The Crypt
Before starting my fourth blog post, I would like to thank the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies again for sponsoring the Passion Project Program. I have only one more post left in the series after this post, but I have loved every second of creating this blog. In this post, I will talk about the Crypt by sharing its history of construction, some of the unique pieces in the room, the use of the room, and how it became known as the Crypt.
Charles Bulfinch designed and oversaw the construction of the Crypt. He completed the Crypt in 1827 after he finished the rest of his work on the center area of the Capitol in 1826. Unlike other spaces I have covered in this blog with involvement from Bulfinch, people credit this space entirely to Bulfinch. Bulfinch’s design for the Crypt is solemn and sturdy. Bulfinch and his staff placed forty sandstone columns in the space that hold up the vaulted ceiling and all the weight above the room. They also used stone from Maryland for the floor, which is still in the Crypt today. In the center of the floor, there is a white marble stone called the “compass stone” that represents the center of the Capitol and the starting point for Washington’s quadrant system of planning.
The Crypt today is home to many unique pieces of art as well. The first unique item in the Crypt is the Magna Carta Replica. The British Government gave this replica of the Magna Carta to America to honor America’s bicentennial of independence, and the English artist Louis Osman created the replica of the Magna Carta. King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215 after significant disputes with nobles. The Magna Carta established a limited government and codified some rights for nobles and property owners. The Magna Carta also helped inspire the American revolution. Colonists in the thirteen colonies thought they should have access to the same rights as Englishmen, and they cited the Magna Carta as evidence of some of these rights. The Magna Carta also helped inform the writing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and it is one of many things that bond America and the United Kingdom together.
The Crypt also contains thirteen statues from the National Statuary Hall Collection. The statues represent the original thirteen states, but there are currently twelve statues in the Crypt. Virginia’s statue had previously been a statue of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate General. The Architect of the Capitol removed the statue in December 2020, and they have not added a new statue for Virginia yet. A Virginia state commission proposed that Virginia replace the statue with Barbara Johns, the civil rights activist, but the Virginia state legislature still has to approve this proposal.
While the Crypt sits at the literal center of the Capitol, the Crypt does not serve any day-to-day purpose in the functioning and operation of Congress. Currently, the Crypt holds some statues of the original states from the National Statuary Hall Collection and the replica of the Magna Carta. It is also a popular stop of Capitol tours once they resume after the Pandemic.
While I have covered many things in this post, you may be asking yourself, why is the room called the Crypt? A Crypt is traditionally a room below a church, and it usually has a very sad connotation. Historical research suggests that people started using the word to describe the room around 1829, and people have frequently used the word to describe the room since then. The room’s association with the death of George Washington also might help contribute to people using the word “crypt” to describe the room. Congress wished to put the remains of George and Martha Washington in a room below the Crypt, and they built the room. However, George Washington wanted his body to remain on his property, Mount Vernon, and he and his wife’s remains stay there to this day.
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