[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 61 (Monday, May 6, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E710-E711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CONNECTICUT OLD STATE HOUSE

                                 ______


                        HON. BARBARA B. KENNELLY

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 6, 1996

  Mrs. KENNELLY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 200th 
anniversary of the Old State House in Hartford, CT. This beautiful 
building is the living symbol of my State's proud history and the 
important contributions that Connecticut and its people have made to 
our Nation. The Old State House, long recognized as ``Connecticut's 
single most important building,'' has now been rehabilitated and 
renewed after a 4-year, carefully orchestrated major construction 
project. All of Connecticut will celebrate its rebirth on May 11, 1996.
  Nestled in the heart of what is now downtown Hartford and today 
surrounded by modern office buildings, the site of the Old State House 
was a cradle of colonial history even before the building existed. In 
1638, the Rev. Thomas Hooker preached a sermon there that led to the 
adoption of Connecticut's colonial constitution. These Fundamental 
Orders of Connecticut later became the blueprint for the U.S. 
Constitution. In 1781, at Meeting House Square, Gen. George Washington 
met the French armies in America under Comte de Rochambeau and forged 
the Yorktown strategy that led to victory in the Revolutionary War.
  Eleven years later, construction began on the Old State House. 
Designed by Charles

[[Page E711]]

Bulfinch, the building was completed in 1796. On May 11 of that year, 
it was dedicated by Connecticut's Revolutionary War statesman and first 
Governor, Oliver Wolcott.
  For the next 82 years, the Old State House was the scene of both 
glorious and tragic moments in Connecticut's history. Here, the 
notorious Amistad trial took place; here they drafted the laws to 
incarcerate Prudence Crandall. But here, too, Oliver Ellsworth resigned 
as U.S. Senator to become the third Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme 
Court. Here, Lafayette and Marshall Foch were honored. Here, 
Connecticut's constitutional conventions were held, first in 1818 and 
again, in 1965. Here, nine sitting Presidents of the United States 
visited: John Adams, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, 
Andrew Johnson, Ulysses Grant, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy 
Carter, and George Bush.
  When the State outgrew the building in 1878, the Old State House 
served as Hartford's city hall for 37 years. It was later used as a 
community center for the Red Cross, the Chamber of Commerce, and the 
Hartford Symphony. When the Connecticut River flooded, the Old State 
House was a dry shelter on high ground. In wartime, it was a bond 
center. And always, it has served the citizens of Connecticut.
  Now, on the 200th anniversary of its opening, the Old State House 
will again be a lively presence in the center of Connecticut's capital 
city. Under the visionary stewardship of Wilson H. Faude, the executive 
director of the Connecticut Old State House, and the Old State House 
Association, the building has undergone a $12-million metamorphosis 
that will usher in a new era of living history, art and museum 
exhibits, educational programs and entertainment. Citizens of Hartford, 
CT, and the Nation celebrate the rebirth of this landmark, a visible 
symbol of our proud and diverse heritage, a gift to our children and 
grandchildren, and a rallying point for the community as we look ahead 
to the future.
  Mr. Speaker, the reopening of the Old State House is an important 
moment in the history of Hartford and of Connecticut, and I am honored 
to submit these commemorative remarks in order to share it with my 
colleagues.

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