Archive for Jefferson City
The Missouri Capitol burns after being struck by lightning the evening of Feb. 5, 1911, in Jefferson City. City firefighters, state penitentiary inmates and fire crews from Sedalia, Mo., who rushed by train to assist from more than 60 miles away, fought the blaze, but the building was a total loss. ¦ AP Photo/Missouri State Archives
Hermon A. MacNeil Commemorative portrait by Artist C. Daughtrey is available at http://www.cdaughtrey.com/
On February 5, 1911 lightning struck the Missouri Capitol in the evening. Responders included local firefighters, state penitentiary inmates and even fire crews from as far as sixty miles away in Sedalia, Missouri. Many came by train to help. But the building was a total loss. The resulting fire had entirely destroyed the state’s historic building complex (see the ‘day after’ photo below).
After the public saw the devastating results of the fire, donations began to come in for restoration. School children collected coins, the public sent gifts, and private funds contributes as well. All helped to rebuild the the Jefferson City capitol with new sculptures and new art making it more spectacular that before.
Hermon A. MacNeil was one of the many famous American sculptors commissioned for sculptures and art for the new Missouri Capitol after the tragic fire. Other renowned sculptors commissioned for work on the re-built state structure include: James Earl Fraser, Robert Aiken, Alexander A. Weinman, Karl Bitter, and Alexander Stirling C(see photo below)alder.
In this photo provided by the Missouri State Archives, people walk around the ruins of the Missouri Capitol on the day after. (AP Photo/Missouri State Archives) Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/multimedia/image_8158f625-1596-5d61-8c0a-b210ee48de6f.html#ixzz1s4tJIm8l
Portion of the North Allegorical frieze, “Missouri, the Mother of the West,” Hermon MacNeil – Sculpted in 1924. Note the sculptor’s name appearing along bottom left corner. [ Photo Credit: SIRIS -Smithsonian Institute Research Information System. ]
CLICK HERE FOR: Smithsonian Institute link to eight photos of this frieze
