Georgia State Capitol
Part 1: The Architecture and Sculpture
Georgia is located in the southeast part of the United States bordering Tennessee and North Carolina to the north, the Savannah River and South Carolina to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, Florida to the south, and Alabama to the west. The northern part of the state includes the Blue Ridge Mountains, a part of the Appalachian Mountain range where the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail can be found. The land transitions from wooded mountains to rolling hills and farmlands, to a coastal plain with marshlands feeding the Atlantic Ocean in the southeast. The capital city is Atlanta, located north — northwest of the center of the state. In 1788 Georgia legislators ratified the US Constitution to become the fourth state to join the Union.
The Georgia State Capitol was constructed from 1884 to 1889 in the Renaissance Revival and Classical Revival architectural styles by the architects Edbrooke and Burnham from Chicago.
Willoughby James Edbrooke, 1843 to 1896, was born in Evanston Illinois, and studied construction under his father, a contractor and builder. He apprenticed with several architectural firms in Chicago and then established a partnership with Franklin Burnham from 1868 to 1892. His last work through the firm included overseeing the design of many buildings at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Edbrooke then took a position as supervising architect for the US Treasury Department, where you can see his influence in the Romanesque architectural style of many Federal buildings across the country from that time period.
Franklin Pierce Burnham, 1853 to 1909, was born in Rockford Illinois, and learned construction from his father, a carpenter. He studied at the Old Moseley School in Chicago and then apprenticed with architect J H Barrows. The firm of Edbrooke and Burnham accomplished many notable commissions including the Georgia State Capitol, where it is Burnham that is believed to have been the chief designer.
The original architectural drawings were lost in a basement fire around 1900, but the construction appears to be a steel frame encased in brick masonry, a common construction approach for this time period. The exterior facade is clad with a sculpted limestone exterior and marble interior from Georgia quarries.
The architectural sculpture, like the details seen in the west entrance portico, were done by George Crouch. It features corinthian columns and pilasters, and the state seal sculpted into the pediment with allegorical figures on each side representing commerce, industry, justice, and prosperity.
George Crouch was obviously a talented architectural sculptor, but no additional information could be found on his work with Edbrooke and Burnham.
Today the Capitol also includes the Georgia Capitol Museum and utilizes the public areas in the Capitol including the Galleries through the center of the building and the Rotunda. There are active government offices in the Capitol, including the Governor’s offices and the House and Senate Chambers.
The Visitor Entrance is on the southeast side where construction was in progress during my visits. Work in progress included the installation of a fence around the perimeter and new landscaping and walkways.
Capitol Dome
The dome features the sculpture Miss Freedom, sometimes called Liberty, or Goddess of Liberty, and is believed to have been produced by the W H Mullins Manufacturing Company from Salem Ohio, and designed by a sculptor employed by the company. Miss Freedom is constructed of stamped copper plates, and was originally displayed with its natural green patina, but later painted white.
The dome is supported by a limestone colonnade and consists of a steel framework with an inner dome forming the ceiling of the Rotunda, and an outer dome with a metal roof coated in a gold gilding. Above the dome is a smaller domed cupola that supports Miss Freedom. The space between the domes conceals a stairway and ladders providing maintenance access to the domed roof, cupola, and Miss Freedom including her torch which has a working light. On display inside the museum is a model of Miss Freedom sculpted by Cherrylion Studios in Atlanta Georgia.
W H Mullins Company was founded by Kitterage, Clark, and Company in 1872, and then purchased by William H Mullins in 1882. Mullins expanded their product line to include sculptural items that could be purchased from a catalog. Mullins produced the 1892 sculpture of Diana in copper sheeting, designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, and was the likely producer of Miss Freedom in 1889.
Cherrylion Studios, incorporated in 1994, is owned by the sculptor Martin Dawe, where he and a small team of apprentices design and create figurative sculptures and bas reliefs for private, corporate, and public clients.
Capitol Grounds
The Capitol Grounds have numerous sculptures depicting prominent people in Georgia history.
Joseph Emerson Brown,1821 to 1894, and his spouse Elizabeth Grisham, was sculpted by Giuseppe Moretti. Brown served as Governor during the Civil War, and later as state Chief Justice, and as a US Senator.
The base of the monument has sculptural reliefs depicting the Battle of Dug Gap in May 1864, the State Seal, and the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, also in 1864.
Giuseppe Moretti, 1857 to 1935, was born in Siena Italy, and studied with Tito Sarrocchi in Siena, the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, and in studios in Zagreb Croatia, Vienna Austria, and Budapest Hungary before immigrating to the United States in 1888. In the US he moved frequently working out of studios in New York, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and Birmingham Alabama where he created the Vulcan, the worlds largest cast iron sculpture.
John Brown Gordon, 1832 to 1904, was a Confederate General during the Civil War, and later a US Senator and Governor. The sculpture was completed by Solon Hannibal Borglum, in 1907.
Solon Hannibal de la Mothe Borglum, 1868 to 1922, was born in Ogden Utah, and grew up on a ranch in Nebraska. He studied with his older brother Gutzon an artist, the Cincinnati Art Academy, and the Académie Julian in Paris France. In later years he worked from studios in the summer at Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota developing western and Native American themes. In later years he taught at the American Expeditionary Forces Art Training Center near Paris during World War I, and opened the American School of Sculpture in New York City.
“Expelled Because of Color” was created in memory of the 33 black legislators that were elected and then expelled by the white majority in 1868. The sculpture is by John Riddle.
John Thomas Riddle Jr., 1933 to 2002, was born in Los Angeles California, and studied at the Los Angeles City College, and the California State College. After college he taught high school art and then moved to Atlanta to teach at Spelman College where he became noted for his work depicting African American themes.
Eugene Talmadge, 1884 to 1946, was a farmer, lawyer, and Governor. His statue was sculpted by Steffen Thomas.
Steffen Wolfgang George Thomas, 1906 to 1990, was born in Fürth Germany, and studied at the School of Applied Arts in Nuremberg, and the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. He immigrated to the United States in 1928 and worked in Florida, Illinois, and Alabama before settling in Atlanta Georgia.
Richard Brevard Russell Jr., 1897 to 1971, was a Georgia Representative, Governor, and US Senator. His statue was sculpted by William Thompson.
William Joseph Thompson, 1926 to 1995, was born in Denver Colorado, and studied at the Rhode School of Design, and the Cranbrook Academy of Arts in Michigan. He joined the staff at the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia where today the sculpture studio is named in his honor.
James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Jr., 1924 to 2025, was President, Governor, and State Senator. His statue was sculpted by Frederick Hart, and dedicated in 1992.
Frederick Elliott Hart, 1943 to 1999, was born in Atlanta Georgia and grew up in Horry County South Carolina. He studied at the University of South Carolina, the Corcoran School of Art at George Washington University, and apprenticed at the Giorgio Gianetti Studio of Architectural Sculpture, and under Roger Morigi at the Washington National Cathedral.
Martin Luther King Jr., 1929 to 1968, was a pastor and civil rights leader. His statue was sculpted by Martin Dawe, in 2017.
Martin Dawe, was born in Johannesburg South Africa, and grew up in Maplewood New Jersey near Manhattan. He studied at the Boston University School of Fine Arts, and the Georgia State University, and then apprenticed under Julian Harris, a sculptor from Georgia Tech. He opened his own studio in 1987, and then incorporated as Cherrylion Studios in 1994.
Ellis Gibbs Arnall, 1907 to 1992, was the 69th Governor, and an attorney general, lawyer and businessman. His statue was sculpted by Zenos Frudakis, and Virginia Abbott Connor, in 1997.
Zenos Frudakis, was born in 1951 in San Francisco California, and grew up in northwest Indiana and Wheeling West Virginia. He studied at Indiana University Northwest, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the University of Pennsylvania. Frudakis married Rosalie Gluchoff in 1976 and opened the Frudakis Studio and gallery.
Virginia Abbott, studied at the York Academy of Arts, and apprenticed with Jacques Fabert and Zenos Frudakis, where she worked with Frudakis on the Arnall memorial. She is a sculptor, teacher, and eco artist focusing on the use of recyclable materials and creative approaches to new techniques in art.
Liberty Plaza and the Georgia War Memorial are located across the street from the Georgia State Capitol and include numerous memorials to those that served Georgia during war times.
The Georgia War Veterans Memorial features this sculpture in memory of those that fought, died, were injured, or missing from the wars in southeast Asia. The sculpture grouping is by Jo Fassnacht, and dedicated in 1988.
Jo Fassnacht studied at the Bellas Artes National de Mexico with Lothar Kestenbaum, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Kennesaw State University in Atlanta. He is a freelance sculptor, designer, teacher and advocate for the arts based at his home and studio in Ranger Georgia.
Former Capitols
The Province of Georgia was established in Savannah in 1733, and by 1752 Georgia transitioned into a British Royal Colony to become the last and southern most of the original Thirteen Colonies that formed the Union. The Georgia Colony was much larger than the State of Georgia at that time, and was eventually carved up to form the states of Mississippi and Alabama. In 1788, Georgia became the fourth state to join the Union, with Savannah, Augusta, Louisville, and Milledgeville serving as capital cities until the last move to Atlanta in 1877. No former capitol buildings still stand in any of the other cities, but research indicates that the first capitol building may have been built in Louisville in a Georgian architectural style, and then in Milledgeville in a Gothic architectural style. In Savannah and Augusta it is likely that the legislature met in courthouses or makeshift facilities that could accommodate their numbers.
It was in the early 1800s when the capital moved to Milledgeville. A State House was built and remodeled several times, which significantly changed its appearance. By 1830 it took on a Gothic architectural style that many identified and criticized as having more of a cathedral like appearance. The architect and builders are unidentified.
In 1868, the government moved to Atlanta, in the aftermath of the Civil War, where a Georgia Constitutional Convention was held to ratify the state’s new constitution. Initially the legislature met in the Fulton County Courthouse and the Kimball Opera House.
A capitol commission was set up to oversee the capitol construction. They published a competition for the design and construction, and selected Edbrooke and Burnham Architects from Chicago. They were one of 10 entrants, whose entry attracted the commissions attention because of its Classical Renaissance design similarities to the national capitol in Washington DC.
Travel Notes
Atlanta Georgia is about four hours southeast of Huntsville Alabama where my usual travel route takes me south on highway 431 to Oxford and then east on Interstate 20 to Atlanta. Unfortunately there is not a direct highway or interstate route between Huntsville and Atlanta. You can take a more direct route, which is a scenic drive that uses many 2 lane highways across the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, or take a northern route up through Chattanooga and back south to Atlanta. They are all about the same time wise, and I’ve driven all three many times, but this route on 431 and 20 seems like the safest. I drive a Tesla Model 3 so I usually charge near the 431 and 20 interchange in Oxford Alabama. This has proven to be a convenient stop as it has a Target with a Starbucks, and it avoids having to track down superchargers in Atlanta where there is so much traffic.
In 2021 the pandemic is still ongoing with vaccines just starting to be released. So, here I am with my mask around my neck, and looking pretty shaggy because I haven’t been to a barber shop in over a year. Our cat, Silvey, seems to enjoy the attention she gets having us around almost all the time.
Notes and References
Story and photographs by David Smitherman, with data collected from onsite inscriptions and brochures, Wikipedia, and Google Maps. Site visits were made in March and August 2021.
Willoughby James Edbrooke: https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-willoughby-j-edbrooke/68473570/
William Joseph Thompson: https://www.williamjthompson.com/biography
Virginia Abbott: http://www.virginiaabbott.com/
W H Mullins Company: https://foundinohio.com/2022/02/15/the-w-h-mullins-company-and-its-war-memorial-statuary/
“Democracy Restored: A History of the Georgia State Capitol,” by Timothy Crimmins, Anne H. Farrisee, University of Georgia Press, 2007.
“Temples of Democracy: The State Capitols of the U.S.A.,” by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and William Seale, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, London, 1976.