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The Harry S Truman Building is the
headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
of the
United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...
. It is located in Washington, D.C., and houses the office of the
United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
. The Truman Building is located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood at 2201 C Street NW, bounded by C Street to the south, E Street, D Street, and Virginia Avenue to the north, 21st Street to the east, and 23rd Street to the west. It is located to the west of
Edward J. Kelly Park Edward J. Kelly Park is a park located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The park is located at the southeast corner of Virginia Avenue and 21st Street NW. Description and history On January 17, 1959, Secretary of the Inter ...
and north of the
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...
building and the
National Mall The National Mall is a landscaped park near the downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and va ...
. The Truman Building is named after Harry Truman, the 33rd
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
, who was influential in the advancement of the State Department.


History


20th century

During the early 1930s, the National Capital Park and Planning Commission sought to develop the section of the
District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...
known as Foggy Bottom, located between C, E, Eighteenth, and Twenty-third streets. Leading up to
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the expanding
Department of War War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence {{u ...
occupied several different buildings on the mall, making the need for a new building to consolidate operations a high priority. It was always intended to construct the building in two phases, and the Foggy Bottom site was chosen because it was large enough to accommodate both. Gilbert Stanley Underwood and William Dewey Foster won the contract for the War Department building. They designed the building during 1938–1939 and construction began in 1940. The Public Buildings Administration of the Federal Works Agency, which inherited oversight responsibility for the federal buildings program from the U.S. Treasury Department in 1939, completed the first phase of the building in 1941. During the design process, several agencies expressed concern that the War Department had already expanded beyond the capacity of the building. These concerns turned out to be correct; while some offices of the War Department moved into the building for a few years, the building never became the War Department headquarters. By the time construction was complete, the War Department had already outgrown the building. Congress appropriated funds for construction of
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...
early in 1941, the same year the first phase of the building was completed. Instead, the structure was used for the Department of State. Although the original portion of the building is still commonly referred to as the War Department Building, it became home to the State Department by the late 1940s.


Expansion

World War II spurred the growth of this department as well. However, the planned expansion was delayed until Congress allocated funds for the addition in 1955. Harley, Probst Associates, a joint venture between Harley, Ellington, and Day of Detroit and Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White of Chicago, won the contract for the design in 1956. The addition, known as the State Department Extension, was completed in 1960 and dedicated in 1961. The original building was informally called "Old State" with the addition identified as "New State".


21st century

In September 2000, the State Department building (previously called the ''Main State Building'', and often called by the
metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...
" Foggy Bottom") was named in honor of
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Harry S. Truman. , more than 8,000 employees worked in the Truman Building. The building houses to of usable space, the corridors take up over , and the roof area is about . There are 44 elevators, over 4,000 windows, and about 34,000 fluorescent light fixtures that provide interior illumination. The building is currently being renovated under a 12-year plan to modernize the structure. In May 2014, the
General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
(GSA) awarded a $25 million contract to build a new public entrance on the east side of the Truman Building. The glass and steel structure will act not only as a high-security entrance to the building but also as a museum about American diplomacy. The addition, called the U.S. Diplomacy Center, was designed by the firm Beyer Blinder Belle, and is being constructed by Gilbane Construction. The addition is being privately funded by the Diplomacy Center Foundation, a nonprofit established by former Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democrat ...
in 2000 to honor American diplomats. The National Capital Planning Commission approved the design in 2011. Construction is in progress. GSA awarded a $77.4 million contract in September 2014 to renovate much of the rest of the structure. Some of the renovations would restructure the interior layout of the building to meet the State Department's needs. However, most of the contract would focus on replacing the building's electrical, elevator, mechanical, plumbing, and telecommunication systems. The refurbishment was scheduled to begin in January 2015 and take 14 months to complete. The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2017.


Architecture

The original portion of the building, known as the War Department Building, is an example of the Stripped Classical architectural style with Art Moderne elements. The
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistan ...
-framed building is clad in
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
and rises eight stories above the basement and sub-basement. Because it was designed to be expanded at a later date, it was deliberately asymmetrical. A central spine connects a U-shaped configuration to the east with an E-shaped configuration to the west. The east entrance is inspired by the main building of the Sapienza University of Rome campus, designed by italian architect Marcello Piacentini and completed in 1935. The horizontal delineations of the facade reflect the classical precedents of the architectural style. Cornices and pink granite
string course A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the fl ...
s create a base-shaft-capital system. The wings create a series of interior
courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
s. The interior courtyard walls are clad in dark granite, emphasizing the transition from base to shaft. The construction of the State Department Extension, completed in 1960, is reinforced concrete and was designed in the International style. Buff colored limestone cladding helps to create a cohesive combination of the two buildings. With the completion of the extension, the building became second to the Pentagon in the number of offices that it houses. Since its completion, access to the main ceremonial entrance and lobby is via the south elevation. The entrance is located off-center toward the west end of the building and is set back to frame a forecourt. The court is paved with a combination of gray and red granite. At either side of the forecourt, a limestone belt course runs the full width of the elevation above the basement and second stories. Limestone piers span the first and second stories. The East Lobby of the original building is a two-story rectangular space surrounded by a screen of paired piers. Four large pendant lights, which are original, are the primary light source. The floors are terrazzo and the walls are
travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...
. Above the security barriers at the rear of the lobby is a
mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...
by
Kindred McLeary Kindred McLeary (December 3, 1901, Weimar, Texas – May 29, 1949) was an American architect, artist and educator. Education Kindred McLeary studied architecture at the University of Texas and earned his degree in 1927. While teaching at the Un ...
titled ''The Defense of Human Freedoms'', which depicts the five freedoms flanked at either end of the mural by their defenders, the American military. Access to the auditorium is via the second floor. The
Dean Acheson Dean Gooderham Acheson (pronounced ; April 11, 1893October 12, 1971) was an American statesman and lawyer. As the 51st U.S. Secretary of State, he set the foreign policy of the Harry S. Truman administration from 1949 to 1953. He was also Truma ...
Auditorium extends upward from the first through the third stories. The stage spans the full east wall of the room. The walls on either side are clad in burled California redwood paneling. The Loy Henderson Conference Room is two stories tall. The walls are Verde Antique marble with brass and bronze accents. A speakers' platform, stepped up at the center, is set along the west wall. In the lobby of the fifth floor executive office suite is a mural by James McCreery entitled '' Liberty or Death: Don't Tread on Me''. The work is an allegory of the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
, including maps, cannon and other armament, and flags of the era. The eastern section of the fifth floor contains executive office suites for department heads and their staffs. The west side of the corridor includes staff offices and the general council room. The east side of the corridor includes office suites originally designated for the secretary of war and chief of staff. The south courtyard of the State Department Building features a sculpture by Marshall Fredericks titled ''The Expanding Universe'', which includes a circular fountain and an architectural bronze statue. A treaty room and the ceremonial office of the Secretary of State is on the seventh floor. Diplomatic Reception Rooms were installed on the eighth floor during the 1980s as reproductions of early American architecture. They are furnished with 18th-century antique furnishings and 18th- and 19th-century artwork.


See also

*
Herbert C. Hoover Building The Herbert C. Hoover Building is the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the United States Department of Commerce. The building is located at 1401 Constitution Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., on the block bounded by Constitution Avenue NW to ...
*
Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building is the headquarters of the United States Department of Justice. The building is located at 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, on a trapezoidal lot on the block bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue to the ...
*
Treasury Building A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in ...
*
Jamie L. Whitten Building The U.S. Department of Agriculture Administration Building, also known as the Jamie L. Whitten Building, houses the administrative offices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. The Administration Building projects into th ...
* Ralph J. Bunche Library * Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State


References

* Some


External links


United States Department of State
''official website''

Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State {{Harry S. Truman Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Foggy Bottom Office buildings in Washington, D.C. Government buildings completed in 1941 United States Department of State Gilbert Stanley Underwood buildings 1940s architecture in the United States Modernist architecture in Washington, D.C. 1941 establishments in Washington, D.C.