Beautiful capitol, lots of construction around the building, and the downtown is filthy. The building is gray on the main levels, then blue at the base of the gold dome.Statue on the capitol grounds of Indian killing a buffalo.Statue of President Abraham Lincoln has been removed, and its pedestal has been covered up. Disgusting.The rotunda.House of Representatives chamber.Senate chamber.The interior of the capitol is beautiful, but it is kind of tight. There is not much wide-open area. For instance, there is not much room between the columns and the central railings. It was close like this throughout the building.Standing at exactly 5,280 feet above sea level! One mile high!Me too!Denver skyline from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Couldn’t see the mountains because of hazy sky.
In Abilene KS, site of the home that President Dwight D. Eisenhower, our 34th president (1953-1961) grew up in. Eisenhower was born in 1890 in Denison TX, but his family moved here when he was very young. This is also where his and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower’s graves are located.This is Eisenhower’s boyhood home.Both graves are inside this chapel on the grounds. The chapel is closed due to COVID fears.Statue of General Eisenhower. He was a 5-star general, one of only 5 we have had in American history. He was Supreme Commander of Allied forces during World War II. He had to resign his 5-star commission upon becoming president because the president must be a civilian. After he left office, he asked President Kennedy to reinstate his commission, which was granted. The rank of 5 star was very important to him.The museum was closed due to COVID fear.The Presidential Library, also closed.At the end of the lawn are these five plaques, which honor the providence of God and the strong faith and honor of the entire Eisenhower family.
This is the Monroe School in Topeka KS. It was one of four schools that were involved in lawsuits beginning in 1951 to fight against segregation in public schools (one of the schools was in Farmville VA, also on this blog). When the cases reached the Supreme Court, this one in Topeka was the one that was chosen to rule on. The landmark decision in 1954 declared that segregation was unconstitutional and that public schools must be integrated.Front door of Monroe School. The site was closed to the public because of COVID fear.Kansas was a crucial state in the anti-slavery cause in the 1850s as well. The Kansas-Nebraska Act passed into law in 1854 may have been the most significant event that led to the Civil War. The Act made Kansas and the Nebraska Territory “popular sovereignty” territories, which enraged Northerner and abolitionists, because at the time Kansas was considered pro-slavery. “Bleeding Kansas” was a time of brutal massacres and battles in eastern Kansas in the late 1850s.
This building is the Historic Ritchie House, the home of John and Mary Ritchie in the 1850s and 1860s. They were instrumental in assisting many slaves escape from the south via the Underground Railroad. John Ritchie was considered an “ultra abolitionist”. After the Civil War, he sold and gave away land to former slaves in Topeka.
Kansas State Capitol in Topeka, completed 1903. There are 38 domed state capitols in the US. This capitol is the second tallest of the 38. The dome is pure copper. It would take 2.3 million pure copper pennies to make up this dome! The statue atop the dome is the “Ad Astra” statue, which represents a Kaw warrior pointing his arrow at the North Star. The state’s official motto, “Ad astra per aspera,” is Latin for “To the stars through difficulty.”President Dwight Eisenhower is the only president from Kansas.President Abraham Lincoln statue on the capitol grounds.Also on the capitol grounds.The rotunda.Chandelier hanging from the top of the rotunda.There is much copper throughout the building. Quite beautiful.An Eisenhower statue inside the building.Mural depicting the civil rights struggle in Kansas. The landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka outlawed segregation of public schools.Senate chamber.From the Senate chamber, looking across the building to the House chamber.House of Representatives chamber.Speaker’s podium in the House.View from the podium.From the House chamber, looking across the building to the Senate chamber.
President Harry and First Lady Bess lived here beginning in 1919 when they were married. It was the “Summer White House” during his presidency 1945-1953. He lived here until he died in 1972. Truman was our 33rd president, from 1945-1953.President Truman typically used this door to go in and out of the house. His top coat and hat are hanging on the rack inside. The building was closed due to COVID fear, so we could tour only the outside.This was Truman’s last car – 1972 Chrysler Newport – exactly as it was when he died in 1972.Bess’s two brothers lived in these houses next door to Truman’s house.Harry Truman lived here from about 4 to 18 years old.Harry Truman met Bess Wallace in the First Presbyterian Church in 1892, when he was 8 years old.Unfortunately the museum was also closed.The Trumans’ graves are located in a courtyard inside this building.
