The Army engineer in charge of putting a new dome on top of the U.S. Capitol sat down to write a letter to the sculptor who was to design the statue that would adorn it. What or whom should the statue represent? ''We have too many Washingtons," wrote the captain firmly on May 11, 1855. "We have America in the pediment. Victories and Liberties are rather pagan emblems, but a Liberty, I fear, is the best we can get." And so Sculptor Thomas Crawford set to work in his studio in Rome. The model...
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