This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Collection consists of correspondence, clippings, reports, press releases, memorandums, memos, meeting minutes, printed material, notes, financials, and one photograph. The collection is arranged alphabetically in two series: Committee Records and Reference material. Reference material includes printed booklets and copies of the Congressional Record recording the proceedings and debates of Congress.
1949-1958
This collection is available for use by appointment in the Department of Drawings & Archives, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University. For further information and to make an appointment, please email avery-drawings@library.columbia.edu.
Accession number--1000.107.
Columbia University Libraries, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
This collection was processed by Nicole Richard, Drawings & Archives Assitant in 2016.
The Committee to Preserve the National Capitol, chaired by Julian Berla, was established in 1957 after plans were proposed to Congress to rebuild the central portion of the East front of the United States Capitol and thereby altering the original facade designed by William Thornton and approved by George Washington in 1793. The Committee, a non-partisan organization of citizens, united to save the East central front of the Capitol from plans to "destroy the historical integrity and architectural beauty" of the building.
In 1905, the firm Carrere & Hastings was requested by Congress to prepare plans for enlarging the Capitol. The firm recommended two schemes. The first "Scheme A" would extend the portico 12 feet forward. In "Scheme B" the portico would be extended approximately 32 feet. In August 1955, an Act established a Commission for the Extension of the States Capitol to carry out the "Scheme B" extension plan as well as additional alterations. Despite the Committee's efforts, the East central front of the Capitol was extended with construction ending in 1962.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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