Gumption in Richmond
We got up and at ’em early yesterday morning to set up our booths at the Virginia state homeschool convention in Richmond. When we finished, we had just enough time to grab some lunch and do one touristy thing before the vendor hall opened at 5:00.
We took off on foot for the state capitol about seven blocks away.
The Virginia Capitol is home to the oldest continuously elected legislature in the Western Hemisphere. Its cornerstone was laid in 1785, after the American Revolution, but before the writing of the U.S. Constitution.
This bronze statue of Thomas Jefferson was dedicated in 2012. The statue honors Jefferson as the designer of the Virginia Capitol.
In Virginia State Capitol
Jefferson decided that a statue of George Washington would be the centerpiece of the Virginia capitol dome.
The Virginia general assembly authorized a statue of Washington in 1784. At the time, Jefferson was on a diplomatic mission to France. The general assembly asked Jefferson to hire a sculptor. Jefferson secured the services of French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. In 1785 Houdon spent two weeks at Mount Vernon. He made a plaster mask of Washington and took his measurements. The beautiful marble statue was installed in 1786.
by French Sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon
in the Virginia Capitol Rotunda
Surrounding the Washington statue are busts of famous Virginians, including this one of Jefferson himself.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had what we southerners call gumption. When a country needed to be built, these founding fathers figured out how to do it.
I’m proud of you for living your life that way, too. As you go through your life and your homeschooling adventure, you meet many challenges that require gumption. And what do you do? You figure it out and you do it.
Keep it up! Don’t let fear weigh you down. Keep holding on to your hunger for success and don’t let the fear of failure triumph.
The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish tears it down with her own hands.
Proverbs 14:1, NASB
P.S. Thank you for coming by and introducing yourself for the first time or reconnecting with me when we have met before, when you and I are at the same convention. Time with you was especially sweet last night. You are such an encouragement to me.