Happy Fourth of July, America. To celebrate, I salute FREEDOM.
The Statue of Freedom has been sitting pretty (actually though, look at that CROWN!) on the US Capitol since 1863. Wouldn’t you know, of all people, Jefferson Davis (Secretary of War under Pierce and eventual President of the Confederacy) was in charge of the Capitol’s construction and decorations.
At the time of the installation, the head honcho of the casting agency, Clark Mills, went on strike. Before walking off, however, he passed the responsibilities off to Philip Reid, one of the slaves on site. Reid went on to preside over the rest of the casting.
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