Publications | Symposia

SYMPOSIA

The United States Capitol Historical Society regularly holds conferences at which scholars present the results of their research to a wide public audience. The papers that result are later published to reach libraries and readers unable to attend conferences on Capitol Hill. To date, the Society has held symposia in four series. Click on the series titles for a list of yearly conferences topics.

Perspectives on the Age of the American Revolution: From 1978 to 1993, the Society's first symposia series focused attention on the bicentennials of the American Revolution, the Constitution, and the creation of the Federal Government. The series was organized and conducted by Dr. Ronald Hoffman, then professor of history at the University of Maryland and now director of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture at Williamsburg, Virginia. The University Press of Virginia published the books that resulted from the conferences. More than 170 leading historians participated in the programs, which were widely praised for their contribution to scholarship.

Perspectives on the History of Congress: From 1994 to 2001, the Society conducted a series of conferences each spring on the history of Congress in its formative period from 1789 to 1800 directed by Dr. Kenneth Bowling, co-editor of the Documentary History of the First Federal Congress Project at The George Washington University. Ohio University Press publishes the volumes resulting from the series.

Perspectives on the Art and Architectural History of the United States Capitol: Since 1994 the Society has conducted a series of conferences each fall on the art and architectural history of the United States Capitol planned with the cooperation of the Curator of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, Dr. Barbara Wolanin. Ohio University Press is publishing the volumes resulting from this series.

The National Capital in a Nation Divided: Congress and the District of Columbia Confront Sectionalism and Slavery: Beginning in 2004 and continuing through 2009, the Society is conducting a major series of annual conferences on the important issues that confronted the national government in the antebellum period. Dr. Paul Finkelman, Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa, directs the series.

Past Symposium Titles:

The National Capital in a Nation Divided: Congress and the District of Columbia Confront Sectionalism and Slavery: 2004-

2004: Debates Over Sectionalism
2005: Congress in the Age of Jackson
2006: Congress and Slavery in the 1840s and 1850s
2007: Congress and Slavery in the District of Columbia
2008: Congress and the Crisis of the 1850s

Perspectives on the Art and Architectural History of the United States Capitol: 1994-

1994: Mid-Nineteenth Century Art in the Capitol
1995: Two Centuries of Capitol Architects
1996: Montgomery C. Meigs: Renaissance Man
1997: "Book Palace of the American People": The Art and Architecture of the Library of Congress's Jefferson Building
1998: Capital Statues: American Sculpture in the United States Capitol
1999: American Pantheon: The Art and Architecture of the Capitol Rotunda
2000: Created Capitols: The U.S. Capitol and the State Capitols
2002: Paris on the Potomac: French Inspired Art and Architecture on and around Capitol Hill
2003: Capitol Additions and Extensions: 1850 to the Present
2004: The Fourth Rome: Roman and Italian Influences on the Art, Architecture and Culture of Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Capitol
2005: The Landscape Architecture of the U.S. Capitol
2006: Capitol Fellowship Twentieth Anniversary Symposium
2007: Recent Capitol Fellowship Research Symposium
2008: "Step by Step" and "The National Mall: Rethinking Washington's Monumental Core"

Perspectives on the History of Congress: 1994-2001

1978: Diplomacy and Revolution: The Franco-American Alliance of 1778
1979: Sovereign States in an Age of Uncertainty
1980: Slavery and Freedom in the Age of the American Revolution
1981: Arms and Independence: The Military Character of the American Revolution
1982: An Uncivil War: The Southern Backcountry during the American Revolution
1983: Peace and the Peacemakers: The Treaty of 1783
1984: The Economy of Early America
1985: Women in the Age of the American Revolution
1986: "To Form a More Perfect Union": Critical Ideas of the Constitution
1987: Of Consuming Interests: The Style of Life in the 18th Century
1988: Religion in a Revolutionary Age
1989: "The Transforming Hand of Revolution": Reconsidering the American Revolution as a Social Movement
1990: Launching the Extended Republic: The Federalist Era
1991: The Bill of Rights: Government Proscribed
1992: Native Americans and the Early Republic
1993: A Republic for the Ages