University of Virginia Library

Is Mr. Jefferson Crying?

probably last letter to the
editor. His comments, with
which I am in complete accord,
lead me to vent some
long-smoldering sentiments
with regard to this
institution's preoccupation
with the past (to the detriment
of the present) and with form,
as opposed to substance.

The wisdom of spending
$2,000,000 in restoring the
Rotunda is not the real issue
here, as the Federal
Government will always have
the money to give away, and
private charitable foundations
are created solely for that
purpose.

The crux of the matter is
whether the new Rotunda will
be any closer than is the old to
Jefferson's concept of it as the
hub of the University. Could
such be affirmatively
demonstrated, there would
doubtless be little hue and cry.

But as Mr. Heblich so
plausibly speculates, student
access to and use of the
restored structure is likely to
be even more restricted than it
is today. And those so
excluded will probably find
little solace in the knowledge
that somewhere within the
building, Thomas Jefferson's
columns, rather than Stanford
White's, are rising majestically
to the dome.

Perhaps were more thought
and sincere effort expended
toward the realization of
Jeffersonian ideals the richest
portion of our patrimony—the
expenditure of over $2 million
in the name of architectural
authenticity would be
somewhat less unconscionable.

Given the present antipathy
to these ideals, however, the
restoration will provide but a
new temple for the high priests
of a meaningless cult.

Somewhere Jefferson is
crying.