Lincoln Memorial Facts
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Overview
Located at the Western end of the National Mall in Washington, DC, the Lincoln Memorial commemorates the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.
Memorial Facts
Started: Lincoln's birthday, February 12, 1915
Dedicated: May 30, 1922
Cost: $3 Million
Architect: Henry Bacon
Architecture: Greek Revival
Height: 99 ft (30.2 m) tall
Material: Marble, Limestone
Sculptor: Daniel Chester French
How tall is the sculpture? 19 feet tall, sitting
What is the sculpture made of: Georgia Marble
Inscription Behind the Statue of Lincoln:
"IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER."
Visitors per year: 3,638,806 (in 2005)
Hours Open: 24 Hours a Day
Location: West of the National Mall, Washington, DC
Admission: Free
Additional Interesting Lincoln Memorial Facts
The North wall of the monument contains an inscription of Lincoln's second inaugural speech. The South wall has the complete Gettysburg address inscribed on it Above the inscription is a mural depicting the angel of truth freeing a slave.
The style is that of a Greek temple.
The 36 enormous columns represent each of the states in the Union at the time of the President's death in 1865.
By the completion of the monument in May 1922, the Union had increased by 12 more states, so the names of all 48 states were carved on the outside of the memorial's walls. Following the admission of Alaska and Hawaii as states, a plaque with the names of these new states was added.
Plaster casts of Abraham Lincoln's face and were used by the sculptor to make the monument's statue.
A picture of the Lincoln Memorial is featured on the reverse side of the US penny and the back side of the American five-dollar bill.
Martin Luther King, Jr., made his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.
In 1939, African-American contralto Marian Anderson, at the request of Eleanor Roosevelt, performed before a live and radio audience.
A Brief History of the Lincoln Memorial
Roughly two years following Lincoln's assassination, the U.S. Congress appointed the Lincoln Monument Association to build a memorial dedicated to Abraham Lincoln. However, the site for the memorial was not chosen until 1901. In 1911, President Taft signed the Lincoln Memorial Bill to provide $2 million in funding for the memorial. On 12 February, 1911, construction began to commemorate Lincoln's birthday. On May 30, 1922, former President and Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Robert Todd Lincoln, Lincoln's only surviving child, lead the monument's dedicaiton ceremony. The memorial's architect, Henry Bacon, received a Gold Medal by the American Institute of Architects for his design in 1923.
More History about the Lincoln Memorial
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