Class of 1968 Rotunda

Class of 1968 Rotunda

Thomas Jefferson Hall Dedication Program Invocation... Father (CH) Edson Wood Welcome... Colonel Scott Krawczyk Superintendent s Welcome... Lieutenant General Franklin L. Hagenbeck Guest Speaker... General Richard Cody Dean s Remarks & Ceremonial Book Presentation... Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan Guest Speaker... The Honorable John Charles Thomas Ribbon-Cutting Closing Remarks... Colonel Krawczyk

Every window is intended to provide snapshot pictures of things you know. Malcolm Holzman At the southern boundary of The Plain (on the site now occupied by the new library), the old Library and Observatory, built in 1841, stood for nearly 120 years. One interesting aside about the library is that its function during the mid-nineteenth century was far more limited than one might expect. Post orders decreed that fiction and non-course books could only be checked out on Saturday and returned on Monday. Books used for class work could be taken out for ten days.

A familiar sight to thousands of cadets walking to Thayer Hall every day is the Gun Door of the old West Point Library. Mounted on the left side of the door is the so-called Alpha Cannon, named because it is alleged to have fired the first round in the Civil War. On the right side of the door is the Omega Cannon, alleged to have fired the last shot of the war. It is not by accident that the main entrance to Jefferson Hall lies directly opposite the Gun Door. The strategic placement of the main door of Jefferson Hall, directly opposite the Gun Door, not only makes for a graceful transition between buildings, but also provides a symbolic link between the academy s past and its future. Thomas Jefferson Hall... will say unequivocally that intellect matters in the Army profession. Speaking also to the importance of traditional martial virtues, the building will bring old and new concepts of officership into harmony. Jefferson Hall will stand for centuries as a symbol of both officer education and the professional artistry of the architect, whose creative ideas and steady hand brought these important ideas to reality. BG (R) George B. Forsythe USMA 70

The Architect s Vision... Malcolm Holzman, Architect Remarkable architecture lies on the boundary, along the outer edge, of what language and drawings can communicate. The creation of memorable buildings does not lie in a common central ground, but along the periphery, depicting distinctive opportunities difficult to imagine until they are illustrated and built. Jefferson Hall is Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates first Army Corps of Engineers project at West Point. Today, our team s desire to preserve the academy s personality while creating a new structure is as strong as that of the celebrated architectural firm of Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson when they completed their first federal government project at West Point almost a century ago. Cadets are made to feel as if the building fits in and belongs and that they entered into a repository where the surroundings complement the uniform and are compatible with the environment. There was no fog in London before Whistler painted it. Oscar Wilde Recalling the past yet looking to the future, the design of Jefferson Hall realizes both what I saw in my mind s eye as well as the thoughtful, energetic contributions of others. Eventually, as cadets begin to use the library s new resources, our design vision will become as visible as Whistler s fog.

Thomas Jefferson was a polymath, a man whose mind embraced a broad variety of subjects. By the time Jefferson turned thirty, according to one biographer, he could calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice, try a case, break a horse, dance a minuet, and play a violin. He also knew seven languages. At thirty-three, he drafted the Declaration of Independence. In the half century that followed, Jefferson served state and country in several different capacities: governor of Virginia, United States ambassador to France, secretary of state, vice president, and president. As president, he doubled America s size through the Louisiana Purchase and dispatched Lewis and Clark on their expedition of discovery. To this long list of accomplishments he added, in 1802, the founding of the United States Military Academy, an institution that he considered to be of major importance to our country. Two months after Jefferson s inauguration, Henry Dearborn, secretary of war, reported that the president had decided in favor of the immediate establishment of a military school at West Point. Jefferson lobbied Congress to approve and on March 16, 1802, he signed into law the Military Peace Establishment Act, which formally authorized the United States Military Academy. It commenced operations on the Fourth of July. Jefferson named Jonathan Williams as the academy s first superintendent, selected its original faculty, and appointed its first cadets, including future superintendent Sylvanus Thayer, Class of 1808. Books constitute capital... [A]nd often in the case of professional men setting out in life, it is their only capital. Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1821 Throughout his presidency, Jefferson remained a champion of West Point. Maintaining an active correspondence with Williams, he also agreed to serve as perpetual patron of the U.S. Military Philosophical Society, an organization designed to make the academy the hub of a national network of scientists and engineers. Moreover, in 1808, he supported the enlargement of The Corps to 256 cadets. Even earlier, Jefferson had consulted with Williams on a plan to acquire specific books for West Point s library. Make the purchases, Dearborn directed, and the bill will be paid. Jefferson was no stranger to libraries; indeed, he once confessed, I cannot live without books. Books freed the mind, challenged orthodoxy, and prepared the citizens of a republic to govern themselves. Jefferson understood the important truths, that knowledge is power, that knowledge is safety, and that knowledge is happiness. At Monticello, he amassed the largest private library in the Western Hemisphere. After the British burned the original Library of Congress during the War of 1812, the federal government acquired 6,707 volumes from Jefferson. That legacy of learning and generosity is sustained today in Thomas Jefferson Hall, a library that provides access to over 440,000 books and more than 50,000 periodicals, and a nexus of learning that includes the Centers for Teaching Excellence and Enhanced Performance. This building is a tribute not only to The Long Gray Line of soldier-scholars but also to the success of Jefferson s original vision. It will long play a vital role in West Point s mission to educate, train, and inspire the future leaders of America s Army.

Sculpture of Thomas Jefferson by James Muir