On this date: Lincoln Memorial dedicated

IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER

Epitaph by Royal Cortissoz at Lincoln Memorial

WASHINGTON D.C. (WHTM) — On May 30, 1922, before an audience of more than 50,000 people (including Abraham Lincoln’s only surviving son, 78-year-old Robert Todd Lincoln) William H. Taft, Chief Justice of the United States, dedicated the Lincoln Memorial and presented it to United States President Warren G. Harding, who accepted it on behalf of the American people.

The ceremony completed a process that began in 1867. That year Congress passed a bill to erect a monument to the late President. Sculptor Clark Mills designed an elaborate 70-foot-high statue, but it was never built.

Then in 1910, a new bill established the Lincoln Memorial Commission, and then President William H. Taft was tapped to lead it. They had their first meeting in 1911. Design work went quickly, and on February 12, 1914, a groundbreaking ceremony was held, followed by the laying of the cornerstone in 1915. Construction slowed when the United States entered World War I but never stopped.

The designer of the memorial, Architect Henry Bacon, modeled the building after the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, creating a tie between the birthplace of democracy and the man who defended it.

The Lincoln Memorial measures 190 feet long, 120 feet wide, and 99 feet tall. It was constructed with Colorado Yule marble. Circling the memorial are 36 Doric columns, one for each of the 36 states in the Union when Lincoln was President.

The inside of the Memorial interior is divided into three chambers. In the south chamber is a carver inscription of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The north chamber has inscribed his Second Inaugural Address. Above each inscription is a 60′ x 12′ mural painted by Jules Guerin portraying governing principles of Lincoln’s life.

In the center chamber is The Lincoln Statue. The figure of Lincoln sitting in contemplation was carved by the Piccirilli brothers under the supervision of the sculptor, Daniel Chester French. The statue was originally meant to be 10 feet tall, but when it became obvious the sculpture would be overwhelmed by the chamber, it was almost doubled in size to 19 feet. (At that scale, a standing Lincoln would be 28 feet tall.) The width of the statue is the same as its height, 19 feet.

Sadly, the honors of the 16th President were marred by one ugly decision. A number of prominent African Americans were invited to the event and kept in a segregated area. This included the President of Tuskegee Institute, Robert Moton, who was actually a speaker at the ceremony.

In spite of that distasteful beginning, the Lincoln Memorial has gone on to become an icon of civil rights, starting with the Marian Anderson concert on the memorial’s steps on April 9, 1939, after she’d been refused the use of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s hall, as well as the Martin Luther King “I have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963, in which he evoked the memory of Abraham Lincoln. There is now a plaque where he stood on the steps of the memorial.