|Area:||107.43 acres (0.43 km²)|
|Architectural style:||Greek Revival|
|Governing body:||National Park Service|
|Added to NRHP:||October 15, 1966|
The Lincoln Memorial was built to remember Abraham Lincoln, who was the 16th President of the United States and led the nation during the American Civil War. It is in the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and is a popular site for tourists.
Design[change | change source]
The Lincoln Memorial was built to look like the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, Greece. The main focus of the memorial is Daniel Chester French's sculpture of Lincoln, seated on a throne.It is surrounded by thirty six columns which are 37 feet (11 m) high. There is a large reflecting pool right outside the steps.
Inside[change | change source]
A sculpture of Lincoln sitting on a chair is inside the Memorial. The statue shows the President looking towards the reflecting pool and the Washington Monument. The statue is 19 feet 9 inches (6 m) tall and 19 feet (6 m) wide, and was carved from 28 blocks of white marble.
These words are written on the wall behind the sculpture:
IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER
This is a complicated sentence and was written long ago. It means that Abraham Lincoln will forever be remembered here, just like he will be remembered by the people of the United States, who he saved.
Lincoln's famous speech, the Gettysburg Address, is written into one of the walls at the Memorial. There are also several murals on the other walls. One of the murals shows an angel, and another one shows a slave being freed.
Famous events[change | change source]
Due to Lincoln being associated with freeing the slaves, the Memorial has been a center for civil rights protests in the United States. In 1939, Marian Anderson sang there because she could not sing at Constitution Hall. The Memorial has been used many times for famous events. Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech was given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. President Richard Nixon once met with protesters of the Vietnam War, who were at the Memorial. A concert was given for President Barack Obama at the Memorial before he took office.
The Lincoln Memorial on U.S. currency[change | change source]
References[change | change source]
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lincoln Memorial|