"Gregory Paul Harm's book Lee Lawrie's Prairie Deco is a long overdue work on one of the greatest works by the American architectural sculptor Lee Lawrie. Mr. Harm's thorough research and well written narrative provide new insights into the creation of the iconic details that went into design of the Nebraska State Capitol. This American architectural masterpiece comes to life with his beautiful archival and current photos."
Christine Roussel
Director Roussel Studios
Archivist Rockefeller Center Archives

Now available as an ebook on both Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com

Lee Lawrie's
Prairie Deco:
History In Stone At The Nebraska State Capitol,
3rd Edition
Introduction
On October 16, 1877, a little more than a decade after America's Civil War ended, in a small village a few miles south and west of Berlin called Rixdorf, in the land then known as Prussia, a boy was born who would later shape the face of American art and architecture. The boy's name was Hugo Belling, but he is slightly better known to the world as Lee Oskar Lawrie, (1877 - 1963). And because no one else has bothered to do so yet, I will call him America's Machine-Age Michelangelo. He created literally hundreds of works over a career that lasted nearly 70 years, yet history has all but forgotten about him.

It's easy to overlook the obvious. Many Nebraskans who grew up in the capitol city of Lincoln like I did, come from families who have lived there for generations, and may have never taken the time to set foot in the State Capitol; just like lifelong New Yorkers who've never visited the Empire State Building. Often times, we fail to notice things that are right in front of us. Although it's in plain sight, it might as well be invisible: unless you make an effort, you might not give it a second look. Many don't.

The Nebraska State Capitol is one of my favorite places in the city; and I have always felt some hazy, perhaps mystical connection with the building. Maybe it's because I love Art Deco. Or maybe it's because I've always had a fascination with all things Native American; and the building meets those needs. I've always felt sort of an odd reverence for it; and when you're inside it; you feel that perhaps a hushed tone is in order, like being inside a cathedral. It just feels very serene.

Despite the fact that it's the tallest building in town and can be seen from nearly 20 miles away, many people know very little about this magnificent structure. Sure, like many other kids in town, I had toured the capitol as a Cub Scout and always thought it was pretty neat place, but even as a kit I had assumed that most cities of comparable size around the country must surely contain comparable buildings.

However, as an adult, I have learned that no other city in the U.S. has anything quite like the Nebraska State capitol. While New York City has the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center - all of which are monuments to Modernism and the Art Deco period; and all of which were completed only after Nebraska's Capitol was well under construction - none of them can match the complexity of the capitol in ground-breaking innovation, thematic content, architectural sculpture and frankly, the importance of heritage and history on the American character. More importantly, it's a public building, built and paid for by the people, and specifically not a privately owned office building, like so many of America's other Art Deco shrines. It is owned by the citizens of Nebraska; not by some Trump-like tycoon somewhere back east; or in Dubai or Singapore.

What most Nebraskans don't realize is that not only do they hold the largest collection of Lawrie's work in the world, but also how this nearly anonymous man's work has created an undiscovered national network that, once recognized, could serve as a link between the other cities, churches and communities throughout the U.S. in the variety of states in which his work is found.

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