Temple of History: Symbolism at the U.S. National Archives | BRIdge From The Past
How does the symbolism at the National Archives Building give us clues about its purpose? In this episode of BRIdge From The Past, Mary examines both the inside and outside of the United States National Archives Building located in Washington, DC. Standing 166 feet tall, 213 feet wide, and 330 feet long, the National Archives Building features columns similar to the Lincoln Memorial and houses some of the most important documents in American history. What Founding principles do the statues outside and rotunda inside the building represent? How do they relate to the historical documents that are kept inside of its walls?
0:00 hey everybody welcome to another episode of bridge from the past I’m your host Mary and this series is all about using images as a starting point to think about important topics in American history and Civics today we’re going to the National Archives building in Washington DC how does the symbolism on the outside of the National Archives building tell us about the importance of
0:21 what’s inside let’s jump in and see [Music] here’s our starting image we’re looking at the National Archives building in Washington DC this is the main entrance on Constitution Avenue and we’re thinking about what the symbolism on the outside of the building can tell us about the archive’s purpose and the
0:42 importance of what’s inside of the National Archives whenever you have an image it’s important to just take a moment and make some observations before you can go anywhere with your analysis if you’re using the handout that came with this video pause here and make some observations of your own here are some things that I notice first of all we’re in Washington DC once again
1:03 so Washington DC is home to a lot of monumental architecture and we’ve looked at some of these things on bridge from the past like the Lincoln Memorial the Capitol building the Supreme Court building so all of these buildings are large they’re almost temple-like there’s elements of classical architecture built into them and this National Archives facade is no different I’m immediately
1:25 noticing lots of columns 72 columns all around the building to be precise I have this triangular pediment at the top that looks a lot like the Lincoln Memorial I can see there are carvings in the pediment I can see there are eagles on top of the building there are these little medallions all the way around the building I’d have to go up a lot of
1:46 steps to get to the entrance and if I wanted to go inside which you definitely should if you’re ever in Washington DC I can see these very large Monumental doors so the location the size the scale the elements of Greece and Rome in the building itself are all telling me that this is a monument similar to the
2:07 Lincoln Memorial similar to the deaths from Memorial and other memorials that you would see in Washington DC let’s look a little bit closer at some of the statues outside of the building once again I’m in front of the Constitution Avenue entrance and there you would see two statues we have guardianship here and Heritage so these
2:29 are large statues they’re on the corner of the entrance to the building and I can see that guardianship is male he’s got this really Fierce kind of look on his face he looks very strong he’s got a sword and he’s got a helmet so all of this brings up ideas of strength of Courage of protection in front of this
2:50 building Heritage by contrast is female she is holding a baby on one side perhaps not how we would actually hold a baby but she’s holding a baby and there are some pieces of wheat in one hand with this baby and on the other hand in the other hand she is holding an urn so
3:10 here you have this idea of Heritage of the past right the ashes of the past Generations in this urn Plus what’s to come right the promise of the future a baby of Youth of wheat that will eventually be harvested so you have these symbols out front of the building the other entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue we have two more statues you have
3:33 passed and Future so past is an older gentleman he doesn’t have any hair on top of his head he has facial hair he’s holding a scroll and he’s also holding a book future on the other hand is female so again we have male and female figures she’s much more youthful she’s also
3:54 holding a book but her book is open this symbolism I love you have the past of what is done what is completed and the future what has yet to be written so we have past future you know protection strength all of these symbols outside the National Archives what’s inside the building well
4:17 in the main chamber of the National Archives is the Rotunda for the charters of freedom in other words you have the Declaration of Independence the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in one location so this building is very much a temple it’s enshrining these founding documents our
4:37 country is based on these promises of natural rights of limited government and it’s a place to show the importance of these things so it not only houses these founding documents these charters of freedom but it also holds permanent records from Congress and the Supreme Court and other federal agencies so this
4:58 idea of protection of strength of what’s to come what is already transpired are all coming together at the National Archives I started by asking you what the symbolism on the outside of the National Archives building gave a how it gave us clues about the purpose of the building and what it holds inside when it was dedicated in 1933 and the
5:21 Cornerstone was laid president Herbert Hoover called it a temple of our history and an expression of the American soul and expression of the American character that’s all those are some pretty important words about this building and what it holds inside so now I would like to turn it over to you what do you think
5:41 what would you add if you had to add a symbol to the National Archives building I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below if you learned something be sure to hit the like button and subscribe to our channel so you’ll be in the know about other videos resources and contests to help you throughout the year I’ll be back soon with another image to help us think about important
6:02 topics in history and Civics until then everybody whenever you see an image keep asking questions take care I don’t know the video’s over oh come on don’t be so sad don’t you know that the Bill of Rights Institute has tons of videos on American history government and civics from primary source document breakdowns to historical image analysis whether
6:24 you’re studying for a test or just interested in learning more they’ve got something for you oh well in that case I better check out this video and don’t forget to subscribe so you aren’t so sad again
