Then and Now: September 2012 | STATE LEGISLATURES MAGAZINE

This Month's Statehouse Photo

This month’s photo is of the Nebraska Capitol in Lincoln. The building is the third to serve as the seat of state government in Lincoln. The current Capitol was the product of a nationwide design competition won by New York architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in 1920. It departed radically from the convention up until that time, which was to use the U.S. Capitol as a prototype. Instead, it was designed as an office tower. The building was erected between 1922 and 1932 at a cost of $10 million. The building is clad with Indiana limestone. The 400-foot domed tower is crowned with a statue called “The Sower.” The interior features numerous marble-columned chambers with vaulted tile ceilings, marble mosaic floors and murals depicting the natural and social history of Nebraska. One remarkable feature of the grounds is the Lincoln Monument on the West Plaza. It was dedicated in 1912 before construction began on the present Capitol. William Jennings Bryan, Nebraska’s great orator and three-time presidential candidate,  spoke at the dedication. The statue was sculpted by Daniel Chester French, who also sculpted the Minuteman statue in  Concord, Mass.

Sources: Nebraska State Capitol website

25 Years Ago

Articles from the September 1987 issue of State Legislatures:

ACCOUNTABILITY IN  HIGHER EDUCATION
“Now that the focus of the education reform movement has shifted from K-12 to higher education, undergraduate schools are striving to prove that college does make a difference.”

LONG DISTANCE LEARNING
“With satellites and fiber optics as their links, people no longer need to leave home to take classes or obtain information from faraway places. At least two states are moving to expedite the use of telecommunications technology.”

STATE COURTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES
“The guardianship of civil liberties has passed from the U.S. Supreme Court to state courts in an era marked by the conservatism of the Burger Court. The growing stature and independence of state courts signals the stronger role of states in the federal system.”

Did You Know?

Located in the panhandle of southeast Alaska, 900 air miles north of Seattle and 600 air miles southeast of Anchorage, Juneau is the only capital city, besides Honolulu, that is inaccessible by car. With 31,000 residents, it is the largest community on the North American continent not connected to the continental highway system. So how does one get there? By airplane or ferry, for now. The state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is working with the Federal Highway Administration to improve access to and from Juneau.

—From “A Celebration of State Capitols” by Richard Gibson and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities