IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER
Inscription over the statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial
Well, it took long enough. Lincoln had been dead for almost half a century before work finally began on his memorial in Washington, with a dedication ceremony occurring on his birthday in Washington DC a hundred years ago. Plans to memorialize Lincoln in Washington had been mooted about since the time of his death, but in Washington, then and now, nothing moves swiftly. Controversies about cost and just what form the memorial should take had delayed the project for decades. The final plan to erect a Greek styled temple to house a Lincoln statue appalled some Lincoln admirers who thought a log cabin memorial would better suit a man as humble as Lincoln.
The building of the memorial would take eight years, with it being completed and opened to the public on Memorial Day, May 30, 1922.
The dominating feature of the memorial is of course the brooding statue of a seated Lincoln. Sculpted by Charles David French, the statue, standing 19 feet, dominates the memorial. Open 24 hours a day and free for all, the memorial is visited by six million visitors a year and has become a symbol of American freedom and union, the causes for which Lincoln lived and died.
The government against the people did not assault them.
When I was in The Old Guard, we used to do a morning run to the Lincoln Memorial once a week.
I’m confused. Was the Lincoln statue carved by the Piccirilli Brothers or Charles David French?
Ah, February 12, when “back in the day” an Illinois school kid got the day off and most other states didn’t. I always felt shortchanged after the Legislature caved in to the “President’s Day” nonsense and stopped giving schools the day off. Of course, they kept Lincoln’s Birthday as a holiday for themselves and the privileged class of state employees, mostly office dwellers. And so it goes…
Agreed Frank! I still can’t believe in the Land of Lincoln that kids don’t have the day off from school!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Abraham_Lincoln_(Lincoln_Memorial)
The assassination of Lincoln was a great disservice to the Nation and the South. His attitude towards the defeated Confederates was much more conciliatory than what we ended up with. Only he possessed the character to make his program law. While I am sure I would have gladly fought against his side of that unfortunate conflict, it behoves each of us to fight for the Nation he left us. By the way, my ancestors who wore the grey owned the same number of slaves that I do, NONE.