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Roosevelt Hall (National War College)
Encyclopedia
Roosevelt Hall is an immense Beaux Arts-style building housing the National War College
on Fort Lesley J. McNair
, Washington, DC, USA. The original home of the Army War College (1907-46), it is now designated a National Historical Landmark (1972) and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
(1972).
and Secretary of War Elihu Root
to house a General Staff School for senior U.S. Army officers. The historic Washington Arsenal (which became Fort McNair in 1948) was selected as the site. Between 1901 and 1903, the early 19th-century arsenal buildings were razed to make way for the projected complex. As many as fifty additional buildings were envisioned, including barracks, mess halls, and faculty quarters, but only Roosevelt Hall was completed and the ambitious plan was never realized in its entirety. The cornerstone for Roosevelt Hall was laid on February 21, 1903, and on June 30, 1907, the building was occupied for the first time.
Roosevelt Hall housed the Army War College (AWC) from 1907 to 1946 when that institution moved to Fort Leavenworth
, Kansas (and a year later to Carlisle Barracks
, Pennsylvania). Since 1946, it has housed the National War College
(NWC), a training and doctrine institution embracing all branches of the armed forces, as well as the Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency
. The role of the NWC closely parallels that of the AWC, but on a broader, multi-service basis.
Roosevelt Hall was designed by the noted New York architectural firm McKim, Mead and White in the Neoclassical
or Beaux Arts style.
with granite
trim. It faces north onto a quarter-mile long greensward while the building's rear elevation overlooks the Potomac
. The ground plan of Roosevelt Hall is oriented on a cross-axis formed by the intersection of a dome
d central pavilion
and wing
s extending laterally to the east and west, each consisting of 12 bays. The main pavilion is pediment
ed and, on the north (main) facade, is distinguished by a tall arched loggia
featuring a distyle in antis Ionic
screen. (This is a motif also employed in the east and west gable
ends of the building.) Surmounting the entablature
of this columnar screen, in each instance, is a symbolic sculpted eagle
.
Acroteria adorn the long, slate-covered ridge roof. The third floor is a clerestory
, with four great arched clerestory openings in the form of thermal windows rising above the entablature
of the pilaster
ed, two-story wing elevations on both front and back. At the central pavilion, a two-story windowless, pilastered, vault
less apse
projects from the south (back) elevation.
It was originally intended that the stepped terraces on the north side of Roosevelt Hall would include impressive statuary of great warriors. Podia for statues were constructed, but they were never installed, except for one of Frederick the Great, a gift of the German government soon after the completion of the edifice. Anti-German sentiment at the time of World War I
forced its removal.
, encircled on the upper levels by balustraded galleries
. An inner saucer dome of vaulted brick covers the rotunda and terminates in an oculus
through which a large metal chandelier
is suspended from the outer dome. Contrasting with the severe white walls of the space are exposed brick structural members: pilasters and segmentally-arched brick vaulting supporting the galleries. Between two of the brick pilasters is a large marble plaque commemorating the efforts of Secretary of War Root in the establishment of the AWC. Flanking the plaque are portraits of Roosevelt and Secretary of War Henry Stimson. Additional portraits and busts of prominent American military figures also adorn the rotunda.
The east wing was extensively modernized in the mid-20 century and contains classrooms ranged along a central corridor at all three main levels. The entire west wing of the structure is devoted to the extensive library of the NWC. Stack space consists of five metal balconies, connected by bridges at the upper levels and bisected by a central corridor. At the far end of this long, vaulted room is a reading area. The ground story houses more office and classroom space. The south side of the rotunda, in the central apse (bowed extension), is a lecture chamber.
National War College
The National War College of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. It was officially established on July 1, 1946, as an upgraded replacement for the...
on Fort Lesley J. McNair
Fort Lesley J. McNair
Fort Lesley J. McNair is a United States Army post located on the tip of a peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C. To its west is the Washington Channel, while the Anacostia River is on its south side...
, Washington, DC, USA. The original home of the Army War College (1907-46), it is now designated a National Historical Landmark (1972) and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
(1972).
History
Roosevelt Hall was originally built as the central focus of enormous complex envisioned by President Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
and Secretary of War Elihu Root
Elihu Root
Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...
to house a General Staff School for senior U.S. Army officers. The historic Washington Arsenal (which became Fort McNair in 1948) was selected as the site. Between 1901 and 1903, the early 19th-century arsenal buildings were razed to make way for the projected complex. As many as fifty additional buildings were envisioned, including barracks, mess halls, and faculty quarters, but only Roosevelt Hall was completed and the ambitious plan was never realized in its entirety. The cornerstone for Roosevelt Hall was laid on February 21, 1903, and on June 30, 1907, the building was occupied for the first time.
Roosevelt Hall housed the Army War College (AWC) from 1907 to 1946 when that institution moved to Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
, Kansas (and a year later to Carlisle Barracks
Carlisle Barracks
Carlisle Barracks is a United States Army facility located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is part of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command and is the site of the U.S. Army War College...
, Pennsylvania). Since 1946, it has housed the National War College
National War College
The National War College of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. It was officially established on July 1, 1946, as an upgraded replacement for the...
(NWC), a training and doctrine institution embracing all branches of the armed forces, as well as the Department of State and the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
. The role of the NWC closely parallels that of the AWC, but on a broader, multi-service basis.
Expansions and renovations
Additional subterranean office space was excavated in the 1960s beneath the front (north) terrace of Roosevelt Hall so as not to affect the structure's exterior. The two main interior spaces have for the most part remained undisturbed over a century.Description
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
or Beaux Arts style.
Exterior
The Neo-Classical style building is constructed of red brickBrick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
with granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
trim. It faces north onto a quarter-mile long greensward while the building's rear elevation overlooks the Potomac
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
. The ground plan of Roosevelt Hall is oriented on a cross-axis formed by the intersection of a dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
d central pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
and wing
Wing (disambiguation)
A wing is an appendage used for flight by an animal or an apparatus used to create lift in aeronautics.Wing or wings may also refer to:- Biology :* Insect wing* Bat wing* Bird wing* Wing, any of several botanical meanings...
s extending laterally to the east and west, each consisting of 12 bays. The main pavilion is pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
ed and, on the north (main) facade, is distinguished by a tall arched loggia
Loggia
Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
featuring a distyle in antis Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
screen. (This is a motif also employed in the east and west gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
ends of the building.) Surmounting the entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
of this columnar screen, in each instance, is a symbolic sculpted eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
.
Acroteria adorn the long, slate-covered ridge roof. The third floor is a clerestory
Clerestory
Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...
, with four great arched clerestory openings in the form of thermal windows rising above the entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
of the pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
ed, two-story wing elevations on both front and back. At the central pavilion, a two-story windowless, pilastered, vault
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
less apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
projects from the south (back) elevation.
It was originally intended that the stepped terraces on the north side of Roosevelt Hall would include impressive statuary of great warriors. Podia for statues were constructed, but they were never installed, except for one of Frederick the Great, a gift of the German government soon after the completion of the edifice. Anti-German sentiment at the time of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
forced its removal.
Interior
The central feature of the interior is a three-story, marble-floored rotundaRotunda (architecture)
A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, sometimes covered by a dome. It can also refer to a round room within a building . The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda. A Band Rotunda is a circular bandstand, usually with a dome...
, encircled on the upper levels by balustraded galleries
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
. An inner saucer dome of vaulted brick covers the rotunda and terminates in an oculus
Oculus
An Oculus, circular window, or rain-hole is a feature of Classical architecture since the 16th century. They are often denoted by their French name, oeil de boeuf, or "bull's-eye". Such circular or oval windows express the presence of a mezzanine on a building's façade without competing for...
through which a large metal chandelier
Chandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
is suspended from the outer dome. Contrasting with the severe white walls of the space are exposed brick structural members: pilasters and segmentally-arched brick vaulting supporting the galleries. Between two of the brick pilasters is a large marble plaque commemorating the efforts of Secretary of War Root in the establishment of the AWC. Flanking the plaque are portraits of Roosevelt and Secretary of War Henry Stimson. Additional portraits and busts of prominent American military figures also adorn the rotunda.
The east wing was extensively modernized in the mid-20 century and contains classrooms ranged along a central corridor at all three main levels. The entire west wing of the structure is devoted to the extensive library of the NWC. Stack space consists of five metal balconies, connected by bridges at the upper levels and bisected by a central corridor. At the far end of this long, vaulted room is a reading area. The ground story houses more office and classroom space. The south side of the rotunda, in the central apse (bowed extension), is a lecture chamber.
See also
- List of National Historic Landmarks in the District of Columbia
- National Register of Historic Places listings in the District of Columbia