Trying to capture the exquisiteness of a building as magnificent as the Nebraska State Capitol was principally an unachievable attempt. For years, I walked by this structure semi-regularly, with my just-in-case-camera all set and ready to shoot; I was never able to produce anything close to adequate. My latest attempt was no exception. The building, brushed with beautiful spring sunlight, reared into the evening sky and quietened the surroundings with its absolute splendor. I stood in front it, silently, to observe its beauty and the countless unsung histories within.

The Nebraska State Capitol, the second tallest statehouse in the United States, was constructed from 1922 to 1932. The structure, built with Indiana limestone, was designed by American architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue. Sculptor Lee Lawrie was responsible for the sculptural elements of the building; while Hartley Burr Alexander, a Lincoln native, was serving as “thematic consultant.” The well-known inscription The Salvation of the State is Watchfulness of the Citizen over the main entrance portal is associated with Alexander, who was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1873 and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska in 1897. The inscription from Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1865, can be found in the Memorial Hall in the 14th floor.

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.