matters; and that, when the Commission appointed by Congress for the rehabilitation of the White House has completed its work, a subcommittee on White House furnishings, as formerly constituted may be appointed to act for the Commission of Fine Arts in this matter.

PORTRAIT OF FORMER CHAIRMAN GILMORE D.

CLARKE

At a meeting of the Commission of Fine Arts, held on January 10, 1952, the Commission inspected a portrait of former Chairman Gilmore D. Clarke, by Sidney Dickinson, of New York.

Chairman Finley stated that members of the Commission of Fine Arts who had served with Dr. Clarke had contributed to a fund for the portrait.

The Commission was pleased to receive the portrait and it was decided to hang it in the Commission room.

LETTER OF APPRECIATION FROM THE PRESIDENT

The following letter was received from President Truman on January 16, 1953:

THE WHITE HOUSE, Washington, January 16, 1953. DEAR MR. FINLEY: As I approach the end of my term of office, I am anxious to express to you my appreciation of the distinguished service you have given as Chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts. I think you believe as I do that our Nation's Capital should be an expression in architectural forms of the democratic spirit.

The work of the Commission is reflected in the intense interest shown by visitors from our own country and from other countries in the momuments of the city. As a guardian of artistic worth, the Commission has an important task, for future generations will judge our works of art by enduring standards of taste. I am glad to have had your guidance.

Let me extend to you my very best wishes for future success and happiness.

CHAPTER TWO

NE of the most significant events pertaining to the city of Washington during the period covered by this report was the observance of the 150th Anniversary of the establishment of the seat of the National Government in the District of Columbia. The 80th Congress made appropriate provision for the event (Public Law 203, approved July 18, 1947) by authorizing the appointment of a Sesquicentennial Commission, of which the President of the United States was Chairman. An expenditure of $3,000,000 was subsequently approved.

In accordance with the provisions of the Act, Departments and Agencies of the Government were called upon to participate, and a program for the year 1950 was agreed upon. The Commission of Fine Arts was called upon to take an active part in this work.

Outstanding among the events was a play, written especially for the occasion, by the distinguished dramatist Paul Green, entitled "Faith of Our Fathers." For the presentation of the play, an outdoor theater was built adjacent to Rock Creek Park, near Colorado Avenue and 16th Street NW. This theater was equipped with the latest features for the proper setting of outdoor events. After the celebration, it passed to the custody of the Office of National Capital Parks, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, for use in connection with recreational programs.

Paul Green was inspired to write the play as a result of a deep and profound study of the life of George Washington and the achievements of the patriots of that period in founding the United States of America. Scenes and episodes, which vividly portrayed the period reenacted the life of Washington, and made the

play an inspiring and interesting event. The play was given nightly throughout the 1950 season, as well as during the year 1951.

The following article was written by Dr. H. Paul Caemmerer, Secretary of the Commission. of Fine Arts, and is printed in part in this report by order of the Commission:

The history of the City of Washington is intimately linked with the history of the United States of America. In fact, locating the seat of the Federal Government on the banks of the Potomac, was the climax of a very critical period in the history of the Nation. After the first ten years of independence, that is from 1776 to 1786, several of the thirteen original States were still in dispute over matters that they considered to be their paramount rights. Currency was so depreciated in value that it had come to be a common saying that "the value of a dollar was not worth a continental." A pound of tea sold for $90, a pair of shoes for $100, a barrel of flour for $1,500 in paper money. In this situation, Alexander Hamilton, as the First Secretary of the Treasury, conceived the idea of having the Federal Government assume the debts which the States incurred during the Revolutionary War, amounting to $20,000,000. His aim was to restore the value of the continental dollar; however, it was pointed out that the assumption of State debts by the Government would result in most benefit to the Northern States where there was the most trade, and to less benefit to the South which was agricultural. The "anti-assumptionists" succeeded in defeating the measure in the House of Representatives. Subsequently a compromise between Hamilton and Jefferson, was agreed on about the middle of June 1790, when, in consideration for locating the Capital on the banks of the Potomac (half-way-Point along the Atlantic Coast), the "Funding Bill" was adopted.

Accordingly, by the Act of July 16, 1790, it was decided that the seat of the Federal Government should be located on the banks of the Potomac.

In choosing the exact location of the Capital City, it is said that the minds of the Congress were swayed by the judgment of President Washington. They agreed with him that

America should establish the precedent of a Nation locating and founding a city for its permanent capital by legislative action; and the boundaries of no other city were ever fixed with more certainty. Any point above the mouth of the eastern branch of the Potomac known as the Anacostia River, for a distance of 80 miles, that is, some 20 miles beyond Harpers Ferry, might have been selected, but it is believed it was Washington's wish to establish the Federal City on the Potomac at the headwaters of navigation. As early as 1784, while President of the Potomac Company, his company had promoted trade with the great Northwest, and he had then looked forward to a great "Emporium" in this locality. At Washington's request the Act of 1790 was amended to include his home town, Alexandria, which then had a good harbor; and Alexandria's inclusion more evenly divided the cessation of land for the District of Columbia between Maryland and Virginia.

Thereupon arose the question of designing a plan for the Federal City. Pursuant to an application dated September 11, 1789, President Washington appointed Pierre Charles L'Enfant, "the artist of the American Revolution", for this work. L'Enfant applied his ability to the task with enthusiasm; the approbation of "his General" gave him supreme satisfaction. What L'Enfant had in mind for the capital city of the Nation, even before its future location had been determined, is expressed by him in his letter:

The plan should be drawn on such a scale as to leave room for that aggrandisment and embellishment which the increase of the wealth of the Nation will permit it to pursue at any period however remote.

Congress had specified in the Act of 1790 that the city of Washington (so named by Jefferson and Madison in conference with the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, in September 1792) should be built on the Maryland side of the Potomac River. L'Enfant completed his work in a year's time, and his plan, the original of which is in the custody of the Library of Congress, is known as the L'Enfant Plan of 1791. In subsequent years others made plans for the city of Washington but they were all based on the original Plan of L'Enfant of 1791. That plan is distinguished for its focal points, particularly the United

States Capitol and the President's House; its wide radiating avenues, which made distant points easy of access; its sites for public buildings, so located that they could be seen in reciprocal relationship; its parks and plazas, which he expected would be embellished with fountains. From the Capitol westward to the Washington Monument he planned a great unobstructed vista, as well as from the White House southward. At the intersection of these two axes L'Enfant fixed a location for a monument to George Washington.

In March 1792, Secretary of State Jefferson instituted a Program of Competition for the Capitol and the President's House. President Washington laid the cornerstone of the Capitol on September 18, 1793. Dr. William Thornton was the architect. The President's House had been begun a year earlier according to the design of James Hoban. It was 170 feet long and 85 feet wide. The President's House was still scarcely habitable when President John Adams and his wife Abigail became its first occupants in November 1800.

In accordance with a mandate of Congress, issued in 1790, the city of Philadelphia was to remain the capital city for a 10-year period; in 1800 the Government would then occupy the District of Columbia, which was to become the permanent home of the Government. The States of Maryland and Virginia ceded the land comprising the "ten miles square" or 100 square miles provided for in the Constitution of the United States (art. I, sec. 8, par. 17). The officials and clerks of the Government (then comprising 137) began moving to Washington during the summer of the year 1800. On November 22, 1800, President Adams opened the second session of the Sixth Congress in the city of Washington in the small north wing of the old Capitol Building, which then housed the entire legislative branch of the Government. There were then 16 States in the Union with 32 Senators and 105 Members of the House of Representatives.

In addressing the Congress, President Adams said in part

I congratulate the people of the United States on the assembling of Congress at the permanent seat of their Government, and I congratulate you, gentlemen, on the prospect of a residence not to be changed. Although there is cause to apprehend that accommodations are not now so complete as might be wished, yet

there is great reason to believe that this inconvenience will cease with the present session.

It would be unbecoming the representatives of this Nation to assemble for the first time in this solemn temple without looking up to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe and imploring His blessing.

May this territory be the residence of virtue and happiness! In this city may that piety and virtue, that wisdom and magnanimity, that constancy and selfgovernment, which adorned the great character whose name it bears, be forever held in veneration! Here and throughout our country may simple manners, pure morals, and true religion flourish forever.

To meet in the new Capitol was indeed a great contrast to what the Continental Congress experienced following the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and during the Congress of the Confederation, when the Capital of the United States was virtually a "Capital on Wheels." Eight different towns and cities had served as such while Congress was pursued by the enemy during the Revolutionary War and afterwards by disgruntled soldiers. The records and the files of the Congress had to be carted about accordingly.

In 1801 Thomas Jefferson became President of the United States. During the 8 years of his incumbency he was ardently devoted to the upbuilding of the National Capital, which was then only a new settlement along the Potomac, a new town in the woods. Jefferson secured the distinguished architect, Benjamin H. Latrobe, to carry forward the work at the Capitol. Latrobe also designed the terraces for the White House, as well as the north and south porticoes.

During the next Administration, that of James Madison, 1809 to 1817, the War of 1812 with Great Britain occurred. British soldiers reached Washington in 1814 and set fire to the public buildings. Fortunately both Latrobe and Hoban were still available so that the Capitol and the White House could be rebuilt in accordance with the original plans. In 1837, by order of President Jackson, three monumental buildings, designed by Robert Mills, architect, in the classical style of architecture, were authorized, namely, the Treasury Department, the old Patent Office, and the old Post Office Department Building. After a hundred years they still stand, notable for their simplicity, beauty, and permanency.

In 1846 the Congress allowed the retrocession of the Virginia portion of the District of Columbia, 32 square miles, to that State. Begin

nings were made on the Smithsonian Institution Building on the Mall; and, in 1848, the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was laid in the presence of three persons who had known George Washington, namely, Dolly Madison, Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington Parke Custis. The Monument was designed by Robert Mills, in the form of an obelisk. By 1850, soon after the admission of California as the 31st State of the Union, it was decided to enlarge the United States Capitol to its present size, 751 feet in length, by adding new chambers for the Senate and House of Representatives, and thus relieve crowded conditions at the Capitol. The war between the States made an armed camp of the city of Washington, but so great was the faith of Abraham Lincoln in the perpetuity of the Union that he ordered work on the new capitol dome to continue. It was completed, surmounted by the Statue of Freedom, on December 2, 1863.

After 1865, an effort was made to "cleanup" the city and to make it a Capital worthy of the Nation. This work was undertaken during the administration of President Grant, under the leadership of Governor Alexander R. Shepherd. Several hundred miles of streets were graded, sidewalks were laid, several thousand gas lamps were erected, a proper sewer system was installed, and 60,000 trees were planted, many of which are the beautiful trees of Washington today.

When the United States of America became a world power soon after the war with Spain in 1898, and its representatives sat at the council tables of the great powers of Europe, a movement developed in Washington, under the leadership of the American Institute of Architects, to make the city of Washington a capital city commensurate with the country's dignity, wealth, and power. The World's Columbian Exposition, which was held in Chicago in 1892, had awakened the United States to a new sense of civic consciousness. The leaders who had planned that exposition, Daniel H. Burnham, Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles F. McKim, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens, were brought to Washington, to prepare plans in accordance with a resolution introduced by Senator James McMillan, of Michigan, Chairman, of the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia, and adopted by the United States Senate on March

8, 1901. Dr. Charles Moore, who later was appointed to be a member of the Commission of Fine Arts, served as Secretary of the McMillan Commission. Following a trip to Europe to study planning in Old World capitals, the McMillan Park Commission, known also as the Senate Park Commission, prepared a comprehensive set of plans which has been carried out in large part during the past half century, and which has contributed tremendously to the aesthetic development of the National Capital. The L'Enfant Plan of 1791, which had been virtually forgotten, was revived and restored. As a result we have the beautiful Mall Development today. By extending the Mall axis threefourths of a mile westward, a site for the Lincoln Memorial was created on the shores of the Potomac, and the Arlington Memorial Bridge was built. The Rock Creek Parkway Development, the Anacostia Park Development, and the Fort Drive are still other notable features in the plan of 1901. When the Commission of Fine Arts was established in 1910, the Commission became the guardian of the plan of 1901. Included in this heritage are numerous large rendered drawings, designs, and models, that are described in former reports of this Commission.

In 1926, on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew W. Mellon, a great public buildings program was authorized by the Congress. Its principal achievement was the construction of eight new Department Buildings in what is known as the "Triangle" south of Pennsylvania Avenue between the Treasury Department and the Capitol. It comprised an area of 70 acres and was developed by a group of distinguished architects, in cooperation with sculptors, painters, and landscape architects. The Commission of Fine Arts was constantly consulted in the progress of the work, as was also the National Capital Park and Planning Commission. President Coolidge gave the work his whole-hearted support, as did President Hoover. As the Bicentennial Celebration of the birth of George Washington, to be held in 1932, approached, still other projects were authorized by Congress, among them the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway. Altogether, about $400,000,000 were spent in that period on the development of the National Capital. Yet, President Coolidge stated that

only half of the public buildings needed, were being built.

At the beginning of the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Fine Arts Section was established in the Office of Public Buildings. As a result, many artists were employed to embellish public buildings in Washington and throughout the country with sculpture and painting.

The outstanding achievements in the field of public buildings were the construction of the Pentagon Building for the Department of Defense, and the Washington National Airport. The city was defaced by the construction of about 30 large temporary war buildings in park areas and on other Government land; they were built to last 10 years but have not been demolished, and are unsuitable for permanent use. The Commission of Fine Arts has strongly recommended that they should be removed as soon as possible.

During the past 2 years a large General Accounting Office Building, and a new Federal Court Building have been completed.

The foregoing brief résumé of cardinal factors that have had to do with the growth and the aesthetic development of the National Capital, has been set forth as a matter of record for the information of present and future generations. It also formed the basis of an exhibition on the Development of the Plan of Washington that was held by the National Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Park and Planning Commission in the Corcoran Gallery of Art during the year 1950, as part of the Sesquicentennial Celebration of the city of Washington. The Columbia Historical Society and the Washingtonian Division of the Public Library of the District of Columbia cooperated. Several hundred rare prints were shown, as well as plans of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission for the Greater Washington Area that, it is hoped, will materialize during the next 50 years.

Metropolitan Washington today covers an area of 900 square miles. With the United States Capitol as the center, this area extends 15 miles northward into Maryland toward Baltimore; 15 miles southward to Mount Vernon; a similar distance eastward toward Chesapeake Bay and westward to Great Falls, where Washington receives its water supply. In these out