"What is past is prologue" is engraved on which U.S. government building?

"What is past is prologue" is inscribed on the northeast corner of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C.. "What's past is prologue" is a direct quotation by William Shakespeare from his play The Tempest. With the National Archives Building, this quotation is engraved on a Robert Aitken's statute called, The Future (1935). Here, the woman symbolizing the future is holding a book and several manuscripts on her lap. Also, The Future has a companion piece, The Past, which is located in front of the National Archives Building.

With this quotation (phrase), it was originally used in The Tempest, Act 2, Scene I. Antonio uses it to suggest that all that has happened before that time, the "past," has led Sebastian and himself to this opportunity to do what they are about to do: commit murder.

Today, the phrase is still used and stands for the idea that history sets the context for the present. Besides the quotation being on the statute at the National Archives, it is commonly used by U.S. military experts when discussing war similarities that are found throughout history.