Class of 1968 Rotunda

Thomas Jefferson Hall Dedication Program

Invocation ..................................................... Father (CH) Edson Wood

Welcome ........................................................... Colonel Scott Krawczyk

Superintendent’s Welcome ................... Lieutenant General

Franklin L. Hagenbeck

Guest Speaker ................................................ General Richard Cody

Dean’s Remarks &

Ceremonial Book Presentation ......... Brigadier General

Patrick Finnegan

Guest Speaker ................................................ The Honorable

John Charles Thomas

Ribbon-Cutting

Closing Remarks ......................................... Colonel Krawczyk

“Every

window is

intended

to provide

snapshot

pictures of

things you

know.”— Malcolm

Holzman

At the southern boundary of The Plain (on the site now occupied by the new library), the old Library and Observatory, built in 1841, stood for nearly 120 years.

At the southern boundary of The Plain (on

One interesti ng aside about the library is that its functi on during the mid-nineteenth

century was far more limited than one might expect. Post orders decreed that fi cti on and non-course books could only be checked out on Saturday and returned on Monday. Books used for class work could be taken out for ten days.

“Thomas Jeff erson Hall ... will say unequivocally that intellect matt ers in the Army profession. Speaking also to the importance of traditi onal marti al virtues, the building will bring old and new concepts of offi cership into harmony.

Jeff erson Hall will stand for centuries as a symbol of both offi cer educati on and the professional arti stry of the architect, whose creati ve ideas and steady hand brought these important ideas to reality.”

— BG (R) George B. ForsytheUSMA ’70

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It is not by accident that the main entrance to Jeff erson

Hall lies directly opposite the Gun Door. The strategic

placement of the main door of Jeff erson Hall, directly

opposite the Gun Door, not only makes for a graceful

transiti on between buildings, but also provides a symbolic link between the academy’s

past and its future.

A familiar sight to thousands of cadets walking to Thayer Hall every day is the Gun Door of the old West Point Library. Mounted on the left side of the door is the so-called “Alpha Cannon,” named because it is alleged to have fi red the fi rst round in the Civil War. On the right side of the door is the “Omega Cannon,” alleged to have fi red the last shot of the war.

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“Remarkable architecture lies on the boundary, along the outer edge, of what language and drawings can communicate. The creati on of memorable buildings does not lie in a common central ground, but along the periphery, depicti ng disti ncti ve opportuniti es diffi cult to imagine unti l they are illustrated and built.”

“Jeff erson Hall is Hardy Holzman Pfeiff er Associates’ fi rst Army Corps of Engineers project at West Point. Today, our team’s desire to preserve the academy’s personality while creati ng a new structure is as strong as that of the celebrated architectural fi rm of Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson when they completed their fi rst federal government project at West Point almost a century ago.”

“Cadets are made to feel as if the building fi ts in and belongs and that they entered into a repository where the surroundings complement the uniform and are compati ble with the environment.”

“Recalling the past yet looking to the future, the design of Jeff erson Hall realizes both what I saw in my mind’s eye as well as the thoughtf ul, energeti c contributi ons of others. Eventually, as cadets begin to use the library’s new resources, our design vision will become as visible as Whistler’s fog.”

The Architect’s Vision ...— Malcolm Holzman, Architect

“There was no fog in London before Whistler painted it.”

— Oscar Wilde

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Thomas Jefferson was a polymath, a man whose mind embraced a broad variety of subjects. By the ti me Jeff erson turned thirty, according to one biographer, he could “calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, ti e an artery, plan an edifi ce, try a case, break a horse, dance a minuet, and play a violin.” He also knew seven languages. At thirty-three, he draft ed the Declarati on of Independence.

In the half century that followed, Jeff erson served state and country in several diff erent capaciti es: governor of Virginia, United States ambassador to France, secretary of state, vice president, and president. As president, he doubled America’s size through the Louisiana Purchase and dispatched Lewis and Clark on their expediti on of discovery. To this long list of accomplishments he added, in 1802, the founding of the United States Military Academy, an insti tuti on that he considered to be “of major importance to our country.”

Two months aft er Jeff erson’s inaugurati on, Henry Dearborn, secretary of war, reported that the president had “decided in favor of the immediate establishment of a military school at West Point.” Jeff erson lobbied Congress to approve—and on March 16, 1802, he signed into law—the Military Peace Establishment Act, which formally authorized the United States Military Academy. It commenced operati ons on the Fourth of July. Jeff erson named Jonathan Williams as the academy’s fi rst superintendent, selected its original faculty, and appointed its fi rst cadets, including future superintendent Sylvanus Thayer, Class of 1808.

Throughout his presidency, Jeff erson remained a champion of West Point. Maintaining an acti ve correspondence with Williams, he also agreed to serve as “perpetual patron” of the U.S. Military Philosophical Society, an organizati on designed to make the academy the hub of a nati onal network of scienti sts and engineers. Moreover, in 1808, he supported the enlargement of The Corps to 256 cadets. Even earlier, Jeff erson had consulted with Williams on a plan to acquire specifi c books for West Point’s library. Make the purchases, Dearborn directed, “and the bill will be paid.”

Jeff erson was no stranger to libraries; indeed, he once confessed, “I cannot live without books.” Books freed the mind, challenged orthodoxy, and prepared the citi zens of a republic to govern themselves. Jeff erson understood “the important truths, that knowledge is power, that knowledge is safety, and that knowledge is happiness.” At Monti cello, he amassed the largest private library in the Western Hemisphere. Aft er the Briti sh burned the original Library of Congress during the War of 1812, the federal government acquired 6,707 volumes from Jeff erson.

That legacy of learning and generosity is sustained today in Thomas Jeff erson Hall, a library that provides access to over 440,000 books and more than 50,000 periodicals, and a nexus of learning that includes the Centers for Teaching Excellence and Enhanced Performance. This building is a tribute not only to The Long Gray Line of soldier-scholars but also to the success of Jeff erson’s original vision. It will long play a vital role in West Point’s mission to educate, train, and inspire the future leaders of America’s Army.

“Books constitute capital....

[A]nd often in the case of

professional men setting out in life,

it is their only capital.”

— Thomas Jeff erson to James Madison, 1821

Sculpture of Thomas Jeff erson by James Muir