To the casual observer, it is the seat of government for the State of Nebraska.

But step inside the Nebraska State Capitol building’s hallowed halls and an architectural marvel will unfold.

These are the sentiments of Jamison Wyatt, who worked off and on at the Capitol from 2008 to 2023, as a tourism aide for the Office of the Nebraska Capitol Commission and as a Legislative staffer.

“I have always been drawn to the Capitol and going there is one of my earliest memories,” he said. “I was a rather deferential child, but each time I travelled to Lincoln with my family, I always demanded to visit the Capitol. Working there fulfilled a certain childhood fantasy – a fantasy that I was able to interpret to the public during my tenure as a tour guide.”

Not a far cry from the architect’s latent vision for the future state Capitol building, seeded on a journey to foreign lands, albeit its concept years in the making.

“In 1901, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue travelled over 800 miles on horseback across the Iranian plateau to explore both Persian gardens and Persian ruins with his client James Waldron Gillespie,” he said.

Gillespie had hired Goodhue to design a villa with Persian gardens at “El Fureidis,” the name of his estate in Montecito, Calif.

“The experience profoundly influenced Goodhue’s imagination; however, he primarily worked within the Gothic and Tudor modes for his church and residential projects. When he designed the Capitol in 1920, the force of his ‘Persian dream’ landed onto his drafting board, and he created something that is hauntingly of that realm.

‘From the bison bas-reliefs flanking the main stair (which recall ancient lamassus) to the battered walls (which recall the raised platforms of Persian temples) to the original design of domes capping the turrets of the tower (which recall Islamic minarets), Goodhue extensively referenced his trip of 20 years before,” he said.

Granted, Wyatt’s interpretation of the Capitol is perhaps a bit more mystical than the general observer, he noted.

“But I understand the Capitol to be an escape from the modes of everyday life where one can enter a dream space in which time seems to operate differently. It’s a certain refuge from the industrial and urban environment that surrounds it, which, of course, is ironic given that the business that takes place inside serves to protect and foster such outer environments,” he said.

The most obvious difference is the building’s form, which breaks with the “trite” tradition of replicating the U.S. Capitol with “its veneered order and invariable Roman dome,” he said.

“The quotation comes from the “Screed of Mr. Goodhue” – the description Goodhue provided with his 10 architectural drawings for the Nebraska State Capitol competition in 1920. Further, the integrated artistic program is unmatched by any other U.S. statehouse,” he said.

“The plan of the Capitol is a Greek cross set within a square. Such a plan is what gives the building a church-like feeling. Ecclesiastical architecture was, of course, a specialty of Goodhue, and he infused many of those elements into the building’s interior.

In addition, it was the first Capitol to incorporate a functional tower, which Goodhue conceived originally to be the stacks of the State Library.

“During the construction of the Capitol, however, the size of the state bureaucracy dramatically increased, and the Capitol Commission decided to abandon the library scheme for the tower in favor of using it for additional office space,” he said.

However, initially, reviews were mixed.

 “On June 30, 1920, The Lincoln Daily Star published an editorial about the proposed design of a new Capitol and pronounced, ‘Though the design tentatively chosen by the jury does not meet with the apparent satisfaction of all, it should be remembered that there is yet time to modify the style of the proposed building and to perhaps evolve a style of architecture less unusual and freakish’ (emphasis added). This is all to suggest that many people initially balked because the proposed design strayed too far from tradition. In the 100-plus years since, I would say most Nebraskans and visitors alike either love the Capitol or are mystified by it or both,” he said.

To help cast his vision, Goodhue commissioned Hildreth Meiere, a novel artist, to design the interior artwork, invoking elements of law, order and symbols, indicative of the state.

“Meière met Goodhue in March 1921. The muralist Augustus Vincent Tack, who painted the fresco-like murals in the Governor’s Suite of the Capitol, introduced the two. Goodhue looked at her drawings and decided to take a chance on the 29-year-old woman with virtually no experience in architectural decoration. This meeting launched her career in the field,” he said.

Her Capitol designs include the pictorial marble floor mosaics in the Great Hall and Rotunda; the ceramic decoration of the vaulting in the Vestibule, Great Hall, Rotunda and Warner Legislative Chamber (old senate chamber); the woven tapestry in the Warner Legislative Chamber (old senate chamber); the tooled-leather doors of the George W. Norris Legislative Chamber (the “unicameral”); and the gilt ceiling decoration in the George W. Norris Legislative Chamber (the “unicameral”).

“The scope of Hildreth Meière’s contribution to the Capitol is impressive, and her design of the Rotunda floor is my favorite,” he said. “There, a parade of Nebraska fossils loop around personifications of Water, Fire, Air, and Earth – a composition that made and continues to make some people uncomfortable with its suggestion of Darwinian evolution. Yet the visual parade loops in on itself and disrupts the linear flow of time. Meière is doing something rather clever here.”

“Many people consider her work to be Art Deco; however, that stylistic term emerged only in 1966 (derived from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, which was held in Paris in 1925). Meière considered herself an architectural muralist, and she conformed to the architectural style of each of her projects. That being said, I consider her to be more of a Modern Symbolist,” he added.

“From 1924 (when the state first opened offices in the Capitol) to 1976, the Capitol housed nearly all state departments and commissions along with all constitutional officers. After 1976, many code agencies and commissions moved to the newly constructed State Office Building. Today, the Capitol primarily houses the constitutional officers of the three branches and a handful of small commissions,” he said.

But there is no mystery to its allure

“Many people think there are countless hidden secrets about and within the Capitol, and although some places are publicly off limits, the most notable parts of the building are all accessible: the monumental hallways of the second and 14th floors, the State Library, the Governor’s Reception Room. One could spend hours walking through these spaces and contemplate the ‘open’ secrets of the architectural masses, the interplay of light and shadow, and the decorative intricacies,” he said.

 As far as personal favorites …

“It’s difficult to parse such a building, but it is a wonderful thing to sit in the Rotunda on a quiet day as the sun streams in through the clerestory windows to dance light upon Meière’s mosaic floor.

“I am also quite fond of the four red columns in the Vestibule. Specifically, the column capitals are a vaguely Classical order but with motifs in corn and in wheat, and at the corners of the capitals one finds bull heads as substitutes for the Classical volutes (spiral scrolls). The bulls are in fact replicas of the famous bull capitals from Persepolis, which further recalls Goodhue’s 1901 trip to Persia.”

To put it all in perspective, he calls the structure a true study in contrasts.

“Nebraskans are modest and frugal. The Capitol is bold and extravagant,” he noted. “As I’ve already mentioned, I find the Capitol to be an escape from the reality of the place that surrounds it. To be clear, there is functionality to the building. It is primarily an office building. Yet, the Capitol simultaneously evokes a spirit that seems to transcend the essence of everyday Nebraska,” he said.

But Wyatt urges the public to pay a visit, and see for themselves.

“The Capitol is a grand Modernist fantasy that possesses an architectural and decorative quality that is unmatched by the building’s contemporaries. The tour program, run by the Office of the Nebraska Capitol Commission, is an excellent public service, so take a tour. The tours last from 30 to 60 minutes and provide access to a few locked rooms, such as the Nebraska Supreme Court. Also, be sure to pet ‘Cameron,’ the Capitol Cat, who usually hangs out near the south entrance of the building.”

Even better said …

“It is a world-class structure, and it is free to step inside.”

For further information, please call (402) 471-0448 or visit their web site: https://capitol.nebraska.gov/