Kansas state capital

We took the 10:00 am tour of the Kansas state capital with 70-75 4th graders-this bunch was really loud and the acoustics in this capital are really bad, all we could hear was echoing and kids talking. We finally got to the front of the line and we could hear the  tour guide.(the children were not listening anyway) .This capital has been under restoration for the last 10 years and the dome was not open-but what they have done is absolutely stunning.

 Recently restored are the stairs-they are made with copper. Absolutely pieces of art in themselves

 The House of Representatives were on  break so we were allowed to take pictures.

Each chandelier weighs about 10,000 pounds, they are lowered down from the ceiling
 with a hoist  every 2 years to have the bulbs all changed and to be cleaned

 The supreme court now meets across the street and this room is now used for meetings and for us to hold court!!!

 This is the desk in the governors office that he uses for his photo opportunities and to let crazy tourists take their picture. The bison is the state animal

 A mural painted with John Brown and the bigger than life person.

This is one of the few elevators left in a public building that has this pulley and weight system. When it is being used it has a person that operates it.

 In between our visit to the capital and the Presbyterian church we visited the Brown v.Board of Education National Historic sight.  It is housed in one of the black schools that 2 of the children were not allowed to got to the white school when their parents tried to register them. On May 17, 1954 the unanimous decision to reaffirm the 14th Amendment.

These top pictures were done and installed by Louis Tiffany in 1911 in  the First  Presbyterian church. Favrile glass was invented by Louis Tiffany. It is glass made without paint, enamels or stains. Colors were produced by the development of formulas using additives such a cobalt, gold, copper etc. These formulas were destroyed, on order from Tiffany, after his death.