Constitution Hall - Washington, D.C.
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 38° 53.634 W 077° 02.505
18S E 322929 N 4306984
Historic concert and meeting hall constructed for the Daughters of the American Revolution in Washington, D.C.
Waymark Code: WMJJE0
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 11/24/2013
Views: 6
Constitution Hall. This handsome building, designed by John Russell Pope and costing nearly $1,700,000, is constructed of Alabama limestone. The auditorium, seating 4,000, serves miscellaneous as well as patriotic purposes, and has become a music center where concerts by the Washington Symphony Orchestra and visiting artists are given.
The building is designed with individuality and restraint, and is ably adapted to the functional requirements of an odeon. Its triple frontage affords unusual facilities for circulation. A single well-proportioned Ionic entrance portico, surmounted by a pediment bearing a sculptured American eagle, accents the west or main facade. A carriage entrance with drive ramp extends along the north side, while in a corresponding position on the south is an entrance with a promenade terrace.
Broad marble corridors lead to a large auditorium planned as an amphitheater, with upper tiers of seats sloping back from rows of boxes on three sides. Buff and blue, the emblematic colors of the D.A.R., adopted from Washington's staff uniforms, areused ot carry out the decorative scheme, walls being of old ivory and boxes hung with blue velvet anddecorated with State seals. The wide stage platform is decorated with four painted hangings by James Monroe Hewlett; these depict the Boston Tea Party, a group assembled for the inauguration of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson reading a draft of the Declaration of Independence, and Colonel Moultrie, receiving congratulations upon his triumph at the Battle of Sullivan's Island. A painted lunette over the cornice portrays various Revolutionary battle flags.
At the northeast corner of the main floor is the president general's reception room, impressive for its size and beauty of its decoration and furnishings. Two large and attractive lunge rooms and several rooms for the clerical staff and other employees, are also contained in this building. - Washington, City and Capital, 1937, pg. 342.
Constitution Hall continues to be the largest auditorium in Washington, D.C. Along with being used for the D.A.R. annual meetings it is used for concerts, commencements, conferences, corporate meetings, televised events and other performances. Since the construction of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1971 many events have moved to that venue but Constitution Hall continues with an active schedule. It continues to be owned and operated by the Daughters of the American Revolution.