Lincoln Memorial
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Events
In 1939, the singer Marian Anderson was refused permission to perform at Constitution Hall in Washington because of her skin color. Eleanor Roosevelt arranged for Anderson to perform from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, to a live audience of 70,000, and a nationwide radio audience. (It was a very successful performance.)
On August 28, 1963, the monument 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. Numerous speeches have been given in front of the building, including Martin Luther King's greatest, "I Have a Dream". It is estimated that approximately 250,000 people came to witness this speech and that the crowd stretched back to the entrance of the present World War II Memorial. A marked tile on the memorial's steps shows where Dr. King stood. A counter-demonstration to the speech took place as well. George Lincoln Rockwell, leader of the American Nazi Party, led a small but vocal contingent of about 100 protesters who claimed that civil rights for blacks would lead to violence against and disenfranchisement of White people.
The site has had its share of unusual events; President Bush's 2001 inauguration ceremony included dance troupe The Rockettes kicking their legs in the air, while marching down the monument's steps.
Images of the memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is shown on the reverse of the United States penny. In his treatise Theory and Practise of Numismatic Design, Steve Crooks states that because the Lincoln Memorial is shown in sufficient detail to discern the statue of Lincoln on the reverse of the penny, Abraham Lincoln is the only person to be depicted on both the obverse and reverse of the same United States coin. This held true until 1999 when the New Jersey state quarter was released depicting George Washington crossing the Delaware River on its reverse. Another upcoming incident will occur in 2006 when South Dakota's quarter is released, depicting Mount Rushmore.
The Lincoln Memorial is on the back of the U.S. $5 bill, which bears Lincoln's portrait on the front.
Other Lincoln memorials in Washington, D.C.
The Lincoln Memorial was preceded by three earlier remarkable memorials to Lincoln in the capital.The first Lincoln statue in the US, in front of what was the first City Hall (D street) was unveiled on April 15, 1868, the third anniversary of Lincoln's death, by his successor, Andrew Johnson. It was paid for by the citizens of Washington, D.C. Lot Flannery, the Irish sculptor, claimed he knew Lincoln and was present at the theatre when Lincoln was assassinated. The memorial was meant not only to commemorate Lincoln but remind the public of his authorization of up to $1 million to pay loyal D.C. slaveholders for their human property. This initiative reflected Lincoln's need to balance the drive towards the end of slavery with his dependency on the loyalty of the citizens of D.C. to the Union. The statue was taken down in 1919, but was restored to its original location after considerable controversy in 1923.
A Lincoln statue was dedicated inside the Rotunda of the United States Capitol on January 25, 1871, in the presence of Ulysses S. Grant. While still a teenager, sculptress Vinnie Ream began preliminary sketches of Lincoln during the last five months of his life. She became the first woman to receive a commission from Congress to create a statue for the Rotunda. To accurately render the statue's garments, she borrowed the clothes Lincoln wore the night of his assassination.
The "Emancipation Memorial" (1876) in Lincoln Park on Capitol Hill portrays a kneeling man representing the last man captured under the Fugitive Slave Law, who snaps slavery's chains as Lincoln proffers the Emancipation Proclamation. Freed black slaves raised all the funds to erect it. The initiative came from Charlotte Scott, of Virginia, who donated the first $5 she earned as a free American.
Other memorials to Lincoln
There is a statue to Lincoln located in London's Parliament Square. It is a replica of the statue created by Augustus Saint-Gaudens for the dedication of Lincoln Park in Chicago.In popular culture
In the final scene of the 1968 film Planet of the Apes, Charlton Heston's character famously realizes he has been on Earth the entire time when he discovers the Statue of Liberty buried on a beach. For the 2001 remake, Tim Burton chose to use the Lincoln Memorial instead. However, an additional twist was added: the apes and humans learn to live together peacefully and Mark Wahlberg's character returns to Earth, where his vessel crash-lands in front of the Lincoln Memorial — or rather, a similar memorial devoted to General Thade, the exiled villain. With Thade's head replacing Lincoln's, the memorial instead reads:
IN THIS TEMPLE AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE APES FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE PLANET THE MEMORY OF GENERAL THADE IS ENSHRINED FOREVER
See also
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