Sheldon Snook was clearing out his e-mail inbox the other day when he came across a pamphlet that's all about, down to the type of wood and stone, the U.S. courthouse in downtown Washington.
The document is titled “The United States Courthouse for the District of Columbia: A Description of the Building and Copies of the Floor Plans.” Snook, the administrative assistant to Chief Judge Royce Lamberth, wants to pass it along to the Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit’s web site.
For admirers of the courthouse—The BLT is sure there are a few of you out there—and for the lawyers, witnesses, judges and others who traverse these halls of justice daily, the pamphlet is chock full of fun stuff. At least when it comes to courthouse trivia.
Did you know, for instance, the building’s “deep set-back from Constitution Avenue has given the new courthouse one of the finest settings of any of the buildings” on the street? The courthouse opened for public viewing on Sept. 27, 1952.
We’ve pulled out several facts—and copied some of the building descriptions (like the one above)—contained in the six-page pamphlet.
- President Harry Truman laid the cornerstone on June 27, 1950 “in an impressive ceremony presided over by Chief Judge Harold M. Stephens.” (Stephens was a longtime judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.)
- “The new courthouse has been designed in a rather conservative version of modern architecture in order not to conflict with the traditional architecture of the other buildings on the (Federal) Triangle or with the design of the nearby Municipal Center and Central Library Building.”
- “The use of air conditioning has made it possible to plan completely ‘inside’ or windowless courtrooms.”
- “All of the courtrooms are two stories in height. This requirement was one of the dominating factors in the conception of the plan.”
- “The provision of dictation booths and telephone booths adjacent to the two lounges will enable both witnesses and jurors to utilize ‘waiting’ time productively.”
- Numerous signs will help visitors find their way around “in this building which is, by its very nature, somewhat complicated in plan.”
- “The walls of the judges' private offices are of walnut veneer and are lined with built-in book shelves.”
- The granite for two exterior fountains is Cold Spring company’s “Carnelian” stone. Entrance lobbies were fashioned from St. Genevieve Botticino marble.
- “The most noteworthy feature of the special courtroom on the sixth floor, known as courtroom 20 or the ceremonial courtroom, consists of four marble statues built into the marble wall in back of the judge’s bench.” The statues are, from left to right, of the historical or biblical figures of Hammurabi, Moses, Solon and Justinian. The sculptor: Sidney Waugh of New York.
- The bronze panels on courtroom doors represent the seasons of the year and the holidays. Edwin Rust was the sculptor.
A copy of the pamphlet is here.
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