Washington -- Visitors On The Terrace Of The Capitol

Object Details

The Harper’s Weekly article illustrated by this print, written from the perspective of cynical “hardened old newspaper correspondents,” described the author’s view of sightseers to the Capitol. Shown on the West Front terrace, the visitors and their guide “gain the most pleasing impression of the Capitol” with its westward view, including the Smithsonian Institution, and the ”shining shaft of the Washington Monument.” Regarding the particular people shown in the print, the author stated: “It... delights... an old citizen, if he is possessed of the true feeling about the Capitol, to watch the visitors from all over the country, the pilgrims to the shrine of the nation, and especially the open-mouthed, undisguised, unashamed wonder of the rural visitors."