Washingtonand

New York City July 2010

The Mall with the Lincoln and Washington Monuments as seen from the flight into

D.C.

Standing 555 ft tall, the Washington Monument is the tallest structure in the nation’s capital. It is also the tallest stone structure and obelisk in the

world.

50 flags surround the monument to designate the 50 states

Work began on the monument in 1848 but the structure was not completed

until 1884.Due to a lack of funds, construction

was halted for a number of years. Thus, the stone on the bottom 150 feet is a

different shade than the top.

There are 24 bronze bas relief panels flanking the formal 17th Street en-trance to the memorial. Each panel measures two feet tall by five feet long . Twelve scenes from the homefront and the Pacific Theater are displayed

on the south walk and twelve scenes from the homefront and the European Theater are along the northern walk.

The final design consists of 56 granite pillars, each 17 feet (5 m) tall, arranged in a semicircle around a plaza with two 43-foot arches on opposite sides. Each pillar is

inscribed with the name of one of the 48 U.S. states of 1945, as well as the District of Columbia, the Alaska Territory and Territory of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The

northern arch is inscribed with “Atlantic”; the southern one, “Pacific.” The plaza is 337 ft, 10 inches long and 240 feet, 2 inches wide, is sunk 6 feet below grade, and con-

tains a pool that is 246 feet 9 inches by 147 feet 8 inches .There are two wreaths for each pillar; one on the front and one on the back. Each pillar has both, but they alternate from side to side for variety. The wheat wreath represents agriculture and the oak wreath represents industry. This symbolizes the fact that not only did the states and territories give their citizens to serve in the military, they also

offered their resources and the fruits of their labor to the cause of victory.

Above:The World War II Victory Medal is a decoration of the United States military which was created by an act of Congress in July 1945. The decoration com-memorates military service during World War II

and is awarded to any member of the United States military, including members of the armed forces

of the Government of the Philippine Islands, who served on active duty, or as a reservist, between De-

cember 7, 1941 and December 31, 1946.

Following page:Inside each victory pavilion is a sculptural canopy called a baldacchino. These baldacchinos are actually four eagles holding a laurel victory wreath suspended above an enlarged victory me-dallion set into the floor below. The eagle is the symbol of the United States of America. The

laurel wreath is a symbol of victory going back to ancient Greece. So, the sculptures symbolize American victory in the Atlantic and in the Pacific theaters. The eagles have wingspans of 11 feet and are perched on columns 18 feet tall. Each of the laurel wreaths weighs 5,000 pounds.

The Lincoln Memorial

The statue, originally intended to be only 10 feet tall, was, on further consideration, enlarged so that it finally stood 19 feet tall

from head to foot, the scale being such that if Lincoln were standing, he would be

28 feet tall. A popular legend is that Lincoln is shown

using sign language to represent his initials, with his left hand shaped to form an A and his right hand to form an L, the

president’s initials.

The Lincoln Memorial was started in1914 and dedicated in

1922. The exterior of the Memo-rial echoes a classic Greek temple. It is surrounded by a peristyle of 36 fluted Doric columns, one for each of the 36 states in the Union

at the time of Lincoln’s death. Above the colonnade, inscribed on the frieze, are the names of the 36 states and the dates in which they entered the Union. Above this on the attic frieze are inscribed the names of the 48 states present at the time of the Memorial’s dedi-

cation.

Washington subway

The Supreme Court Building

above top: East side “Justice the Guardian of Liberty”other sculptures depict great lawgivers including Mo-

ses, Solon and Confucious

Sculptures on flagpole bases

“Comtemplation of Justice” Authority of Law

Sculptures above the main entrance represent Liberty Enthroned flanked by Authority and Order. Other figures depict Council and Research.

The U.S. Capitol

Partially burned by the British in 1812 it has gone through a number of renovations and enlargements. The Dome in its present form was completed in 1866. The cast iron dome is actually two domes, an exterior one

and an interior one.On top sits the Statue of Freedom who

is 19 ft 6 in. tall and her crest rises to 288 ft above the ground. She has a sheathed sword, a laurel wreath of victory and a

shield with thirteen stripes.

Capitol Visitor Center

Columns of Aquia Creek sandstone and arches support the Rotunda floor. During the early Civil War, the Crypt was used to store flour needed to bake bread for Union soldiers stationed in

the nation’s capital.

Next page:The Capitol Rotunda is a circular room 96 ft in diameter and 180 ft in height. The canopy fresco was painted in 11

months and is entitled “The Apotheo-sis of Washington”. It depicts Wash-ington rising to the heavens in glory

flanked by female figures representing Liberty and Victory. Also, there are

thirteen maidens depicting the original states as well as six other groups of fig-ures representing the defeat of Tyranny

(War), Science, Marine, Commerce, Mechanics and Agriculture.

National Statuary Hall. In 1864, Congress cre-ated National Statuary Hall, which provided the empty chamber with a new function.

The law reads, in part: “The States to provide and furnish statues, in marble or bronze, not

exceeding two in number for each state, of de-

ceased persons, who have been citizens thereof,

and illustrious for their historic renown or for distinguished civic or

military service as each State may deem worthy

of this national com-memoration.”

The frieze around the ceiling depicts

important events in American history

from the landing of Columbus to the

discovery of gold in California. It is 8 feet 4 inches in height and 300 feet in circumfer-

ence

“The Past”

“The Future”

Two of the four stat-ues placed around the

National Archives building. Each cut

from a single block of limestone weighing

125 tons.

The Library of Congress Thirty

three ethnologi-cal heads ornament the keystones of the first-story windows.

They were mod-eled on a collection related to different ethnic races, from

Arab to Zulu, at the Smithsonian Institu-

tion.Selected by Librar-ian Ainsworth Rand Spofford, the nine

great men commem-orated by the busts

across the portico of the front entrance

pavilion at the second-story level

are each silhouetted in front of a round

window. From left to right as you stand in front of the build-ing: Demosthenes, Emerson, Irving, Goethe, Franklin, Macaulay, Haw-thorne, Scott and Dante. They were carved by Herbert Adams, Jonathan Scott Hartley and

Frederick W. Ruck-stull.

At the corners of the ceiling two winged figures of genius flank an emblem show-ing the traditional symbols of learning, a

torch and a book.

The marble floor of the Great Hall contains a number of modeled and incised brass inlays. The center represents the Sun, on which are noted the four cardinal points of the compass, indicating the main axes of the building. A decorative scale pattern encloses the Sun with alternate sec-tions of red and yellow Italian marble, the former from Verona and the

latter from Sienna.

During the renovation of the Jefferson Building in the 1980s, restorers discovered that the metal-

lic ornamentation of the ceiling, once thought to be silver leaf, is actually aluminum leaf. When the building was being constructed during the

1890s, aluminum was more precious than silver.

National Air and Space Museum

Apollo Lunar Lander

Smithsonian Museum of American History

Steel from the World Trade Center

Berlin Wall

Union StationIn the 1800s, major railway terminals like the

Euston Station in London were often construct-ed with a monumental arch, which suggested a grand entrance to the city. Architect Daniel Burnham modeled the arch for Union Station

after the classical Arch of Constantine in Rome. Inside, he designed grand vaulted spaces that re-sembled the ancient Roman Baths of Diocletian.

Roman Centurion Statues

The National Cathedral The National Cathedral, completed in 1990, is the culmination of a two-century-long plan for a majestic Gothic style cathedral. This richly decorated cathedral is located on a landscaped 57 acre plot of land on

Mount Saint Albans in Northwest Washington, 400 feet above sea level. The cathedral consists of a long nar-row rectangular mass, the eight bay nave and the five bay chancel, intersected by a six bay transept.

Above the crossing, rising just over 300 feet above grade, is the Gloria in Ex-celsis Tower. The Cathedral is the

sixth largest in the world, second largest in the United States. The top of the tower is the highest point

in DC.

The primary building material is gray Indiana limestone; some concrete and structural steel are used sparingly. The

building abounds in architectural sculp-ture, wood carving, leaded glass, mosa-ics, artistic metal work, and many other works of art, including over 200 stained

glass windows. Most of the decorative el-ements have Christian symbolism or are memorials to famous persons or events.

The Jefferson Memorial

Completed in 1943 and composed of circular

marble steps, a portico, a circular colonnade of Ionic order columns, and a shallow dome,

the building is open to the elements. It makes

references to the Roman Pantheon and Jefferson’s own design for the Ro-

tunda at the University of Virginia.

The interior of the me-morial has a 19-foot tall, 10,000 lb bronze statue of Jefferson by sculptor Rudulph Evans show-ing Jefferson looking out toward the White House. This statue was

added four years after the dedication. The interior walls are engraved with passages from Jefferson’s writings. Most promi-

nent are the words which are inscribed in a frieze

below the dome

Korean War Veterns Memorial

Overnight trip to N.Y.C.

Times Square

Ferry to Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty

• Official dedication held on Oct. 28, 1886

• Total overall height from the base of the pedestal foundation to the tip of the torch is 305 ft. 6 in.

• Height of the statue from her heel to to the top of her head is 111ft. 6 in.

• The face measures more than 8 ft. tall

• There are 154 steps from the pedestal to the head

• The tablet in her left hand measures 23 ft. 7 in. tall and 13 ft. 7 in. wide inscribed with the date JULY IV MDCCLXXVI ( July 4, 1776)

• There are seven rays on the crown, one for each conti-nent. They are 9 ft. long.

• At the feet lie the broken shackles of oppression and tyranny

• During the restoration in 1986, the new torch was covered with thin sheets of 24k gold

Ground Zero

American Museum Of Natural History

Back to D.C.

Marine Corps War Memorial