Everything about The Lincoln Memorial totally explained
The
Lincoln Memorial is located on the
National Mall in
Washington, D.C. It is a
United States Presidential memorial built to honor the 16th
president of the United States,
Abraham Lincoln. The architect was
Henry Bacon, the sculptor was
Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior murals was
Jules Guerin.
The building is in the form of a Greek
Doric temple and contains a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln. The memorial has been the site of many famous speeches, including
Martin Luther King's "
I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on
August 28,
1963, during the rally at the end of the
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Like other monuments on the National Mall, including the nearby
Vietnam Veterans Memorial,
Korean War Veterans Memorial, and
National World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial is administered by the
National Park Service under its
National Mall and Memorial Parks group. The
National Memorial has been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places since
October 15,
1966. It is open to the public 24 hours a day. In
2007, it was ranked seventh on the
List of America's Favorite Architecture by the
American Institute of Architects.
Design and construction
The Lincoln Monument Association was incorporated by the
United States Congress in March 1867 to build a memorial to Lincoln. A site wasn't chosen until 1901, in an area that was then swampland. Congress formally authorized the memorial on
February 9,
1911, and the first stone was put into place on Lincoln's birthday,
February 12,
1914. The monument was dedicated by Former President and Chief Justice
William Howard Taft on
May 30,
1922, a ceremony attended by Lincoln's only surviving child,
Robert Todd Lincoln. The stone for the building is
Indiana limestone and
Yule marble, quarried at the town of
Marble, Colorado. The Lincoln sculpture within is made of
Georgian marble, quarried at the town of
Tate, Georgia. In 1923, designer
Henry Bacon received the Gold Medal of the
American Institute of Architects, his profession's highest honor, for the design of the memorial. Originally under the care of the Office of Public Buildings and Public Parks, it was transferred to the
National Park Service on
August 10 1933
Standing apart from the somewhat triumphal and Roman manner of most of Washington, the memorial takes the severe form of a Greek
Doric temple. It is 'peripteral,' with 36 massive columns, each 37 feet (10 m) high, surrounding the
cella of the building itself, which rises above the
porticos. As an afterthought, the 36 columns required for the design were seen to represent the 25
U.S. states at the time of Lincoln's death, as well as the 11 seceded States, and their names were inscribed in the
entablature above each column. The names of the 48 states of the Union when the memorial was completed are carved on the exterior attic walls, and a later plaque commemorates the admission of Alaska and Hawaii in 1959.
Interior
The main influence on the style of the Lincoln Memorial was the
Temple of Zeus at Olympia, Greece. The focus of the memorial is
Daniel Chester French's sculpture of Lincoln, seated on a throne. French studied many of
Mathew Brady's photographs of Lincoln and depicted the President as worn and pensive, gazing eastwards down the
Reflecting Pool toward the capital's starkest emblem of the Union, the
Washington Monument. Beneath his hands, the Roman
fasces, symbols of the authority of the Republic, are sculpted in relief on the seat. The statue stands 19 feet 9 inches (6 m) tall and wide, and was carved from 28 blocks of white Georgia marble.
The central cella is flanked by two others. In one, Lincoln's
Gettysburg Address is inscribed on the south wall, and in the other,
Lincoln's second inaugural address is inscribed on the north wall. On the latter, the word Future was carved with an E instead of F and had to be filled in and can still be seen today. Above the texts are a series of murals by
Jules Guerin that depict an angel (representing truth),
the freeing of a slave (on the south wall, above the Gettysburg Address) and the unity of the American
North and
South (above the Second Inaugural Address). On the wall behind the statue, and over Abraham's head is this dedication:
IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER
In 1939, and at the suggestion of
Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
Harold L. Ickes, the Secretary of the Interior, arranged for
Marian Anderson to perform from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, to a live audience of 70,000, and a nationwide radio audience.
On
August 28,
1963, the memorial grounds were the site of one of the greatest political rallies in American history, the
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which proved to be a high point of the
American Civil Rights Movement. It is estimated that approximately 250,000 people came to the event, where they heard
Martin Luther King, Jr., deliver his memorable speech, "
I Have a Dream," before the memorial honoring the president who had issued the
Emancipation Proclamation 100 years earlier. D.C. police also appreciated the location because it was surrounded on three sides by water, so that any incident could be easily contained. A marked tile on the memorial's steps shows where Dr. King stood. On
August 28,
1983, crowds gathered again to mark the 20th Anniversary Mobilization for Jobs, Peace and Freedom, to reflect on progress in gaining civil rights for African Americans, and to commit to correcting continuing injustices.
The site has had its share of unusual events. On
May 9,
1970, President
Richard Nixon had a remarkable
middle-of-the-night impromptu, brief meeting with protestors preparing to
march against the Vietnam War just days after the
Kent State shootings. For
President Bush's 2001 inauguration celebration, the
Rockettes dance troupe kicked their legs in the air while marching down the monument's steps. On
November 27,
2006, the memorial was partially closed when a suspicious liquid was found in a bathroom. Also found was an "
anthrax threat letter", according to authorities.
Urban legends
There are a number of urban legends associated with the memorial. Some have claimed that Robert E. Lee's face is carved onto the back of Lincoln's statue. Another popular legend is that Lincoln is shown using sign language to represent his initials, with his left hand shaped to form an "A" and his right hand to form an "L". The National Park Service denies both stories. However, historian Gerald Prokopowicz writes that, while it isn't clear that sculptor Daniel Chester French intended Lincoln's hands to be formed into sign language versions of his initials, it's possible that French did intend it, since he was familiar with American Sign Language, and he'd have had a reason to do so, for example, to pay tribute to Lincoln for having signed the federal legislation giving
Gallaudet University, a university for the deaf, the authority to grant college degrees.
(External Link
) Further confirming that Lincoln's hands may actually contain hidden sign language signs, the National Geographic Society's publication, "Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C." states that Daniel Chester French had a son that was deaf and the sculptor was familiar with sign language.
The Lincoln Memorial on U.S. currency
The Lincoln Memorial is shown on the reverse of the United States
one cent coin, which bears Lincoln's portrait on the front. The memorial also appears on the back of the U.S.
five dollar bill, the front of which also bears Lincoln's portrait.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Lincoln Memorial'.
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