On Sunday (UPDATE: now sometime in September or October), the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial will be dedicated. As this will be the first major memorial dedicated in the Mall area since the National World War II Memorial in 2004, I thought it would be interesting to review the monument and solicit our readers’ views. For those interested in going to the dedication, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation has a FAQ page on the dedication ceremony and a handy walking directions pamphlet.

To quickly sum up my opinion: excellent, and long overdue, idea for a memorial, but it is poorly executed. Let me explain. I’ll be slightly kinder than Courtland Milloy but not by much and in some areas less (BTW: props to you, sir, on the Star Wars reference! Makings of a Millennial this one has.).

‘The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial (+2 in comment)’
courtesy of ‘Lindeberg Feller’

When you stop and think about it, why has it taken so long for a national memorial to be built to Dr. King? Arguably one of the most important Americans ever, and certainly one of the most important in recent history, memorializing MLK should have happened long ago. Certainly Dr. King’s importance to black Americans makes such a monument important. We have a statue to Christopher Columbus, which is seen as a monument for Italian Americans, and we have the FDR Memorial, which many people feel is a monument to WWII generation; then why aren’t there other statues or memorials for other groups? Certainly the idea of having a memorial for Martin Luther King is on firm ground.

‘Martin Luther King Memorial – Dr. King – 12-04-10′
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

However, as I said before, I feel the monument is poorly executed, and there are multiple reasons why. Much ink has been spilled on the fact that the sculptor is Chinese, so I will only briefly touch on this. In a time when many Americans, of all types, feel threatened by the Chinese people coming into their economic and political power on the international stage, it shows very poor judgment to effectively say “no American could craft this memorial.” Many people will probably call me out on this point, but remember that this is a national monument. It should not be considered horrible nationalism to think an American could be chosen for this honor.

But probably worse, I think this decision was made on a price point. That is, it was simply cheaper to go overseas. This goes into a long standing issue I have with the Federal Government deliberately taking no part in financing national monuments. I believe this is penny wise and pound foolish for our national identity. And I think Mr. Milloy makes many excellent points in this piece on the topic, particularly his closing line (Milloy’s article should also be read with this one).

‘Sneak Preview’
courtesy of ‘Mondmann’

I most have issues with the size of the statue. Why is the largest statue in the city, topping out at thirty feet, of a man who was so human? Normally, when a people build a colossal statue of a person, it is to deify that man or woman; that is to say “this person did things that cannot be accomplished by anyone else.” That was certainly not Dr. King’s message or his accomplishments. If anything, he is the embodiment of the idea that ordinary people can change the world together. Dr. King didn’t march alone; he didn’t organize the boycott of the Montgomery Bus system by himself; he wasn’t the only person who spoke at the March on Washington. His message was one of love for all people; that by showing society it’s evil ways, good could prevail. Is that really communicated by a thirty foot statue? His humanity is lost with this statue and it is Dr. King’s humanity that is most important to keep alive.

‘Martin Luther King Memorial – Assembling the Rock – 12-04-10′
courtesy of ‘mosley.brian’

Lastly, I have issues with the face and the pose of the statue. With regard to the face, this is perhaps influenced by the fact that I am a photographer and there is ample documentation of what Dr. King looked like. Only in passing does the face of the statue look like Martin Luther King. Almost to a person, everyone I have spoken to about the statue feels it looks very Asian. When I see it, I am reminded of drawings of ancient Chinese emperors that I have seen in history books. That’s pretty bad when we know what the man looked like. Of course this is not a new issue in recent history (see the NYFD being accused of rewriting history), but it still troubles many people.

The pose also bothers me. Not because I think of it as confrontational, or that I think Dr. King never crossed his arms (a ridiculous counter argument but it was made), but because it is an awkward pose. The pose is simply not one that I see as noble, traditional, or practical for a statue. This is not a pose for honoring someone. I know that it is based on a photograph of King, but what works in photography and what works in sculpture is not necessarily the same thing.

‘Martin Luther King Memorial’
courtesy of ‘vpickering’

I do want to end on some positive notes. First, not liking new memorials is more Washingtonian than politics. Very few monuments or memorials have ever been built without harsh criticism. Anyone else remember the anger over the World War II Memorial? Also, opinions do change over time. Many people who said they would never like the WWII Memorial say it has grown on them. And there are similar stories of other memorials, from the Grant Statue to the Lincoln Memorial. And lastly, it’s important to remember that this memorial is art. And art that doesn’t invoke a response is pretty lame art.

With that last point in mind, please speak out on your views! As a student of memorials and monuments, it always fascinates me to see how people memorialize people, places, and events. I’d love to hear your views.

With the newest monument on the Mall slated to open at the end of the month, to crowds of “hundreds of thousands,” District residents are going to get a free sneak preview. Tickets will be available at the MLK library in DC, as well as on the city’s website starting early next week. The memorial will be open to DC residents from 8am to 8pm on August 23rd, five days ahead of its dedication.

Ahead of the dedication on the 28th, the city is urging all city residents to turn out for a DC Full Democracy day on the 27th with a rally at Freedom Plaza, and a march from the Lincoln Memorial to the King Memorial.  We’ll have more on that in the coming days.

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You know how you have this awesome friend, but you forgot their birthday this year, and it turns out it was a big one? Yeah. That. [Update, 11:45: As it turns out, We did cover this yesterday. So, I feel a little better, but still, birthday! Yay!]

Yesterday was the Smithsonian Institution’s 165th birthday, having been finally founded on August 10th, 1846, over a decade after Congress agreed to accept the bequest.  The original gift of approximately $500,000 was incredibly controversial when it had been initially granted, and the decade of time necessary to establish the Institution.

While the Institution today operates 20 different museums, galleries and the Zoo, and is building its 21st, the building now known as the Castle was its only home until 1881, when the Arts and Industries building opened.   The Cluss and Schulze-designed museum opened then with the collection that would later make its way to the north side of the Mall in the Museum of Natural History.

‘Arts and Industries Detail’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

The Smithsonian would open the Zoo in 1889, the new Museum of Natural History in 1910, and the Freer Gallery in 1923, to expand their empire to four cultural attractions in DC, in addition to the Cooper-Hewitt in New York.  That slow pace of expansion would be rapidly altered with the selection of Sidney Dillon Ripley as Secretary of the Smithsonian in 1964.

Ripley, an ornithologist and famed spy, has a biography that reads like an Ian Fleming novel, including trips behind enemy lines in Nepal and Thailand to go birding as well as spying. During his twenty year tenure as Secretary, the Smithsonian opened up the Air & Space Museum, the Hirshhorn Gallery, the Museum of African Art, the National Portrait Gallery, the Renwick Gallery, the American Art Museum, and the Anacostia Community Museum. During that time, the Smithsonian went from 10.8 million visitors per year to 30 million visitors per year, and became the destination phenomenon that we all know and love.

Congratulations, Smithsonian, on 165 years of increasing the diffusion of knowledge among men, as per the original 1829 mandate of James Smithson, who laid the foundation for the home of America’s best treasures and artifacts. Here’s to many more to come.

There is a monument on the mall that is dedicated not to a nation’s cause, nor to a great leader, nor to a private citizen.  It is dedicated to the 499 men who gave their lives in support of their country in the Great War, from 1917 to 1918, in the European theater.  The Noyes family helped spur legislation in 1924 to authorize this monument, and it was paid for through fundraising efforts amongst businesses and prominent families in the District, to the tune of $200,000 1924 dollars ($2.5M in 2011 dollars).

The District of Columbia War Memorial, recently refurbished with a grant from the stimulus program, is in jeopardy of being scooped up by the Congress and transformed into a national memorial that may strip the local character away from the District’s fallen from the memorial altogether.

H.R. 938, proposed by Rep Ted Poe of Texas calls for the establishment of a Kansas City, MO-based commission to, amongst other things, “establish a commemorative work at the site of the District of Columbia and National World War I Memorial consisting of an appropriate sculptural or other commemorative element reflecting the national character of the memorial.”

But here’s the thing: It’s not a national monument. It’s a local one. It was paid for by private DC donors, and though it’s been maintained (to sadly varying degrees) by the Park Service, this is a memorial that is of, by, and for the District, not the country.

Of course, given the District’s bastard red-headed stepchild status in the Congress, it’s not surprising that not only is there no one from the District that’s part of the proposed commission, it’s highly unlikely that, given the current composition of Congress, any say our delegate would have would matter.

The bill has only just been referred to subcommittee, so it’s possible that Congress wont get to this any time soon, but it’s something to keep your eye on.

There was a piece in the Outlook section of Sunday’s Washington Post entitled “How we memorialize endless war?” by public-monument scholar Kirk Savage. It’s an interesting read that sparks a legitimate question on this Memorial Day weekend.

In the wake of the U.S. Armed Forces catching Osama Bin Laden after a near ten year search, the American war on terror isn’t over. Our troops are still overseas and many more never made it home. And, a good amount of the men and women who did make it home are wounded soldiers in some capacity, be it mentally, emotionally or physically.

Savage’s article begs the question: “Will Washington ever memorialize the fights these men and women fought if there is no set end date to the on-going nature of the fight against terror?”

Due to The Commemorative Works Act of 1986, the act regulates that a new war memorial cannot be built until at least 10 years after the official, designated end of the conflict in question. “As long as our troops remain mired in the theater of war, however, will there be an ‘officially designated end’ to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Savage writes.

The fact is: Washington may be a standing memorial dedicated to the fight of our forefathers to conceive this great nation, however, the men and women who continue to fight daily in pursuit of freedom in the wake of severe terrorism may never have a plot of land dedicated to their hard work.

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One of my first, distinct memories of DC is the long drive down Connecticut Avenue, after exiting 495 and headed to Dupont Circle. I was completely DC naive, had very little navigational or directional DC knowledge and for all I knew I could have been headed north or west or east. As I hesitantly meandered my way down Connecticut Avenue through the tree line Chevy Chase, past the sign to the National Zoo, little did I know that my first DC welcome would come from the majestic, patriotic, stone lion guardians of the Taft Bridge.

Constructed from 1897 to 1907, the arched bridge is the work of architect Edward Pearce Casey and engineer George S. Morrison, known for his steel truss bridges. The bridge, dedicated to U.S. President Howard Taft in 1931, is the largest unreinforced concrete structure in the world and in 2003 was named to the National Register of Historical Places.

‘Lion sculpture by Ronald Hilton Perry (Taft Bridge)’
courtesy of ‘Marcin Wichary’

The four guardian lions (two on each end of the bridge) that so impressed me and seared into my memory my first arrival in DC have fairly elaborate history. The figures were originally designed and sculpted in 1906 out of concrete to match the bridge by Roland Hinton Perry.  By the mid 60s, the lions were in need of restoration and unfortunately the weatherproofing efforts proved unsuccessful and when the bridge was rehabbed in 1993, they were found to be beyond restoration. In 2000, sculptor Reinaldo Lopez-Carrizo cast new molds of the original lions and the new feline centuries, made of high-strength concrete, debuted in the summer of 2000. If the bronze lions outside the National Zoo look similar to those of the Taft Bridge, it’s because they were all made from the same molds.

‘Taft Bridge Lamp Base’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

The  sides of the pedestrian and bike-friendly bridge are lined with iron lampposts by Ernest Bairstow in 1906. The painted lampposts feature pedestals decorated in garland, fluted columns with acanthus leaves at the top and bottom, and are topped with spread-winged eagles.

The bridge connects the Kalorama and Woodley Park neighborhoods of NW, spanning the large Rock Creek gorge below. From the midpoint of the bridge looking to both the north and south, Rock Creek Park opens up and one can truly comprehend the vastness of this National Park that runs through numerous DC neighborhoods.

The dignified, grand and protective welcome the Taft Bridge gives to visitors, commuters and denizens of the district, continually reminds me how proud and privileged I feel to live in DC and is a monument that continues to inspire no matter how many times I pass it.

Photo by Rachel Levitin

My first physical encounter with the ivory American tower that is the Lincoln Memorial was at the age of 12. When I graduated from my four-year stint at American University at age 22, I maintained and continued to proclaim that the Lincoln Memorial is my favorite place to “sit and do nothing” in D.C.

Its hallowed marble grounds and view of the Reflecting Pool is a unique visual shot only available in D.C. Thousands of visitors flood the site daily. It’s a nice stop for a group photo and the corner stone of an essential plot point in Wedding Crashers but at the age of 23 I have no idea why I still call the Lincoln Memorial my favorite place to “sit and do nothing” in D.C.

When you live in Washington for long enough, the tourist appeal loses its initial flare. Often times, those of us who announce residency for longer than a Presidential term are left to visit historical sites, memorials, landmarks, and museums when family or friends are here from out of town … or we’ve guilt tripped ourselves into venturing out into the District’s finest attraction – the National Mall.

‘Purple Spring’
courtesy of ‘Dave Newman (newmanchu)’

The National Mall is an amusement park full of attractions for intellectuals, historians, and wide-eyed imaginations. The Smithsonian museums and artitectural marvels remain dominant forces on any “National Mall To-Do List.” A stop to glance at the Hope Diamond, a visit to the Apollo Lunar Module, and reveling at the site of Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers are all educational trips masked by the fact that seeing this stuff really is “cool” — and — you can see all of it one day if you really want to.

But for me, the Lincoln Memorial is endowed with nostalgia. The neoclassical monument, designed by Henry Bacon, receives millions of visitors each year and remains the site of many large public gatherings and protests. Most notably, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the memorial in 1963.

That’s not why I love sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

At the age of 12, my dad took me on my first trip to Washington, D.C. I never would have guessed I’d be living in this city a decade later after completing a Bachelor’s degree here.

A lot has changed in a decade.

The memorial still stands at the west end of the National Mall. It’s still modeled after ancient Greek temples and stands 190 feet long, 119 feet wide, and almost 100 feet high. It’s surrounded by a peristyle of 38 fluted Doric columns, one for each of the thirty six states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death.

The 12-year-old eyes that once looked upon the gargantuous marble-made President are older now. Those peepers need glasses to assist with a strong case of being nearsighted. Their perspective has shifted a few inches toward the sky since I did grow a little between the ages of 12 and 14. But the biggest change of all has nothing to do with the memorial or my vision.

Slate writer Jessica Grose recently published a piece online about de-cluttering a family home when it comes time to sell it. Clutter, closets, memorials, and memorabilia – selling the house is easy, getting rid of the “stuff” inside is not.

First, there’s the inevitable “throwing away” of the spelling test, book reports, art projects, and maybe even a few science fair ribbons. Then comes the frustration. The whole, “Just throw everything out. I don’t want to deal with this anymore,” phase.

When a childhood home is being sold, like mine was in February, memories from the past feel like they’re being re-routed in the mind, only to become fantastical day-dreams. The Lincoln Memorial I visited at age 12 with my late father is an example of that.

The reason the Lincoln Memorial became my favorite place to “sit and do nothing” in D.C. was because my dad took me there when I was a kid. That’s the same dad who moved our family of four (plus a dog, which later became two dogs) into our first house when I was nine.

Come spring, that house will no longer be a possession that my family holds in their hands but rather a high-priority destination on the day-dream super-highway.

Slate’s Grose examines this idea a little more in her piece:

“ […] it was obvious to me why I was being so snotty about the entire cleaning process: I was having trouble accepting that it was officially time to be a grown up, time to put away the yearbooks and move forward. My parents were selling the house we had moved into when I was 3. In a few short months, I will never be able to go back there and sit on our old blue couch and fight with my brother about watching SportsCenter. That couch will be gone, and so should my tendency to behave like that teenager.”

When a person decides to call Washington, D.C. home after not being born and/or raised in the Nation’s Capital, you know there’s something special about this place. Between unethical scenarios in local politics and the WMATA’s inability to provide reliable public transportation due to a severe lack of funding, it’s easy to ruffle a resident’s feathers.

I like to think people live here for a reason that they forget to remember – the history of this city and the history continually being made here makes a resident feel like they’re a part of something special, something bigger than themselves.

Unlike our past Presidents, the residents do not get monuments and memorials erected in town for commendable acts. Unlike our past Presidents, residents continue their day-to-day activities by working to pay their bills and fulfilling their roles as consumers in this consumer-driven society.

Much like my 12-year-old self staring upon a marble President Lincoln for the first time, we can all appreciate the fact that no matter how old we get or how physically, mentally, and spiritually run-down we are as people, the National Mall will always be a cherished American childhood memory whether we visited it then or in our later years.

The moral of the story is: the Lincoln Memorial is not be my favorite place to “sit and do nothing” in D.C. as of March 2011.

My favorite place to “sit and do nothing in D.C.” is my couch while riding the day-dream super-highway express-route straight to the “Age 12” ramp where my dad is waiting with a map and camera in-hand from atop the steps of Honest Abe’s Washington home.

This morning marks the 71st anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of my favorite DC memorial, the Jefferson Memorial on the south side of the Tidal Basin.  The Memorial was designed by architect John Russell Pope in 1935, and was one of four that Pope designed, depending on the location that was finally chosen for the monument.  The other three sites that weren’t chosen were along the Anacostia River near where RFK sits today, at Lincoln Park, and one across from the National Archives, which Pope also designed.

The Memorial’s architectural features are, itself, a tribute to Jefferson’s style: Ionic columns, a flat dome, a Roman-style Portico, all things that are present at Jefferson’s university in Charlottesville, the University of Virginia.

‘Southern View of the District of Columbia from the Washington Monument’
courtesy of ‘Cornell University Library’

The Memorial was, itself, a controversial project.  Pope had lost the 1911 competition for the Lincoln Memorial, and was seen by many, despite his design of a number of prominent Washington buildings, as a bit of a show-off, and that wasn’t what they were looking for in the Memorial.  His initial Pantheon proposal was 21 feet taller than the Lincoln Memorial, and was tabled by the commission.

In 1937, Pope succumbed to cancer, and his plan was shelved briefly.  The Memorial Commission planned a smaller scale version of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial that he had submitted in the 1920s, but Pope’s widow blocked that construction. Instead, they would build a smaller version of the massive Pantheon, over the protestations of the Commission on Fine Arts, which lobbied hard to prevent the memorial from being built, including a pamphleting campaign (think of this as early “blogger outreach”.)

‘Jefferson Memorial’
courtesy of ‘Chromojenic’

The supporters of the third president’s memorial were a tenacious group with significant backing in the Congress, and the memorial was built over the objections of these groups, who were concerned over denuding the tidal basin (hey, doesn’t that sound familiar?) and that the Beaux-Arts style that Pope favored was too grand for an agrarian president like Jefferson.

In 1943, the Memorial was completed, and in 1947, the statue was installed in the center of the rotunda, to go with the four long-form quotes from powerful Jefferson quotes.  My favorite among these is from an 1816 letter to Samuel Kercheval, in which Jefferson admits that the will of the Founders was escape from tyrannical monarchy, and that the government the envisioned was largely a response to that escape.  Jefferson wrote,

I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.

‘light up Jefferson!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99′

In this, I believe Jefferson was at his finest.  I am pleased that this wonderful temple sits at the southern end of the Mall, as Jefferson himself sat, somewhat removed from the hustle and bustle of the city.  It is where I go when I need to seek counsel and peace, and by far, my favorite of our memorials.

Sitting at the intersection of Bladensburg Road, Baltimore Avenue and the National Defense Highway just over the border into Prince George’s County is the Bladensburg Peace Cross, a forty-foot stone cross, notes those from Prince George’s county who fought and died in World War I. Inscribed with their names, and the quote from Woodrow Wilson, “The right is more precious than peace. We shall fight for the things we have always carried nearest our hearts. To such a task we dedicate our lives,” the monument is a towering landmark just outside the District.

This weekend is Memorial Day, when we commemorate those who served our country and gave their lives in service of a nation, giving their “last fullest measure of devotion,” in service of family and friends. This is a weekend where we remember all who have died in service of nation, in addition to barbequing, watching baseball, and carrying on.

The Bladensburg Peace Cross was erected by the citizens of Prince George’s County in 1922, and was dedicated on July 13th, 1923. Ceremonies were held at the cross, and with the assistance fo the American Legion of Bladensburg, Snyder-Farmer post, which included survivors of The Great War, Fourth Maryland regiment. Representative Stephen W. Gambrill of Maryland spoke, lauding the efforts and honoring the sacrifice of those who died, saying: “You men of Prince Georges county fought for the sacred right of all to live in peace and
security.”

Enjoy the weekend, toast the departed and their memory. We’ll be back on Memorial Day with light coverage.

Rising high above the streets of DC, seen here with a height on par with the Capitol Building, is Mount St. Fenty.  The monument, in which is carved the sorrow of all District residents, was erected in the early part of 2010 by the District’s Department of Transportation on the orders of the Mayor.  While the initial monument was created as part of what should have been the art installation equivalent of a flash mob, on orders of the Mayor, the monument would stand for months to come as testament to the powers of the mother nature.

The ad-hoc architectural construction of Mount St. Fenty is a bold statement in contravention to traditional artforms, favoring chaos and confusion over structure and focus.  The confusing form has been the topic of much discussion over the past few days, and the Mayor himself has expressed incredulity at its reception.  If the avant garde nature of Mount St. Fenty is its most obvious feature, the Kafkaesque drama that it carries with it as undercurrent is its most long-lasting.  The neighborhoods are rife with frustration as the Mount is causing all manner of parking difficulty throughout the city, leaving residents with flat tires, flared tempers and a sharp increase in the alcoholism rate.

Plans to move the monument at this time are quite sketchy, as the Mayor has said that the weather will have to do the job itself, and that city funds are stretched to the limit to move the monument to its final location. The delay, though, will prove to be a campaign issue for the Mayor in this fall’s primaries.  Well, should anyone decide to run against Mayor Fenty.

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Theodore Roosevelt Island may not have sandy beaches and palm trees, but this little island definitely has secrets.

First, you have to know it’s there. From the frenzied lane-changing above on the Roosevelt bridge, you’d never know that a nature preserve nearly 90 acres large lies below.

Scores of people zip past it daily in their cars on the George Washington Parkway, too, or on bike or foot on the Mount Vernon trail–only a single footbridge lets people across from near Rosslyn.

And when you do find and wander onto the island, all you see at first is trees. It’s a bit of a surprise when you come upon the hidden plaza, with a moat, fountains, and a 17’ statue of Teddy Roosevelt towering overhead.

‘Great view of Rosslyn’
courtesy of ’snapzdc’

You also can sneak peeks of the Rosslyn skyline and Georgetown, and of kayakers out on the water.

Another surprise is that wildlife lives on the island and shows itself to the visitors who walk and run there (you can go on foot only). Two and one-half miles of trail criss-cross a small hill and a swamp, where egrets and blue herons stalk fish and shiny blue lizards skitter along the boardwalk.

I’ve had a wild turkey stand calmly next to the trail and watch me pass by, and I’ve seen does, a buck, and spotted spindly fawns. One day not long ago, a fawn followed me a few steps of my run until, a bit unnerved, I stopped and turned around and explained that I was not Mum. He got the picture, and stood still. Then I noticed bubba or sis browsing in the bushes.

‘Under the Roosevelt bridge’
courtesy of ’snapzdc’

Smack in the middle of the Potomac, the island is a good place to find fish, and fishing charts are stocked at the kiosk near the island’s entrance. But the people who fish here today are continuing the history of the island and carrying on the practice begun by Native Americans, who called the island “Analostan.”

You might think the island has always been a green, lush, forgotten spot full of nature. You might not expect that it once belonged to King Charles I, who granted it to Lord Baltimore, who gave it the lofty name of “My Lord’s Island.” Or that a later owner, a sea captain, dubbed it “Barbadoes” after the island where he grew up.

Today, most people wear athletic shoes to go there. But if you’d been around from 1792 to 1830, you would have gone there all decked out in your finery. At the time, John Mason, whose father George wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights, had a brick Federal-style summer house on top of the hill in the middle of the island. Then the island was “a center of Washington and Georgetown society,” and the Masons ran a ferry between it and Georgetown.

‘View from Roosevelt Island’
courtesy of ’snapzdc’

One of the placards along the trail shows an 1818 map that “portrays the island as one continuous garden rich in native and cultivated plants, flowers, and fruits and divided by an avenue planted with trees.”

The Masons owned the island for over a century, but in 1784, an ice flood silted up the river. To deepen the Georgetown Harbor and keep the port open, a causeway was built between the island and the Virginia shore in 1805. While people could cross the causeway to reach the ferry the Masons owned, ultimately this was not the best arrangement for them. Stagnant water teemed behind the causeway, and they had to leave in 1832.

During the Civil War, black and white Union Army troops were stationed there.

‘Alone on a bridge’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99′

The island also has been a picnic resort, owned by the Columbia Athletic Association and the Analostan Boat Club. Near the end of the 19th century, most of the island was open field, and the Columbia Athletic Association owned it. Apparently the Washington Gas Light Company let the plants grow wild.

The house caught fire twice around the turn of the 20th century, and finally was pulled down in preparation for the park. Greater Greater Washington has some great pictures of the house, which is now reduced to a few well-camoflagued bricks, and more history on it.

The Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association bought the island in 1931 to turn it into a monument to our 26th president, who had a strong conservation ethic. Roosevelt provided federal protection for almost 230 million acres, a size equal to all of the East coast states from Maine to Florida. From 1901 to 1909, he designated 150 National Forests, the first 51 Federal Bird Reservations, the first 18 National Monuments, five National Parks and the first four National Game Preserves.

(Roosevelt is also why we have “teddy bears,” after he refused to shoot an old bear and cartoonists got hold of the story.)

‘The plaza’
courtesy of ’snapzdc’

The memorial, including the statue designed by Paul Manship, was dedicated on Oct. 27, 1967. It sits near the center of the island, surrounded by trees. If you like, you can reach the wide, flat stone plaza by way of one of the steep rounded bridges that remind me of the Cross Over the Bridge game I loved to play as a child.

It’s a nice, quiet place to sit and relax, and to wander around.

‘Roosevelt’s thoughts on nature’
courtesy of ’snapzdc’

While you’re there, you can gaze up at the giant Roosevelt–you probably will be shorter than even the pedestal he stands on–or take on the tall stone tablets inscribed with his quotes. I like the one about nature, which reads in part “There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy and its charm.”

See, Roosevelt dug the hidden stuff, too. Perhaps he would have been pleased that this out-of-the-way island, full of trees and wildlife, was dedicated to him.

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“Put yourself in the map”. That’s what I always tell my friends when they’re feeling turned around and lost. But not everyone has the appreciation for maps that I do, which is why I was so excited that I could literally put myself in the map at Freedom Plaza, and maybe take a friend or two with me to show them how it’s done.

Located just east of the White House at 14th and Penn between the Ronald Reagan building and the National Theatre, Freedom Plaza is one of those places in DC that you’ve probably already been to and never really noticed. The first time I was there was for the “Light the Night” walk for blood cancers which used the plaza as the basecamp for the start of the walk. It was dark out, and I had that feeling of: “This is probably somehow important – I mean it IS in the heart of Washington – but I can’t really tell in the dark.”

Different colored stones and brass inlays create a smooth, flat, and rectangular depiction of L’Enfant’s plan. The layout, the inscriptions, and the history are subtle and easily missed – unless you know why you’re there. Similarly, ironically shaped patches of grass stand out as awkward additions to the plaza until you realize they symbolize the National Mall.

‘Inscription at Freedom Plaza’
courtesy of ‘CathyLovesDC’

The plaza’s architects designed Western Plaza according to L’Enfant’s original plan of the city in which Pennsylvania Avenue was a direct link between the Capitol (which is inscribed as L’Enfant referred to it as “Congress’s House”) and the White House (as L’Enfant called the “President’s House”). This connection is now clouded by the Treasury building, which was built long after L’Enfant’s plan was constructed, which is why it is so important for us to remember his original plan for the city through Freedom Plaza.

‘L’Enfant’s Plan at Freedom Plaza’
courtesy of ‘CathyLovesDC’

Not only can you stand on a mini-layout of the streets and the buildings, but there is incredible history here that you also may not have realized. The plaza, built in 1980, was originally named Western Plaza, but was renamed Freedom Plaza in 1988 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. who composed his “I have a Dream” speech in the Willard across the street. A time capsule containing relics of MLK Jr. was planted at the site to be opened in a hundred years. However, I could not find the dedication to this time capsule or its location. (Have you seen it?)

So the next time you are on a run by the White House or ice skating in Pershing Park, swing by Freedom Plaza – and put yourself in the map.

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On a recent return trip to Dublin, Ireland, I happily killed some time strolling through the city oasis of St. Stephen’s Green. On my way out of the lush park, I meandered past a statue so familiar it brought me to a screeching halt. There stood a petticoat waistcoat-clad Robert Emmett (1778-1803)–bold jaw, foot forward, ready for battle. Now where I had seen this Irish patriot before?

But, of course. Where else but in DC, where memorials and monuments are so ubiquitous that many get passed without so much as a second glance. I too had been guilty of repeatedly strolling by this mystery man who reigns over a cozy triangular park near Massachusetts Avenue and 24th Street NW, having never stopped to learn his story. I vowed to visit him next time I found myself on embassy-lined Mass Ave.

Nestled beneath the branches of a Yoshino cherry tree, the DC Emmet stands on a granite pedestal just a few blocks from the Irish Embassy. This “boy martyr of Erin” appears mid-speech, one hand open in rhetorical gesture, the other somewhat clenched to display his “revolutionary spirit.” Emett’s father instilled in his sons a passion for Irish independence at a time when men and women-Catholic and Protestant-fought for freedom from Britain. Trinity College expelled the young Robert for his involvement in the 1798 rebellion and, in 1802, Emmet traveled to France as a member of the United Irishmen’s Party. Here he unsuccessfully appealed for French aid from Napoleon and Talleyrand. The following summer Emmet led an uprising outside of Dublin that British troops swiftly crushed. Emmet was executed (either hung or beheaded, accounts vary) on September 20, 1803 at the ripe age of 25.

Emmet statue in Dublin by Corinne Whiting

Many remember Emmet as an excellent orator and for his famous “speech from the dock” at his trial, with some of those words now inscribed on the statue’s pedestal. Emmet declared, “I wished to procure for my country the guarantee which Washington procured for America…I have parted from everything that was dear to me in this life for my country’s cause…When my country takes her place among the nations of the earth, then, and not till then let my epitaph be written.”

In 1916 American citizens of Irish ancestry commissioned Jerome Connor, an emigre from County Kerry, to create a sculpture to commemorate Irish independence. Reportedly using Irish actor Brandon Tynan as a model and Emmet’s death mask and trial sketches for the face, Connor cast the 7-foot-tall sculpture at the Washington Navy Yard. The creation was so well-received that San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park scored a copy in 1919 and Ireland’s St. Stephen’s Green got a replica as a gift from U.S. Congress in 1922. A fourth statue now stands tall in the Palo Alto County Court House square (next to its own “Blarney Stone”) in Emmetsburg, Iowa, a town full of Irish pride and named for, you guessed it, Robert Emmet.

Embassy Row by Corinne Whiting

The original Emmet statue was presented to The Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1917 “as a gift to the American people.” At the dedication, attended by President Woodrow Wilson, Senator James D. Phelan of California commented, “We should see that the heroes of the world…should find a place within the Nation’s capital.” Initially placed on view in the rotunda of the Smithsonian’s U.S. National Museum (now the National Museum of National History), the statue was transferred to the National Park Service and moved to its present site on April 22, 1966, also the 50th anniversary of independence of the Irish Republic. For countless St. Paddy’s Days, while most DC revelers headed out to paint the town green, members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, a fraternal Irish-Catholic organization, led a procession to the park to lay a wreath and shamrock at the feet of Robert Emmet.

So next time you come across “just another statue” in this memorial-crazed capital, remember that, in someone’s eyes anyway, you’re in the presence of a hero.

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Tucked across the street near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall and completely overshadowed by the nearby Lincoln Memorial sits a memorial to Albert Einstein. Located on the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences on Constitution Avenue, the bronze statue lounges in a small grove of elm and holly trees on a circular-stepped dais.

The statue honoring the physicist was unveiled in 1979 on the centennial of Einstein’s birth. The figure weighs four tons, sits twelve feet high and holds a paper with three of the scientist’s most important mathematical equations: the photoelectric effect, the theory of relativity and the equivalence of energy and matter. Three of his more famous quotations are engraved on the bench where the statue is seated.

‘IMG_8583′
courtesy of ‘cliff1066′

The dais has over 2,700 metal studs embedded into it, representing the location of astronomical objects in the sky at noon on April 22, 1979 – the date the memorial was dedicated – including all of the planetary bodies, four large asteroids in the solar system, five galaxies, ten quasars and the Moon. Each stud is of a different size to show the apparent magnitude of each object; different studs also are coded to depict binary stars, pulsars, globular clusters, spectroscopic binaries and more.

‘Sky Map at The Einstein Memorial’
courtesy of ‘andrew.deci’

When you stand in the center of the dais, Einstein appears to be looking directly at you and any words you speak are noticeably amplified. And during most hours of daylight during the summer, you’ll find kids sprawled in his lap with parents nearby taking photos. During the off-season, it’s a favorite place for area workers to congregate for lunch or to take a moment and rest after a hard day.

‘Albert Einstein’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

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Driving the George Washington Parkway north along the Potomac, you can almost miss the entrance to Fort Marcy Park. It’s not a well-known Civil War fortification, not being a sight of one of that war’s destructive battles, but it was one of the key components of the Union’s defense of the capital. (It’s also known as the place where White House Counsel Vince Foster’s body was discovered in 1993, but that’s not really relevant today.)

At the beginning of the Civil War, there was only one operational fort (Fort Washington, over in Maryland) to defend against Confederate encroachment. A huge effort was made to establish a defensive ring of forts around the capital, eventually resulting in a ring of eight enclosed forts and over 90 gun batteries by 1865. These preparations made DC one of the most heavily fortified cities in the world at that time.

Fort Marcy, located on a ridge called Prospect Hill in northern Virginia, was placed to provide strategic defense of the Chain Bridge, a key crossing over the Potomac (and one of the key bridges in today’s transportation network). The Chain Bridge was a vital part of maintaining Union army activity in north Virginia. The land belonged to local businessman Gilbert Vanderwerken, who suffered from the predation of the Confederates at his plantation in Falls Grove. The Union army moved onto his land and prepared both Fort Marcy and Fort Ethan Allen, clearing trees and building the much-needed batteries.

The fort consisted of a perimeter of over 700 yards and contained 18 gun emplacements. The ramparts were between 12 and 18 feet thick; with the trees cleared from the area, the soldiers at the fort had extremely good visibility towards both Chain Bridge and Leesburg Pike.

In 1862, the fort was renovated due to weather erosion. The perimeter was reduced to just under 340 yards but maintained its compliment of 18 guns.

Fort Marcy got its name from the Honorable Randolph B. Marcy, General McClellan’s father-in-law and chief of state. The fort was manned by detachments of the 4th New York and 3rd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, with infantrymen from the 130th Pennsylvania providing garrison duty.

While the fort never actually saw action during the war, it was often in a high alert status, due to its proximity to the Chain Bridge and its strategic position on the river. However, Lee never made a move on DC – knowing full well the respectable barrier the Circle Fortifications made – but was instead intent on driving Union troops from Virginia. As such, Fort Marcy remained only a strong sentinel against Confederate aggression.

After the war, the Fort was dismantled and the land returned to the Vanderwerken family. After World War II, the DeLashmutt family purchased the land where the fort had been and in 1959, Fort Marcy was deeded to the federal government. The park was opened to the public in 1963.

Fort Marcy still maintains a solid presence today. While much of the earthworks have eroded, you can still see the sloping and shape of the main fortifications, though the walls are nowhere as high as they were during the war. Some cannon were moved back to the area and positioned to give you an idea of possible locations and a marked trail circles the entire fort along the lines of the original entrenchment. The trail is quiet, though does have several steep descent / ascent spots; plan on taking your time to go the full circuit.

While it’s a bit hard to imagine what the sightlines were during its active period due to the proliferation of trees, it’s not difficult to recognize its value once you see it on a map. If Lee had decided to push towards Washington from Virginia, the Chain Bridge approach would probably have been a top choice for his attack and Fort Marcy may well have been more than a peaceful, silent monument to that era along the Potomac.

All photos courtesy of me.

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Few people think much of Pershing Park. I’d wager that most walk by without noticing it. In spite of Pershing Park being DC’s largest World War I memorial, it serves primarily as a napping place for the homeless and a thoroughfare for tourists walking from Federal Triangle station to the White House. You never see people stopping to take pictures or reading the inscriptions on statue pedestals, and the space is a bit disordered and poorly maintained. In and of itself, the park is hardly worth writing about, but it does serve as a disheartening case study of Americans’ indifference towards our nation’s participation in the Great War.

Pershing Park is located on 15th and Pennsylvania, between the Willard and the Commerce building. It was constructed in 1981 by the Pennsylvania Ave. Development Commission in honor of Gen. John J. Pershing and the American Expeditionary Forces. In case you’re a little hazy on your history, Gen. Pershing was one of America’s greatest military minds and “General of the Armies,” the highest rank ever held by any American officer aside from George Washington (although, Washington received this distinction posthumously). Pershing commanded the Expeditionary Forces during World War I and his over all strategy has been credited by many as a deciding factor in the Allied victory of World War I. In the course of a year and a half of combat, his armies suffered over 300,000 casualties, but succeeded in dislodging the Germans from many key locations in Europe.

In some ways, the shaded monument to these men is lovely. It is hewed from red granite and dominated by a shallow, algae filled fountain at one end, and by a bronze statue of Gen. Pershing at the other. Chiseled into the stone are maps and narratives of American exploits during World War I. It’s and unusually informative memorial. Trees surround the area and it seems insulated from the hustle and bustle of Downtown.

But, when you stop and think about it, the design of the space is rather mundane and lacks any sort of cohesion. The fountain area is cluttered and overgrown, while the statue space is stark and featureless. The benches and picnic tables in the park are utilitarian and generic and don’t fit in with the color scheme or feel of the monument. The cobbling of the memorial changes from thick slabs of granite to brick to stone. The fountain basin is in desperate need of cleaning and floods regularly.

‘Pershing Park’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

The disorderliness of the design suggest that little thought or aesthetic sense went into it. It seems that the monument is there just to fill space and that the Development Commission approached it as an afterthought. This, coupled with the lack of maintenance and care, is sadly reminiscent of the respect that our nation pays to the memory of our WWI soldiers. There is no major memorial for them on the Mall, despite there being one for almost every other major conflict that the US soldiers died in. We don’t hallow our soldiers’ actions in stories or movies. Very few Americans even know much of the history of WWI.

Truth be told, the conflict was fought in the waning days of a imperialistic mindset that our nation, at least in word, divorced generations ago. WWI was also overshadowed by a second, much larger and more harrowing World War. Still, it was our second costliest war and tens of thousands of men were killed. It completely changed the political landscape of the world, felled empires and revolutionized the way we fight wars. These things are worth remembering.

Accordingly, I take a different view of Pershing Park than I do other monuments. To me, its shabbiness serves as a poignant reminder of America’s forgetfulness. When I think about the tremendous sacrifice of our WWI vets, the very few that remain, Pershing Park reminds me that they deserve a greater respect than we afford. Perhaps it memorializes them in a way that a grandiose, neo-classical edifice never could. The more I think about it, the more moving the it becomes to me. So, next time you’re near the White House, take time to stop at the park, have a look around and remember Gen. Pershing and the American Expeditionary Forces.

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While Monumental is traditionally the realm of the markers and monuments and memorials left throughout the city, Council Chairman Graham said something at this morning’s re-opening of Eastern Market that stuck with me. He said that Eastern Market was DC’s own Monument, more so than any of the Washington monuments. He couldn’t be more right. Let’s take a look at our rededicated monument to city life.

Eastern Market was constructed in 1873, designed by Adolf Cluss. The District was attempting to urbanize and part of that plan was a series of local markets for produce and meat. Cluss designed Central and Eastern markets as part of the new system. As the Post would point out in the wake of the fire, Eastern Market is truly local. The architecture of the space, done in the Italian style, in old red brick, is set at odds with the Federal style of granite, marble and columns.

Eastern Market has ebbed and flowed, growing in 1908 with the addition of the North and Central halls, and then collapsing again in 1929 to just the South Hall. As the automobile revolution exploded, the market system was less and less necessary as the supermarket world began to take shape. After World War II, the city dissolved the common market networks, and all were demolished with the exception of Eastern Market, which was taken over by Charles Glasgow, Sr., who formed a corporation to run the market’s Central and South halls.

Eastern Market remains a working market, an integral part of our community and life, nourishing us with fresh produce, bread and pasta, specialty meats and most especially, community. That was the common element today on the faces of all who walked through the revitalized market: the restoration of the heart of their community. Eastern Market is a large part of Capitol Hill’s character, and a gathering place for the community.

This weekend’s festivities kick off tomorrow morning at 10am, when 7th Street will be closed off to car traffic, to make the area around Eastern Market a pedestrian plaza. All of the 2007 vendors are back, and everyone was excited to see the crowd today, as most are family shops. It was fantastic to see all the smiles today for our own city monument. Congratulations, Eastern Market. Welcome back.

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Awesome photographer Kim Baker pointed me to the Arsenal Memorial for this week’s Monumental column. It’s part of Congressional Cemetery over in Southeast, just south of RFK, and a really amazing place to go see. Congressional is the first national cemetery, established 200 years ago. Many former members of the House and Senate are buried there, alongside Washington’s elite, including the King of the March, John Philip Sousa.

June 17, 1864 was a hot day in Washington. In the arsenal at 4th Street, a staff of 100 people was busy assembling shells for use by the Union Army in the Civil War. What happened that morning is one of the original cases for good fireworks laws. A few pans of flare pellets set out in the sun to dry would spontaneously combust and throw sparks through the open window of the arsenal. What happened next is right out of a Michael Bay movie. More than 20 people died when the whole gunpowder store went up in a massive explosion. 18 were burned to death in the explosion and three more died in the ensuing panic.

The memorial was the result of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, who ordered that the department would bear all the costs of the funeral for those who died in the explosion and fire. The monument that stands there bears the name of the 21 who died, as well as a marble figurine of a woman with folded hands. It was the result of a citywide collection in the following year, which raised $3,000 to allow Lot Flannery to create the monument that stands at Congressional now.

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You might’ve spotted this small obelisk on the Ellipse, as it sits there just opposite the White House on the north end. It was supposed to be something much like the American Meridian: designed to be a measuring point for all of the highways in the United States. Instead? It’s just the measuring point for the highways in the District of Columbia (yeah, I know, what highways?). But why a milestone at all? The system of highways was dependent upon common reference measures in order to handle guidebooks and maps, as well as establishing distances between locations. Thus, if they were measured from a common location, which could be surveyed and plotted appropriately, better travel guides and directions could be created.

The milestone dates back to the post World War I era, when expansion of the highway system was just beginning. In 1919, an advocate for the early highway system, Dr. S. M. Johnson, proposed a single national marker, based on the Roman system, from which all roads would be measured. He wrote to the Army Motor Transportation Corps, “The system of highways radiating from Washington to all the boundaries of the national domain and all parts of the Western hemisphere will do vastly more for national unity and for human unity than even the roads of the Roman Empire.” His letter was successful, and after an act of Congress, a temporary marker was erected before a large convoy of vehicles would take the Lincoln Highway from DC west to San Francisco on July 7th, 1919.

President Harding would dedicate the permanent marker that now rests on the Ellipse in June of 1923. It would be the first of many to follow, including milestones in San Diego (for the Lee Highway), Nashville, and other major cities on the national highway system that existed prior to the Eisenhower Interstate System that we know today. US 1’s milestone is in Key West, Florida. Our milemarker is a short obelisk with a bronze 16 point compass rose, atop it, inscribed with some of the journeys that began from it in 1919 and 1920.

So, our milestone stands proud, just south of the White House, on the site of the Jefferson Pier, on one of the great meridians of Washington. Though its purpose is past, it reminds us that context, and where you measure your roads from, is ever-shifting beneath us. You can read more about the first national truck convoys, or about those involved with the milestone, courtesy of the Department of Transportation.

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‘Tidal Basin path’ courtesy of ‘brianmka’

Don’t laugh, but it could be that Nirvana is something like sitting in West Potomac Park on a beautiful day in spring. This past Sunday was one of those near-perfect days in DC: Bright warm sun, low humidity, slight breeze. I sat facing the river, the encouraging cheers of softball players and clink of the metal bat finding contact with the ball perforating the silence. A little girl wandered around to my right, collecting pieces of grass in an over-stuffed plastic bag. A father led another little girl, no more than 2 years old, by the hand through the weeping branches of the river-side trees. People all around the park were having picnics, pushing strollers, jogging, biking, barbecuing.

West Potomac Park stretches from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial and down to include the FDR Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and–of course–some 3,000 Cherry Blossom trees. The Tidal Basin, the oblong pool south of the Washington Monument and north of the Jefferson, is an artificial inlet that culls water from the Potomac and the Washington Channel. Old-school romancers may be seen paddling around the basin in those paddleboat contraptions.

‘Closed for Maintenance’ courtesy of ‘M.V. Jantzen’

On the other side of the reflecting pool is Constitution Gardens, a 50-acre park on its own merit. While it is now a bit removed from what we think of as the riverside, the gardens were in fact once submerged beneath the Potomac. Prior to the land being dedicated as a national park, it was home to the Navy and Munitions building. It was President Nixon, in fact, himself a former navy officer, who had the building demolished and re-appropriated the land as a national park for the national Bicentennial in 1976. Today, the gardens boast the Vietnam Memorial and Declaration of Independence memorial, and also host the annual naturalization ceremony for new U.S. citizens.

‘2009 04 04 – 3747 – Washington DC – Tidal Basin’ courtesy of ‘thisisbossi’

The river itself may not look like much at times, but the Potomac is in fact the 4th largest on the Atlantic Coast and the 21st largest in the country. (Bonus points if you know approximately how many American rivers there are total. Anyone? Over 250,000!) The Potomac River extends 383 miles from the Fairfax Stone in West Virginia to Point Lookout, Maryland and weaves in and out of four states. The name “Potomac” is an Algonquin tribal name. Besides its ecological importance to the area and its flora and fauna, it has a large amount of historical value as well.

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