A few nice The Constitution images I found:

A Visit to Constitution Hill

Image by Axel Bührmann
On the anniversary of 9-11, it seemed somehow apt to be going on a mini-photowalk to Constitution Hill, in Johannesburg. Many thanks to Faarooq Mangera for the excellent opportunity.

"The Constitutional Court of South Africa is Johannesburg’s newest historical landmark and a unique architectural symbol of South Africa’s democracy. On this site, once the Old Fort Prison Complex, commonly known as Number Four, political prisoners and common criminals awaited trial and sat out their jail sentences. Today, the elegant Constitutional Court presides over this once-reviled place and stands as a proud monument to South Africa’s hard-earned freedom. "

View on black using Fiveprime’s Black Magic

Philadelphia: National Constitution Center

Image by wallyg
The National Constitution Center, at 525 Arch Street in Independence Mall, an independent, non-partisan, and non-profit organization dedicated to increasing public understanding of, and appreciation for, the Constitution, its history, and its contemporary relevance, through an interactive, interpretive facility. Created by the the Constitution Heritage Act in 1988, the museum opened on July 4, 2004, and was designed by American architect Henry N. Cobb and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, with museum design firm Ralph Appelbaum Associates.

A visit to the National Constitution Center begins with a live, multimedia, theatre presentation called Freedom Rising. The presentation features a live actor and multimedia elements explaining the history of the Constitution, and how the definition of "we the people" has expanded over time.

The main exhibit hall is circular and presents three concentric rings of exhibts: the outermost a chronology of Constitutional history featuring artifacts and original documents, the second ring of interactive exhibits based on the preamble to the Constitution, and the inner ring featuring "talk backs" and ways to participate in the Constitutional dialogue.

Visitors can take the presidential oath of office, decide a supreme court case, vote for their favorite president, and view biographies of important figures in our history.

One interactive exhibit asks the visitor simple questions in order to determine if he or she would have had the right to vote during a particular historical period. Another set of stations presents divisive issues such as intelligent design or the death penalty and asks visitors to write short opinions on Post-It notes which are stuck on the wall.

A visit ends with Signers’ Hall, a room featuring life-sized, cast bronze sculptures of the 39 signers of the Constitution and the three dissenters. Visitors can wander among the statues, taking photographs with famous signers like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and others. It is the only area in the museum that allows photography.

Some cool The Constitution images:

Parade Ground Fort Constitution

Image by InAweofGod’sCreation
Now a Coast Guard Station is sited here. www.nhstateparks.com/fortconstitution.html

Fort Constitution, located in New Castle adjacent to the U.S. Coast Guard Station at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, is likely New Hampshire’s most important and interesting military fortification. In December 1774 Paul Revere rode to Portsmouth from Boston to warn the colonists of British plans to reinforce the fort, to protect its store of powder. The colonists however surrounded the fort and seized light cannon and 97 barrels of gun powder. Many consider the attack to be the first overt act of the Revolution, and it’s thought that some of the supplies were used in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Fort Constitution occupies three acres and includes Portsmouth Harbor Light

travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-7010715-fort_constitution_…

A few nice The Constitution images I found:

USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides” #2 (stern)

Image by Chris Devers
View of the stern of the USS Constitution, or "Old Ironsides", the world’s oldest commissioned floating warship. (HMS Victory is 30 years older, but in permanent drydock. Constitution still floats, a distinction the guides make a point of being clear about.)

As an active-duty ship, Constitution is staffed by Navy personnel at the Charlestown Navy Yard national park. Tours of the ship are free & open to the public.

We used to go see the ship during field trips when I was a kid. I can now attest that two year olds love it, too 🙂

Complementary views of the ship: bow & stern.

Treating this as a dry-run for another version I’ll do later in the summer, if I get a chance. I had a hard time lining up all the lines in the edges — all those ropes & chains & walkways & rigging lines. More importantly, the ship is being renovated right now, so the tops of the masts are missing, there’s a temporary roof over the main deck, etc.

It will be much prettier over the summer after the construction work is over.

At the left margin here you can catch a glimpse of the USS Taylor (FFG-50), an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate that was visiting at the time. You can make out more of it in these two montages taken from the stern of the USS Cassin Young nearby.

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Bostonist: Photo of the Day, March 19, 2009: Old Ironsides #2 🙂

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I took a series of these panoramas the same day:

* Tobin Bridge #1 (under the tollbooths)
* Tobin Bridge #2 (over Little Mystic Channel)
* USS Constitution #1 (bow)
* USS Constitution #2 (stern)
* USS Cassin Young #1 (split panorama)
* USS Cassin Young #2 (full panorama)
* USS Cassin Young #3 (bow)

Plus, of course, the other photomontages I’ve been putting up over the last few months.