The Cox Corridors

The Great Experiment Hall (53k)

The Hall of Capitols (53k)

The Westward Expansion Corridor (39k)

Cox Corridors Layout Diagram (13k)

Murals in the Great Experiment Hall (10k)

Murals in the Hall of Capitols (5k)

Murals in the Westward Expansion Corridor (5k)

Three corridors on the first floor of the U.S. Capitol's House wing are elaborately decorated with wall and ceiling murals that include historical scenes, portraits, and maps related to the development and growth of the United States. The murals are set within an architectural framework of pilasters and trompe l'oeil classical carvings, and quotations from historical figures are painted above many of the doorways. Designed by renowned artist Allyn Cox (1896-1982), the murals and decorations complement those in the Brumidi corridors in the Senate wing of the Capitol. The project was authorized by Congress in 1971. Cox was asked to submit a proposal because of his previous work in the Capitol, which included the completion of the Rotunda frieze in 1953 and the portrait of Henry Clay in the Senate Reception Room in 1959; later, he also painted the mural depicting the moon landing in the north Brumidi Corridor in 1975. He had begun planning murals for the first House corridor in 1969 and later developed a master plan for the other two corridors.

Similar materials and methods were used in the decoration of all three corridors. After thorough surface preparation, canvas was applied to the walls and ceilings. The artists then transferred the designs from full-size cartoons to the canvas by means of pouncing (applying powdered charcoal through perforations in the cartoons). The murals were then executed in oil paint.

Initial approval for the Cox plan was given by the Joint Committee on the Library, the Committee on House Administration, and the Architect of the Capitol. Funds for the project were contributed by the United States Capitol Historical Society, with additional support for the second corridor provided by the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The Great Experiment Hall (Central East-West Corridor)

The central east-west corridor is referred to as the Great Experiment Hall because it chronicles in sixteen murals the legislative milestones of three centuries, from the signing of the Mayflower Compact in 1629 to the enactment of woman suffrage in 1920. Thirty-two vignettes complementing the historical scenes are painted at the sides of the murals. In the ceiling sixteen medallion portraits are painted in chronological order, and quotations appear above the sixteen doorways. The corridor was dedicated in 1982, not long before the artist's death. Cliff Young, Cox's assistant, then began to refine details of Cox's sketches for the third corridor, but he died in 1986 before beginning to paint.

Murals in the Great Experiment Hall

The Mayflower Compact, 1620	The Albany Congress, 1754	The First Continental Congress, 1774	The Declaration of Independence, 1776
The Constitutional Convention, 1787	The First Federal Congress, 1789	Washington's Inauguration, 1789	Washington's Farewell Address, 1796

The Monroe Doctrine, 1823	Lincoln's Second Inaugural, 1865	The Smithsonian Institution, 1855	The Library of Congress in the Capitol, 1800-1897
Iron Foundry, circa 1850	Steam Powered Amphibious Boat, 1804	Theodore Roosevelt, circa 1904	Women's Suffrage Parade, 1917

The Hall of Capitols (Eastern North-South Corridor)

Cox first executed the murals in the eastern north-south corridor, starting work in 1973 and finishing in 1974. This corridor has been termed the Hall of Capitols because it features paintings of sixteen different buildings that housed the Continental and United States Congresses from 1754 to 1865. Portraits of the nine men who served as Architect of the Capitol between 1793 and 1974 decorate the groined vaults of the ceilings. Painted in the barrel vaults of the ceilings are eight historic events that occurred during the first sixty-five years of the Capitol's existence. Sculptures that had previously been removed from the Capitol, or that are difficult to view because of their locations, are painted in trompe l'oeil in wall lunettes, using shades of gray to simulate sculpture.

Murals in the Hall of Capitols

Capitols

Albany, 1754	New York, 1765	Philadelphia, 1774	Philadelphia, 1775
Baltimore, 1776	York, 1777	Annapolis, 1783	Princeton, 1783
Trenton, 1784	New York, 1785	Philadelphia, 1790	Washington, 1800
Washington, 1814	Washington, 1815	Washington, 1829	Washington, 1867

Historical Scenes

Capitol Site Selection, 1791	Capitol Cornerstone Ceremony, 1793	British Burn the Capitol, 1814	First Capitol Inauguration, 1829
Old House Chamber, 1838	Rotunda During Civil War, 1862	New Dome Symbolizes Union, 1863	Civil Rights Bill Passes, 1866

Portraits

Benjamin Henry Latrobe	Charles Bulfinch	Thomas U. Walter	Edward Clark
Elliott Woods	David Lynn	J. George Stewart	George M. White
Thomas Crawford	Frederick Law Olmsted	John Trumbull	Pierre Charles L'Enfant

The Westward Expansion Corridor (Western North-South Corridor)

In 1993-1994 the third series of murals, based on Cox's approved designs, was executed in the western north-south corridor by EverGreene Painting Studios, Inc. Called the Westward Expansion corridor, it includes maps and scenes showing the growth of the United States from early exploration through the acquisition of Alaska and Hawaii. As in the corridors that Cox executed, the scenes on the vaults are set above illusionistic architectural motifs and relief sculpture. Each map in the vaults is shown in the cartographic style appropriate to its historical period. Jeffrey Greene, the head of EverGreene Painting Studios, verified the geographical and historical accuracy of Cox's preliminary sketches, developed new scenes compatible with Cox's concept, and then submitted detailed sketches and small-scale oil paintings of each vault to the Architect of the Capitol for the necessary approval. The corridor was formally dedicated on September 17, 1993, which was not only Constitution Day but also the day before the bicentennial of the laying of the Capitol's first cornerstone.

Murals in the Westward Expansion Corridor

Maps

"Terra Incognita"	The First Four Settlements in America	The First Thirteen Colonies	From the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River
Central North America	From Texas to the Pacific Ocean	Alaskan Purchase, 1867	Sandwich Islands

Scenes

Stalking Deer	Timucuan Village	Explorers' Portage	Fort St. Augustine
Boston Tea Party	Yorktown, 1781	Northern Wilderness	Boone at Cumberland Gap
Lewis and Clark	Louisiana Purchase, 1803	Gold Prospectors	Spanish Mission

Vignettes

Drying Cod	Hunting Game	Clearing Land	Weaving
Canal and Locks	Sod House	Land Grant College	Sharecroppers
Pony Express	Golden Spike	Covered Wagons	Indian Ceremony
Fur Trade	Island Dance

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