On a recent trip to Philadelphia, I stopped at the Eastern State Penitentiary. Opened in 1829, this was the most famous and expensive prison of its time. Tourists and researchers came from around the world to study this innovative prison system, including Alexis de Tocqueville and Charles Dickens. Eastern State Penitentiary was famous because it …
In Stafford County, about 45 miles southwest of Capitol Hill is a 17-acre park that is also on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the site from which the stone was quarried to construct part of the Capitol and White House, as well as many other Virginian buildings in the early 1800s. …
Magna Carta has had a great influence both on the United States Constitution and on the constitutions of the various states. Sharing in Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary, the Library of Congress celebrated with an exhibition and a year-long program of events. On a recent trip southeast, I stopped at Jamestown in the Colonial National Historical Park …