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Conference Focuses on Roman Influence on D.C.

The United States Capitol Historical Society presents its 10th annual conference this week.

Titled “The Fourth Rome: Roman and Italian Influences on the Art, Architecture, and Culture of Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Capitol,” the conference begins with an opening reception and lecture at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Embassy of Italy.

Richard Guy Wilson, commonwealth professor in architectural history at the University of Virginia, will speak on “Thomas Jefferson, Architect and Washington, D.C.”

Admission is free, but reservations are required. To reserve seats, call the Italian Cultural Institute, the event’s co-sponsor, at (202) 223-9800 ext. 1.

“The Fourth Rome” Conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday in Room 325 of the Russell Senate Office Building.

Speakers at the conference will include Christiana Cunningham-Adams, fine art paintings conservator at the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation; Melissa Dabakis, professor and chairwoman of art history at Kenyon College; Carol Mattusch, Mathy professor of art history at George Mason University; Pamela Potter-Hennessey, former professor of art at Ursinus College; Pamela Scott, architectural historian; Thomas Somma, director of galleries at the University of Mary Washington; and Barbara Wolanin, curator for the Office of the Architect of the Capitol.

The conference is free and open to the public. To pre-register for the conference, e-mail uschs@uschs.org or call (202) 543-8919 ext. 28.

Founded in 1962, the USCHS is “a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization chartered by Congress to educate the public on the history and heritage of the U.S. Capitol Building, its institutions and the people who have served therein.”

— Joanna Stein

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