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Caught Our Eyes: What a Ball!

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One of my favorite buildings in Washington, D.C. is the Pension Building, which is now the National Building Museum. Between the grandeur of the hall and the beautiful brick exterior with its carved frieze, it stands out in a city of grand buildings. While still under construction in 1885, it was also the site for President Grover Cleveland’s Inaugural Ball. Over the years, there have been seventeen inaugural balls held there, the most of any existing building, according to the staff of the National Building Museum.  (No ball this year, but there was a reception in the museum following President Obama’s January 20th official swearing-in.)

As I went through photographs of the decorations for the various balls held in the Pension Building, the second Inaugural Ball for President McKinley stood out as my favorite:

Interior of Inaugural ballroom. Photo by Frances B. Johnston, 1901. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a47103
Interior of Inaugural ballroom. Photo by Frances B. Johnston, 1901. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3a47103

The thousands of incandescent lights strung between the columns must have been a spectacular sight for 1901. The Washington Post of Feb. 8, 1901 adds further visual delight by telling us that the ceiling is swathed in golden drapery.  What a sight that must have been!

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Thank you to the staff of the National Building Museum for their help with this post!

Comments (2)

  1. WOW! This is really cool! Thanks for posting this, and all the rest of your wonderful posts, LOC! You guys ROCK!

  2. I’m proud of my nation and it’s ability to build this, It seem’s like an extremely OrNATE and E.L.E.G.A.N.T. buildind to render, and SURELY was very headyto build in the 1800’s.

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