The Lincoln Memorial History

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Overview
Located at the West end of the national mall in Washington, DC, the Lincoln Memorial honors the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.

Begun in 1914, the building was designed by architect Henry Bacon. The interior includes a 19-foot seated statue of Lincoln by Sculptor Daniel Chester French, murals by painter Jules Guerin, and two well-known speeches by Lincoln.

The memorial has been the site several famous speeches and gatherings, including Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on August 28, 1963, during the rally of the March on Washington.

Damaged over the years by visitation and environmental factors, the Lincoln Memorial is currently undergoing restoration.

The memorial ranked seventh on the 2007 list of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.

History
Shortly after the death of Lincoln in 1867, Congress created the Lincoln Monument Association to build a memorial. Initially, a design was considered for a six equestrian and 31 pedestrian statues of colossal size, with a 12-foot statue of Lincoln in the center. The project was never started for lack of funds.

Not until 1910 did two members of Congress, Shelby M. Cullom and Joseph G. Cannon, who had known Lincoln in Illinois, push through a Lincoln Memorial bill which President Taft signed in February 1911. The bill created a Lincoln Memorial Commission to oversee the project and allotted $2 million in funds. The final cost of the memorial, however, was $3 million.

The first stone was put into place on Lincoln's birthday, February 12, 1914. On May 30, 1922, the monument was dedicated by Former President and Chief Justice William Howard Taft on May 30, 1922, 57 years after the death of Lincoln.

An estimated 50,000 people attended the ceremonies, including hundreds of Civil War veterans and Robert Todd Lincoln, the only surviving son of the president.

Exterior
New York architect Henry Bacon modeled the memorial in the style of a Greek Doric temple. The classical building measures 204 feet long, 134 feet wide, and 99 feet tall, with 44-foot columns-- design features 36 columns outside symbolizing the states in the Union at Lincoln's death (the 25 U.S. states as well as the 11 seceded States). The structure synthesizes white Colorado marble for the exterior, Indiana limestone for the interior walls, pink Tennessee marble for the floor, and Alabama marble for the ceiling.

The names of all 48 states in the Union at the time of the completion of the memorial in 1922 are carved in the exterior attic walls. Following the admission of Alaska and Hawaii, a memorial plaque in the plaza to commemorates their admission in 1959. In 1923, Bacon received the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects for the design of the memorial.

Interior
The interior statue of Lincoln, at the center of the building between chambers, was designed by Daniel Chester French and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers of New York. Made of 28 separate blocks of white Georgia marble and weighing 175 tons, it measures 19 feet tall and 19 feet wide. Beneath the hands Lincoln, the Roman fasces, symbols of the authority of the Republic, are sculpted in relief on the seat. Above, the head of the sculpture is the 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

The memorial plans originally specified a 12-foot bronze statue, but such a design proved out of scale for the huge building.

On the north and south walls two side chambers of the memorial are inscriptions of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural. Above them, Jules Guerin painted murals represent the principles of freedom, justice, unity, brotherhood, and charity.

Events at the Memorial
In 1939, the Roosevelt administration arranged for contralto Marian Anderson to perform from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday of that year, to a live audience of 70,000, in a concert that played on national radio.

On August 28, 1963, the memorial was a rally site for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a significant event in the American Civil Rights movement. An estimated 250,000 people came to the memorial where Martin Luther King, Jr., deliver his memorable speech, "I Have a Dream," A tile on the memorial's steps marks where Dr. King stood.

On November 27, 2006, the memorial was partially closed after a suspicious liquid was found in a bathroom.