Angeles CA1991 Craven, Wayne, Sculpture in America, Thomas Y. Crowell Co, NY, NY1968 Freundlich, A. L. The Sculpture of James Earle Fraser, Universal Publishers / uPublish. com USA2001 Goode, the Outdoor Sculpture of Washington D. C. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D. C.1974 Gurney, George, Sculpture, walker, Famous Sculptors of America, Dodd, Mead and Company, Inc. com
34.
National Menorah
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The National Menorah is a large hanukkah menorah located in the northeast quadrant of The Ellipse near the White House in Washington, D. C. It was first lit in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, and has been erected, the Menorah has grown in size as well, and is now 30 feet high. In 1974 Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson called for the awareness of the festival of Hanukkah. Although initially criticized by liberal Jewish organizations, Schneerson defended the campaign, in 1979, Abraham Shemtov of Chabad, sought to erect a menorah on the White House lawn. Cecil D. Andrus, the secretary of interior initially denied Shemtov a permit to put a menorah on government property, Stuart E. Eizenstat eventually settled the matter and a permit was granted. That year, President Jimmy Carter ended 100 days of self-imposed seclusion over the Iran hostage crisis by walking to Lafayette Park, every president since has recognized Hanukkah with a special menorah-lighting. President Ronald Reagan is credited with naming it the National Menorah in a statement read during the menorah-lighting in Lafayette Park in 1982, as of 2013, the Menorah was 30 feet high, and rested on an elevated platform 2 feet high. The height of the hanukiah and platform are regulated by rabbinical law, the National Menorah annual event is broadcast by C-Span each year. It includes a presentation of festive Hanukkah songs by the United States Army Band. A U. S. ambassador or member of the cabinet has participated in the Menorah lighting each year, in 2004, all 50 U. S. governors issued proclamations in honor of the National Menorah. Scholars have cited this initiative as a factor in Hanukkah becoming a widely celebrated festival. Every year since then, a member of the Presidents administration has participated and those who participated in the National Menorah event include,1979, Jimmy Carter, President of the United States. 1994, Joe Lieberman 1996, Stuart Eizenstat and Joe Lieberman 1997, Stuart Eizenstat 1998, Jack Lew 2000, Stuart Eizenstat 2006, Susan Schwab 2007, Michael Mukasey 2008, Joshua B
35.
Zero Milestone
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The Zero Milestone is a zero mile marker monument in Washington, D. C. intended as the initial milestone from which all road distances in the United States should be reckoned when it was built. At present, only roads in the Washington, D. C. area have distances measured from it, the monument stands just south of the White House at the north edge of the Ellipse, within Presidents Park. Atop the monument is a bronze 16-point compass rose with a very small worn-down pyramid at its center whose top serves as a National Geodetic Survey benchmark. Coordinates, 38°53′42. 38736″N 77°02′11. 57299″W Altitude,8.382 m Designed by Washington architect Horace W. Peaslee and it is made of precambrian Milford granite from Milford, Massachusetts, light pinkish to greenish gray, with spots of black biotite mica. THE U. S. Instead, in 1804, the Jefferson Stone or Jefferson Pier was placed on the meridian of the White House due west of the Capitol to mark the Washington meridian, 77°0212.0. The current Zero Milestone monument was conceived by Good Roads Movement advocate Dr. S. M. Johnson and he was inspired by ancient Romes Golden Milestone located in the Forum. On June 5,1920, Congress authorized the Secretary of War to erect the current monument, design to be approved by the Commission of Fine Arts, Dr. Johnson took charge of the details and raised donations for the design and construction. The permanent Zero Milestone was dedicated in a ceremony on June 4,1923
36.
George Washington University
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The George Washington University is a private research university in Washington, D. C. GW is the largest institution of education in Washington, D. C. In his will, Washington left his 50 shares in the Potomac Company to help endow the university, however, due to the companys financial difficulties, the funding did not materialize. The university was chartered by an act of Congress on February 9,1821 and its name was changed to Columbian University in 1873 and to the George Washington University in 1904, in honor of Washington. GWs Graduate School of Political Management is the school of applied politics in the nations capital. GWs professional schools and the Elliott School of International Affairs are consistently ranked highly in national and international college rankings lists, the Princeton Review consistently ranks GW as one of the Most Politically Active schools. Some of the graduates have gone on to high positions within both the U. S. government and foreign governments. Notable alumni include former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and he presented numerous letters to Congress and included the subject in his last will and testament. Baptist missionary and leading minister Luther Rice raised funds to purchase a site in Washington, the first commencement in 1824 was considered an important event for the young city of Washington, D. C. In attendance were President Monroe, John C, Calhoun, Henry Clay, Marquis de Lafayette and other dignitaries. During the Civil War, most students left to join the Confederacy, walt Whitman was among many of the volunteers to work on the campus. Following the war, in 1873, Columbian College became the Columbian University and moved to a downtown location centered on 15th and H streets. The university moved its operations to the D. C. neighborhood of Foggy Bottom in 1912. The George Washington University, like much of Washington, D. C. traces many of its origins back to the Freemasons, the Bible that the presidents of the university use to swear an oath on upon inauguration is the Bible of Freemason George Washington. Freemasonry symbols are displayed throughout the campus including the foundation stones of many of the university buildings. Many of the Colleges of the George Washington University stand out for their age, the Law School is the oldest law school in the District of Columbia. The School of Medicine and Health Sciences is the 11th oldest medical school in the nation, the Columbian College was founded in 1821, and is the oldest unit of the university. The Elliott School of International Affairs was formalized in 1898, the majority of the present infrastructure and financial stability at GW is due to the tenures of Presidents Cloyd Heck Marvin, Lloyd Hartman Elliott and Stephen Joel Trachtenberg
37.
Egg rolling
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Egg rolling, or an Easter egg roll is a traditional game played with eggs at Easter. Different nations have different versions of the game, usually played with hard-boiled, decorated eggs, starting in 1835, Jacob Grimm and other writers proposed that the pre-Christian Saxons had a spring goddess Eostre, whose feast was held on the Vernal Equinox, around 21 March. Grimm also suggested that her animal was probably the hare. Some claim that Pope Gregory the Great had ordered his missionaries to use old religious sites and festivals and this tradition, along with others such as the Easter Bunny, were taken to the New World by European settlers. In the United Kingdom the tradition of rolling decorated eggs down grassy hills goes back hundreds of years and is known as pace-egging, in Lancashire there are annual egg rolling competitions at Holcombe Hill near Ramsbottom and Avenham Park in Preston. Egg rolling has been a tradition at Avenham Park for hundreds of years, other traditional egg rolling sites are the castle moat at Penrith, Bunkers Hill in Derby and Arthurs Seat in Edinburgh. Beacon Hill near Newbury, Berkshire is also an ideal spot, the eggs were traditionally wrapped in onion skins and boiled to give them a mottled gold appearance and the children competed to see who could roll their egg the furthest. There is an old Lancashire legend that says the broken eggshells should be carefully crushed afterwards or they will be stolen, at the Wordsworth museum in Grasmere there is a collection of highly decorated eggs made for the poet’s children. In the United States, the Easter Egg Roll is an annual event, the Egg Roll itself is a race, where children push an egg through the grass with a long-handled spoon. Surrounding events include appearances by White House personalities in Easter Bunny costumes, speeches and book-reading by Cabinet secretaries, according to tradition, Dolley Madison, the wife of President James Madison, began the event in 1814 and hundreds of children brought their decorated eggs to join in games. The original site was on the grounds of the United States Capitol, but in 1877 a new lawn was planted, congress then passed a law making it illegal to use the grounds as a childrens playground. At the request of a number of children, including his own, then President Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1953 Mamie Eisenhower proposed that event be opened to black children, who were allowed to participate starting in 1954. On April 13,2009, the Obamas hosted their first White House Easter egg roll, the theme “Let’s go play” was meant to encourage young people to lead healthy, active lives. It was featured in the 2007 film National Treasure, Book of Secrets, in Germany, a prize is awarded to the contestant whose egg rolls fastest down a track made of sticks. In Denmark, decorated eggs are rolled down slopes in grassland or forest - the contestant whose egg rolls furthest is the winner -, the tradition is particularly common around the town of Køge. In Lithuania you collect the eggs that are touched by the one rolled by you, in Egypt, children bowl red and yellow eggs towards another row of eggs and whoever cracks one egg can claim them all. In eastern Europe, there are other such as egg tapping. Egg dance Egg hunt Egg tapping Egg tossing
38.
National Park Service
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It was created on August 25,1916, by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior. As of 2014, the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee 417 units, the National Park Service celebrated its centennial in 2016. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior, the movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather, as well as J. Horace McFarland. With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior and they wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits. This campaign resulted in the creation of a National Park Service, Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS. On March 3,1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933, the act would allow the President to reorganize the executive branch of the United States government. It wasnt until later that summer when the new President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President Roosevelt agreed and issued two Executive orders to make it happen. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the National Park Service, the demand for parks after the end of the World War II had left the parks overburdened with demands that could not be met. In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he began Mission 66, New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded. In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery, Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has managed each of the United States national parks, Yellowstone National Park was the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no government to manage it. Yosemite National Park began as a park, the land for the park was donated by the federal government to the state of California in 1864 for perpetual conservation. Yosemite was later returned to federal ownership, at first, each national park was managed independently, with varying degrees of success. In Yellowstone, the staff was replaced by the U. S. Army in 1886. Due to the irregularities in managing these national treasures, Stephen Mather petitioned the government to improve the situation. In response, Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane challenged him to lobby for creating a new agency, Mather was successful with the ratification of the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. Later, the agency was given authority over other protected areas, the National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service
39.
Ultimate (sport)
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Ultimate, originally known as ultimate frisbee, is a non-contact team sport originally played by players with a flying disc. Points are scored by passing the disc to a teammate in the end zone. Other basic rules are that players must not take steps while holding the disc, and interceptions, incomplete passes, rain, wind, or occasionally other adversities can make for a testing match with rapid turnovers, heightening the pressure of play. Players call their own fouls, and dispute a foul only when they believe it did not occur. In 2012 there were 5.1 million ultimate players in the United States, Ultimate is played across the world in pickup games and by recreational, school, club, professional, and national teams at various age levels and with open, womens, and mixed divisions. The 2014 World Ultimate Club Championship was held in July in Lecco, Italy, the 2016 WFDF World Ultimate & Guts Championships was held in London in 2016, where US teams finished first in every division. Team flying disc games using pie tins and cake pan lids were part of Amherst College student culture for decades before plastic discs were available, a similar two-hand touch football-based game was played at Kenyon College in Ohio starting in 1942. Jared, an instructor and dorm advisor, taught this game to high school student Joel Silver during the summer of 1967 or 1968 at Mount Hermon Prep school summer camp. Joel Silver, along with fellow students Jonny Hines, Buzzy Hellring, the first sanctioned game was played at CHS in 1968 between the student council and the student newspaper staff. Beginning the following year evening games were played in the glow of lights on the schools student-designated parking lot. Initially players of ultimate frisbee used a Master disc marketed by Wham-O, Hellring, Silver, and Hines developed the first and second edition of Rules of Ultimate Frisbee. In 1970 CHS defeated Millburn High 43-10 in the first interscholastic ultimate game, CHS, Millburn, and three other New Jersey high schools made up the first conference of Ultimate teams beginning in 1971. Alumni of that first league took the game to their colleges and universities, rutgers defeated Princeton 29-27 in 1972 in the first intercollegiate game. This game was played exactly 103 years after the first intercollegiate American football game by the teams at precisely the same site. Rutgers won both games by an identical margin, rutgers also won the first ultimate frisbee tournament in 1975, hosted by Yale, with 8 college teams participating. That summer ultimate was introduced at the Second World Frisbee Championships at the Rose Bowl and this event introduced ultimate on the west coast of the USA. In 1975, ultimate was introduced at the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships in Toronto as a showcase event, Ultimate League play in Canada began in Toronto in 1979. The Toronto Ultimate Club is one of ultimates oldest leagues, in January 1977 Wham-O introduced the World Class 80 Mold 165 gram frisbee
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Washington meridians
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The Washington meridians are four meridians that were used as prime meridians in the United States and pass through Washington, D. C. The four which have been specified are, through the Capitol through the White House through the old Naval Observatory through the new Naval Observatory. NAD83 longitude of the Capitol is about 1.1 arc seconds less than its NAD27 longitude, pierre Charles LEnfant specified the first meridian in his 1791 Plan of the city intended for the permanent seat of the government of the United States. His plan stated near its side that the longitude of the Congress house, now called the Capitol, was 0. LEnfants plan contained the following note, In order to execute the above plan. These lines were measured, and made the basis on which the whole plan was executed. He ran all the lines by an instrument, and determined the acute angles by actual measurement. The longitude of the center of the Capitols dome is now given by the National Geodetic Survey as 77°0032. 6W, the west side of LEnfants triangle forms a natural prime meridian passing through the Presidents house. The following nine features on and near this Washington Meridian are listed south to north, The center of the Jefferson Memorial. The wooden post was replaced by the Jefferson Pier in 1804, after removal and replacement several times, it was permanently replaced in 1889 by a 2-foot-square, 2-foot-tall, granite pier, now 390 feet WNW of the center of the Washington Monument. NGS gives its longitude as 77°0211. 56258W as of 2002, azimuth to the Capitol is 89.98 degrees, a discrepancy of just under a meter. In 1890 the Meridian Stone was set at the center of the Ellipse and it is an 18-inch-square granite post set flush with the ground. NGS gives its longitude as 77°0211. 55880W as of 2002, in 1923, the Zero Milestone was set on the north side of the Ellipse, intended to be on the same meridian and to be the zero mileage point for all United States roads. It is a granite pillar about 18 inches square and about 3.5 feet tall, NGS gives its longitude as 77°0211. 57375W as of 2002. The center of the White House, clark Mills equestrian statue of President Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Park, erected on the meridian in 1853. 16th Street Northwest, which extends due north from the White House, the meridian is sometimes identified as the 16th Street Meridian because of the location of this street. The following feature on this meridian no longer exists and it was a small freestone obelisk placed in 1804 on top of a hill 1.5 miles north of the Presidents House, hence the name Meridian Hill. It was at the end of 16th Street, just north of Florida Avenue, before 16th Street was extended northward about 1890
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Smithsonian Institution
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The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the United States National Museum, that ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York City, Texas, Virginia, more than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Panama are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institutions thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge and its annual budget is around $1.2 billion with 2/3 coming from annual federal appropriations. Other funding comes from the Institutions endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, and earned retail, concession, Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air & Space magazines. The British scientist James Smithson left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford, Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1,1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest, Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns. Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithsons rather vague mandate for the increase, unfortunately, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. The United States Exploring Expedition by the U. S. Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842, in 1846, the regents developed a plan for weather observation, in 1847, money was appropriated for meteorological research. The Institution became a magnet for young scientists from 1857 to 1866, the Smithsonian played a critical role as the U. S. partner institution in early bilateral scientific exchanges with the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. The Smithsonian Institution Building began construction in 1849, designed by architect James Renwick Jr. its interiors were completed by general contract Gilbert Cameron and the building opened in 1855. The Smithsonians first expansion came with construction of the Arts and Industries Building in 1881, Congress had promised to build a new structure for the museum if the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition generated enough income. It did, and the building was designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, meigs of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The National Zoological Park opened in 1889 to accommodate the Smithsonians Department of Living Animals and this structure was designed by the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall. More than 40 years would pass before the museum, the Museum of History. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. That same year, the Smithsonian signed an agreement to take over the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building on October 7,1968. The first new building to open since the National Museum of Natural History was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
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United States Department of the Interior
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The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U. S. About 75% of federal land is managed by the department. The Department is administered by the United States Secretary of the Interior, the current Secretary is Ryan Zinke. The Inspector General position is vacant, with Mary Kendall serving as acting Inspector General. Despite its name, the Department of the Interior has a different role from that of the ministries of other nations. In the United States, national security and immigration functions are performed by the Department of Homeland Security primarily, the Department of the Interior has often been humorously called The Department of Everything Else because of its broad range of responsibilities. A department for domestic concern was first considered by the 1st United States Congress in 1789, the idea of a separate domestic department continued to percolate for a half-century and was supported by Presidents from James Madison to James Polk. The 1846–48 Mexican–American War gave the new steam as the responsibilities of federal government grew. Polks Secretary of the Treasury, Robert J. Walker, became a champion of creating the new department. In 1849, Walker stated in his report that several federal offices were placed in departments with which they had little to do. Walker argued that these and other bureaus should be together in a new Department of the Interior. A bill authorizing its creation of the Department passed the House of Representatives on February 15,1849, the Department was established on March 3,1849, the eve of President Zachary Taylors inauguration, when the Senate voted 31 to 25 to create the Department. Its passage was delayed by Democrats in Congress who were reluctant to create more patronage posts for the incoming Whig administration to fill, the first Secretary of the Interior was Thomas Ewing. Many of the concerns the Department originally dealt with were gradually transferred to other Departments. Other agencies became separate Departments, such as the Bureau of Agriculture, however, land and natural resource management, American Indian affairs, wildlife conservation, and territorial affairs remain the responsibilities of the Department of the Interior. As of mid-2004, the Department managed 507 million acres of surface land, energy projects on federally managed lands and offshore areas supply about 28% of the nations energy production. Within the Interior Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs handles some federal relations with Native Americans, the current acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs is Lawrence S. Roberts, an enrolled member of the Oneida Tribe in Wisconsin. Several cases have sought accounting of such funds from the departments of Interior, in addition, some Native American nations have sued the government over water-rights issues and their treaties with the US
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Executive Residence
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The Executive Residence is the central building of the White House complex located between the East Wing and West Wing. It is the most recognizable part of the complex, being the house part of the White House. This central building, first constructed from 1792 to 1800, is home to the President of the United States, the Executive Residence primarily occupies four floors, the Ground Floor, the State Floor, the Second Floor, and the Third Floor. A two-story sub-basement with mezzanine, created during the 1948–to-1952 Truman reconstruction, is used for HVAC and mechanical systems, storage and this level was added during the 1948-to-1952 renovation, and contains the air conditioning and water softening equipment. The Ground Floor of the White House originally contained service rooms, the White House is built on a slight hill that slopes to the south. Architect James Hoban designed the Ground Floor so that the kitchen was directly beneath the Entrance Hall, storerooms were east of the kitchen, while a toilet and dishwashing room were to the west. The kitchen was relocated into the two rooms in the northwest corner of the Ground Floor by 1846, while the old kitchen space as transformed into an informal sitting room/reception space. As of 2010, this central space originally occupied by the kitchen in the early 1800s had been subdivided into offices for the White House Curator. The kitchen, too, continues to occupy the three rooms in the northwest corner of the Ground Floor. The storeroom to the east of the kitchen became a pantry in 1809, a locker in 1825. This area remains unchanged as of 2010, with the exception of the narrowing of the stairs in 1952 to create an elevator shaft. The storeroom in the northeast corner of the Ground Floor remained in use as storage space only until 1809, in 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt hired the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White to renovate the White House. They turned the room into a gentlemans anteroom and this room became the White House Library in 1935. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy radically transformed the room in 1961, Kennedy consulted initially with a group consisting of members of the United States Commission of Fine Arts, designers from the American Institute of Interior Designers, and historians. The AIID agreed to take on the job of refurbishing the room, Lenygon designed an early American library room in the Federal style. Except for minor changes, the White House Library remains the same as of 2010. The toilet and laundry room west of the kitchen became general-use work areas by 1809, and a pantry, small kitchen, by 1946, these had become general workrooms, with a narrow, winding staircase inserted into the room closest to the former kitchen. The 1952 renovation turned the winding staircase into a steep, straight stairs, as of 2010, a pantry-sized refrigerator also occupied a portion of this space
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White House basement
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The basement of the White House, the Washington, D. C. The White House Situation Room is located in the basement beneath the West Wing, during World War II, a bomb shelter was constructed under the East Wing, later converted into the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. The sub-basement was added during the reconstruction of the White House under Harry S. Truman and it contains storage space, the laundry, elevator control machinery, the water softener, and incinerator, as well as dressing rooms for White House performers. Dwight Eisenhower made the first White House television broadcast from a room in the basement in 1953. A bowling alley was added by Richard Nixon in 1969, a bowling alley was installed in the White House for which U. S. President. Basement and Sub-basement from whitehousemuseum. org, a website about the White House
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White House Chief Floral Designer
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The current Chief Floral Designer is Hedieh Ghaffarian. The Chief Floral Designer heads the White House Flower Shop located in the basement of the White House, the Chief Floral Designer serves at the presidents pleasure and may be appointed, or reappointed, by each administration. The most recent Chief Floral Designer is Laura Dowling, Nancy Clarke served six First Families during her 31 years at the White House. She retired on May 31,2009 and was an author, during the early republic, the White House used flowers sparingly, at first only in the summer months when in season. Wax fruit as well as wax, silk and paste porcelain flowers were displayed in the French porcelain, the greenhouses allowed year-round use of potted plants and cut flowers in the White House. At their zenith, the White House greenhouses supplied thousands of potted plants to the White House, the 1902 renovations of the White House removed the greenhouses, and constructed the West Wing and East Wing. Flowers were brought from nearby government greenhouses, with the advent of plane transportation, flowers began to arrive from distant destinations, Florida, Colorado for First Lady Mamie Eisenhowers favored pink carnations, and southern California. Until the administration of John F. Kennedy, floral arrangements at the White House had been extremely formal in style, china dishes from previous administrations were used as vases, including two 18th-century dessert coolers used by the Madisons. The White House collection of tableware, previously only on display in the Vermeil Room, was also utilised for arrangements. The position of Chief Floral Designer was established, and Rusty Young was the first to occupy the position, in addition to the ongoing production of fresh-cut floral displays for the White House, the Chief Floral Designer oversees the annual holiday decoration of the house. An Invitation to the White House, At Home with History, flowers, White House Style, With 100 Original Designs by the Former White House Chief Floral Decorator. The White House Gardens Concepts and Design of the Rose Garden, flowers at the White House, An informal tour of the home of the President of the United States. M. Barrows and Company, Inc.1967 and my First Ladies, Twenty-Five Years as the White House Chief Floral Designer. White House website page showing Chief Floral designer Nancy Clarke White House website page on decorating the house for Christmas
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China Room
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The China Room is one of the rooms on the Ground Floor of the White House, the home of the President of the United States. The White Houses collection of china is displayed there. The collection ranges from George Washingtons Chinese export china to Bill Clintons ivory, yellow, the room is primarily used by the first lady for teas, meetings, and smaller receptions. McKim rebuilt the room with details from the late Georgian period including robust cove moldings and this relocation of the china collection represented a burgeoning recognition of and appreciation for the historic artifacts associated with the American Presidency. In 1917, First Lady Edith Bolling Wilson acknowledged the need for space for displaying the collection through the suggestions of both Mrs. Baker and White House Chief-Usher Irwin Hood Hoover. Baker had continued to research the history of the mansion—and particularly that of its celebrated tableware—and argued that the history of the house would slip away without official intervention and she also approved its outfitting with built-in cabinetry for the display of the china. Above each of the three bays of built-in wall cabinets was raised lettering identifying the holdings as CHINA USED BY THE PRESIDENTS, during the Truman renovation, 1948–1952, the rooms walls were paneled in salvaged pine timbers from the house. Architect William Adams Delano detailed the room with bracket molding of mid-Georgian style, the interiors of the display cabinets were lined with red cotton velvet, and the floor was covered with a similarly hued Snowflake-pattern carpet manufactured by Stark Carpet Corporation. At the single window, gray velvet draperies, trimmed in red, an early-19th century classical marble mantel with female supports replaced the Truman Georgian surround. The room was redecorated in 1970 by First Lady Pat Nixon, with the assistance of White House Curator Clement Conger. The Truman-era bracketed molding was removed and replaced with a Federal period cove molding, the walls were painted a uniform off-white. The existing red accent color, determined by the red gown in Howard Chandler Christys 1924 portrait of First Lady Grace Coolidge, was retained, the vitrine shelves remained lined with red velvet. The collection is arranged chronologically beginning to the right of the fireplace on the east wall, while not every administration created its own service, at least minimal amounts of all china services created for the White House are now in the collection. Sizable amounts of some services going back to the nineteenth century exist and are sometimes used for small dinners in the Presidents Dining Room on the Second Floor. The Carters favored using pieces of the Lincolns solferino china for special occasions, the Reagans, though famous for their red and gold service, also enjoyed using the Lincoln china. The Clintons did not take delivery of their service until near the end of President Clintons second term. They used the Reagan and Truman services extensively for state dinners, the rug is an Indo-Ispahan carpet from the early twentieth century. A cut-glass Regency-style chandelier hangs in the China Room, a pair of late eighteenth century tureens on the mantel are glazed in red and green slip, and are the source for the green and red striped silk taffeta draperies
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White House china
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The White House china refers to the various patterns of china used for serving and eating food in the White House, home of the president of the United States. Different china services have been ordered and used by different presidential administrations, the White House collection of china is housed in the White House China Room. Not every administration created its own service, but portions of all china services created for the White House are now in the China Room collection, some of the older china services are used for small private dinners in the Presidents Dining Room on the Second Floor. In 1817 in Paris, Dagoty-Honoré manufactured the china of James Monroe, the first White House china solely for presidential use, a dinner service of thirty place-settings and a matching dessert service were purchased for US$1,167.23. A Napoleonic eagle was in the center of the plates, which was popular at the time in both France and America, the eagle carried a red, white, and blue banner reading E Pluribus Unum, the national motto. There are five vignettes inside the red border, representing agriculture, strength, commerce, science. The china was criticized by the press at the time for being foreign goods, the White House needed a new china service by the time the Polks took up residence in 1845. The same company produced the Monroe china service, Dagoty-Honoré of Paris. The dinner and dessert services were ordered in 1846,400 pieces cost US$979.40, the service included a plain white design and gold trim, which made it a popular service with later administrations. The simplicity of the china made it well suited to mix with other depleted services when the occasion arose, the dessert service, rather than being plain, features a soft green border and polychrome flowers. The Lincoln china is the first service that was entirely by a First Lady. Mary Todd Lincoln felt that it was important to maintain an appearance in the White House so that foreigners would perceive America as strong. As a result, the Lincoln administration was socially active amid the Civil War, Mrs. Lincoln personally selected china with a purple-red border called Solferino, later known as the Royal Purple set, in 1861 from E. V. Haughwout and Company in New York City. The service had been produced by Haviland and Company in Limoges, the American bald eagle is above a shield with the national motto spread throughout clouds. The Coat of Arms of the United States is centered in the service, the order of the Hayes china service came about by chance. First Lady Lucy Hayes met with artist Theodore R. Davis, while in the White House conservatory with Mrs. Hayes, Davis suggested that the china include the flora and fauna of North America as decoration. Davis produced 130 designs for Mrs. Hayes, many unique and it was first used during a dinner for incoming President James A. Garfield and his family. The service design was liked by the public and reproduced
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White House Office of the Curator
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The office began in 1961 during the administration of President John F. Kennedy while First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy oversaw the restoration of the White House. The office is located in the floor of the White House Executive Residence. The office, headed by the Curator of the White House, includes an Associate Curator, an Assistant Curator, the office works with the Chief Usher, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House and the White House Historical Association. The position was begun during the administration of President John F. Kennedy while First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy oversaw the restoration of the White House, the first Curator of the White House was Lorraine Waxman Pearce who was appointed in March 1961. Pearce was a graduate of the program at the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum. Monkman, 1997–2002 William G. Allman, 2002–present Committee for the Preservation of the White House White House Historical Association Abbott James A. designing Camelot, The Kennedy White House Restoration. The White House, The Historic Furnishing & First Families, the White House, An Historic Guide. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society,2001, White House website biography of curator William G. Allman
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Diplomatic Reception Room (White House)
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The Diplomatic Reception Room is one of three oval rooms in the residence of the White House, the official home of the President of the United States. The room is the point of entry to the White House for a head of state following the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn. The room has four doors, which lead to the Map Room, the Center Hall, the China Room, for its first hundred years, the ground floor of the White House was used as a service and work area. Domestic staff used it for storage, kitchens, and maintenance, White House domestic staff gathered in this room to do mending and to polish silver. In 1837, the Van Buren administration installed a furnace here for the White Houses first central heating system, later steam boilers replaced the gravity system, remaining until the 1902 renovation by McKim, Mead, and White. The 1902 renovation during the Theodore Roosevelt administration dramatically reconfigured the ground floor, multiple layers of rotting floor boards were removed and new flooring installed. Several new rooms were framed and finished with a plaster coat. A gentlemens and ladies lounge and guest bathrooms were created, charles Follen McKim admired James Hobans groin vault ceilings in the center hall. The hall was refurbished and the hall served to connect the new East and West wings. Though the ground floor room was much improved and now a part of the finished living space in the house. In 1935, Franklin Roosevelt had a chimney opened so he could conduct his fireside chats, White House architect Lorenzo Winslow designed a new chimney breast and mantel that, though intended to appear traditional, subtly evokes Art Moderne in its ribbed curved sides. The sweeping panorama on the elliptical walls provide a sense of space negating the lack of windows, additional Federal-era furniture was acquired, and upholsteries and the carpet furthered a soft gold and blue decor. A labeled mahogany bookcase-desk by John Shaw was made in Annapolis in 1797, a suite of lancet-arched side chairs and a pair of sofas with splayed legs are attributed to the workshop of New York cabinetmakers Abraham Slover and Jacob Taylor. Furniture is upholstered in a yellow silk damask, a rug in shades of blue and gold and incorporating the seals or coats of arms of the fifty United States in an elliptical border was specially made for the room in 1983. An English Regency chandelier of cut glass and bronze three-armed crystal sconces with glass chimneys illuminate the room, in March 2014, President Barack Obama was interviewed on Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis. Towards the end of the video the room becomes the subject of conversation, abbott, James A. Rice, Elaine M. Designing Camelot, The Kennedy White House Restoration. An Invitation to the White House, At Home with History, mcKellar, Kenneth, Douglas W. Orr, Edward Martin, et al. Report of the Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion, Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion, Government Printing Office,1952
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Library (White House)
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The White House Library is on the Ground Floor of the White House, the official home of the President of the United States. The room is approximately 27 by 23 feet and is in the northeast of the ground floor, the Library is used for teas and meetings hosted by the President and First Lady. During the 1950s reconstruction of the White House, old building lumber from the house was salvaged, several basement rooms in the White House are paneled with salvaged building materials from the pre-reconstructed White House. During Millard Fillmores presidency, Congressional funding was requested to establish a White House library, the library was established during the Fillmore presidency, spearheaded by the First Lady, Abigail Fillmore. This library was originally in the Yellow Oval Room and was maintained there until 1929 when it was moved to its current location by the Hoover administration. By the time of this there were almost no books remaining in the mansion, so the American Booksellers Association donated books. The room saw slight modifications until the Truman reconstruction in 1952 and these were left unpainted until the administration of John F. Kennedy, when decorator Stéphane Boudin recreated the room as a painted Federal style parlor. To stand out, an unusual lighthouse clock was made by Simon Willard to commemorate the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States in 1824–1825, a likeness of Lafayette appears in a medallion on its base. The Library provides access to a lounge and restroom. Abbott James A. and Elaine M. Rice, designing Camelot, The Kennedy White House Restoration. McKellar, Kenneth, Douglas W. Orr, Edward Martin, report of the Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion. Commission on the Renovation of the Executive Mansion, Government Printing Office,1952, the White House, The Historic Furnishing & First Families. The First White House Library, A History and Annotated Catalogue, pennsylvania State University Press for the Bibliographical Society of America and the National First Ladies Library,2010. White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society,1986, seale, William, The White House, The History of an American Idea. White House Historical Association,1992,2001, west, J. B. with Mary Lynn Kotz. Upstairs at the White House, My Life with the First Ladies, exhibition Catalogue, Sale 6834, The Estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis April 23–26,1996. The White House, An Historic Guide, White House Historical Association and the National Geographic Society,2001. Records of the White House Library, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library White House Museum page
