Professor's research lecture about U.S. Capitol artwork is aired on C-SPAN

Debra Hanson, adjunct professor, presented the results of research she conducted as a U.S. Capitol Historical Society Fellow during a lecture on September 2, 2009. C-SPAN aired the lecture on September 26.

Hanson's lecture, "Allyn Cox and Jeffrey Greene: Muralists of the United States Capitol," was part of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society's 2009 Brown Bag Lecture Series "The Individual in History: Actions and Legacies." It was held at noon on Wednesday, September 2, 2009.

Hanson spent three months in fall 2008 as a Fellow working under the supervision of the Curator for the Architect of the Capitol. Her research topic, "Westward Expansion and National Identity: A Comparative Study of Three Sets of Images in the U.S. Capitol," addresses the question of how Westward expansion and settlement has shaped the national identity and what it means to be an American.

Hanson's research focused on three sets of images in the Capitol: the Westward Expansion Corridor (a 1993 series of murals in the House Wing); "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way" (a 20'x30' mural painted by Emanuel Leutze from 1861-62, also in the House Wing); and "The Conflict of Daniel Boone and the Indians" (an 1826 relief sculpture in the Capitol Rotunda).

Coverage of Hanson's lecture is available from the C-SPAN Video Library.

Posted October 2, 2009