Big day for the Pentagon

It was on this day in 1943 that one of the world's largest office buildings, the Pentagon, was dedicated in Arlington, Va., one year and four months after construction began on Sept. 11, 1941. Its five-sided symmetry houses the U.S. Department of Defense across from the picturesque Potomac River in the heart of Washington, D.C.

"Big" doesn't begin to describe it. With 6 million square feet of space and 17 miles of corridors, the Pentagon was designed to accommodate more than 30,000 employees and 10,000 vehicles. It's so big that when brand new Army Chief of Staff Dwight Eisenhower began his duties there, he got lost and had to ask stenographers for directions back to his own office.

President F.D. Roosevelt commissioned the Pentagon to house the U.S. War Department, his country on the brink of battle. He had just declared a national state of emergency, shortly after Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Continental Europe was in an increasing state of occupation; a world war in full swing. At home, defense workers were scattered among 17 buildings in different locations; the president knew consolidation would aid effectiveness. So the Pentagon was born.

Authorizing legislation was passed (but not without cost controversy) and the U.S. Army's construction department tasked architect G. Edwin Bergstrom with drawing plans for the building in just three days. Forced by the constraints of existing roads at the original site near Arlington Cemetery, he used the iconic five-sided shape to fit the land, and built upward five stories (with two more stories below ground). Although the building location was changed to its current site - known as Hell's Bottom, they kept the pentagonal design rather than start over. It had shorter interior distances than would a rectangle, and straight sides are easier to build than a circular building. This shape also resembled fortress and Civil War battlement constructions.

The relocated site, "Hell's Bottom," is apropos; liberation's demands emanate from the soil. During the Civil War the site was a settlement for escaped slaves, known as Freedman's Village. After that war several still-predominately black neighborhoods, including the thriving area of Queen City and the poorer, red-light district of Hell's Bottom emerged in what became known as East Arlington. When Pentagon construction was scheduled, the government evicted more than 150 families from East Arlington and claimed the land. That wasn't the first time folks were booted. Four centuries earlier after the arrival of John Smith, native villagers were ousted from their ancestral homes in the same area.

Another odd and rather dark fact about the Pentagon is that it has twice as many bathrooms as originally needed. It was built in a highly segregated America, so it had two cafeterias and two sets of bathrooms - one for "whites," another for "coloreds." However, before construction was completed the president signed an executive order forbidding segregation among federal employees. The State of Virginia and its laws disagreed, but relented in the case of the Pentagon. So when the building opened, all bathrooms were open regardless of race or color, and it was the only official building in the State of Virginia which wasn't segregated.

Thus beyond the department's defense mission across the globe, the building may symbolize America's struggle to liberate itself from within. Its groundbreaking on Sept. 11 and dedication on the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give the Pentagon's birthday two thought-provoking bookends.

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sholeh Patrick, J.D. is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at [email protected].