History Extravaganza: Two Days in DC in one

We visited the Frederick Douglass House and Lincoln Park on Monday. Frederick Douglass lived in this house with his 1st & 2nd wife and when she died (after him) they had willed the house to be preserved like a museum. So, nearly everything in the house is original. Douglass died in this house. It is located in Anacosta and sits high up on a hill where there is an excellent view of the Capitol and White House. On Tuesday, we went to the Capitol and House of Representatives.

Douglass's study

Douglass's sitting room

Frederick Douglass dining room and bedroom.

In front of the Douglass House.

The statue of Lincoln in Lincoln Park. This statue was begun by a freed slave woman who donated the first five dollars. Lincoln is giving a benediction to a former slave and the Emancipation Proclamation is on the back.

In Lincoln Park, the statue of Mary McLeod Bethune, a SC native.

In front of the capitol. Yes, my eyes are closed because the sun is directly in them!

The capitol building and the House of Representatives side, which we visited today. It was so cool, we went on the floor of the House, sat in chairs of the Reps. and Senator Wicker of Miss. spoke to us. They were setting up for session while we were there. SOOO cool.

My quote for the day.

The new Visitors Center which opened after 9/11.

The Capitol rotunda. It really is amazing!

A carved relief of the Spanish meeting the Natives. Also, while the rotunda appears to have a carved bas relief around it, it is actually a painting that shows America from the founding to the Wright brothers' first flight.

Cool, huh? We did see John Kerry and Patrick Leahy.

The old spot where the speaker would have stood at a dais and all the representatives would have desks on the floor. John Quincy Adams' spot where his desk was.