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Article: Capitol construction.(United States Capitol Building; African American construction labor; Special Issue: The Untold Story of Blacks in the White House)
- Article from:
- American Visions
- Article date:
- February 1, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Heritage Information Holdings, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In 1986, a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. by the African-American sculptor John Wilson was unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda. It was commissioned by Congress as a tribute to the slain civil rights leader and was accepted as a permanent addition to the Capitol's art collection. Although the bust is only a few years old, its documented history fills thick files that trace its commissioning, its artist, its placement and other facts.
By contrast, our knowledge of the hundreds of African Americans who worked on the Capitol during its early history is sketchy at best. Names such as james, Will, Davy, Nathan, Pompey and Prince appear in the early records as "Negro hire," a ...