Knocking out the Monuments: Lincoln Memorial

One of the unique benefits I have as a DC tour guide, is not only seeing and experiencing the monuments, memorials, museums, etc. through my own eyes, but through those of countless visitors I usher around our fair city. I get to meet a good cross section of Americans (and occasionally foreign guests) and I am perennially fascinated by their reactions, by what we hold in common, and by what we take in differently.

While stereotypes abound, and generalizations are easy to come by, most groups, no matter their background, tend to oooh and ahhh at the same points; get bored with the same things, and be struck emotionally at the same time. I particularly enjoy using my visitors viewpoints to judge the success and failure of the architects, sculptors, and other artists whose works dot the Mall. After all, as you learn in the first week of economics, value is determined by what someone will pay for an item, not what experts claim it is. Through the eyes of my thousands of visitors I can judge the value of these works far better than august Planning Commissions, Institutes of Architects, boards, critics, and even my own personal judgment. If the masses get it, it works. If they are left scratching their heads, it failed. Art, to me, is only successful if it evokes an emotion; and I'm privileged to get to see how many people react to the same thing.

I mention all this, because our last stop on this little tour, the Lincoln Memorial is by far the most successful of all the Presidential monuments, using the above definition. My hat's off to Daniel Chester French, the sculptor of Lincoln in the Memorial. Theoretically, my objections to the Jefferson Memorial should apply to the Lincoln. It's just a big statue of a guy in a neoclassical temple. But it's not the same at all, and that is entirely a result of the artistry of French in creating a work that captures some of the weight that Lincoln wore about him like a cloak.

It's all the more impressive in that there is no surprise as to what you're going to see. Everyone is ready for it. You've seen him in movies, in pictures, in history books, and countless other bits of our collective zeitgeist. And if somehow you have not, just flip over a penny or a five dollar bill, and there he is. But still, despite my visitors familiarity, Lincoln still evokes a reaction as they walk up to him.

And the walk is part of the experience. As you walk up the 57 steps (of no significance, by the way), you are ascending as if you are a supplicant. But the statue is not heroic (in the classic sense). He's not triumphant; he is, if anything, resigned to his fate. Martyrdom, sacrifice, satisfaction, sorrow, wisdom, and a dozen other thoughts share space in his face. I've seen it hundreds of times, and it still hits me, in a way that sculptures of equal significance do not.

Besides the pilgrimage portion of your visit, you'll want to take the time to explore the rest of the Memorial. On the ground level there is a nice little museum, elevators (for the handicapped, you lazy bastards!), and the ever important restrooms. You may want to spend a minute reading the Gettysburg Address and his Second Inaugural Address. Sure, you've read them before, but they make more sense here. You'll also want to find the exact spot Martin Luther King gave his "I have a dream" speech. And finally, despite the Park Service's linguistic contortions, there IS a misspelled word in the first paragraph of the Second Inaugural. So, with high hope for the euture, I leave you to find it.

Knocking out the Monuments: FDR Memorial

I apologize for the informality, but the next person I hear call it the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in actual conversation will be the first. It's always just the FDR Memorial, or simply FDR.

And I find that quite appropriate. Like his compatriot across the Tidal Basin, FDR was a complex character, a man born to the upper crust but who saw himself the spokesman of the people. But in many ways he eschewed the formality of the class he was born to. Oh sure, he wore the prince nez glasses, and used the funny looking cigarette holder, and no one has ever confused him with a rag to riches story. But while certainly not humble, he often ducked the more personal trappings of his exalted status, even to the point of asking for a low key memorial.

That's right, this is very much not the Memorial FDR wanted. In fact, it's not even his first. According to his friend, the humorously named Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, FDR had very specific ideas about how to be remembered:

If any memorial should be erected to me, I know exactly what I should like it to be. I should like it consist of a block about the size of this (putting his hand on his desk) and placed in the center of that green plot in front of the Archives Building. I don't care what it is made of, whether limestone or granite or whatnot. But I want it plain, without any ornamentation, with the simple carving "in memory of ...."

But you don't really get to pick how you are remembered after you die, for good or ill, so while the "Real" FDR memorial was built as he directed (shown above), the one we now refer to as such was completed on the Tidal Basin in 1997.

Unfortunately, if you've been following our little "tour" we are heading backwards in time, but it still works. This to me is a great Memorial to guide folks through. It's full of interesting nuances and quirks that spark interest in FDR in a way not seen in the other Presidential Memorials. The Memorial is divided into four plazas or "rooms", each dealing with a different term of his Presidency. Will discuss this as if we came into the front of the Memorial:

1. The first area is not one of the four "rooms". Labeled as "Prologue", it is a result of a controversy following the design of the Memorial. Lacking any overt representation of FDR's disability, many activists threatened to protest. The statue you see up front is a result of that discussion, clearly showing his use of a wheelchair. Whatever the artistic merits of its inclusion, the statue has become a favorite of schoolchildren, who often pose on his lap. It's a great display of a healthy, vibrant FDR who happened to be unable to walk.
2. Moving on, you enter the first plaza, which is almost stark in it's simplicity. You are faced with a large, almost overwhelming waterfall, illustrating the scope of the Great Depression and the challenge he faced with the New Deal. Quotes, including the famous "Fear itself" one, surround the room.
   
3. Continuing to the second plaza, we start to focus on the nuts and bolts of FDR's plan for recovery. We see a little of the human displacement of the Depression with the famous statue of the bread line. This is another favorite, with kids often squeezing in to get pics between the forlorn, hungry, out of work men. But you also see the first tendrils of hope, as we see a man listening to the radio, a depiction of one of FDR's Fireside Chats. Around the corner we have a series of reliefs of people back at work, picking fruit, painting, sculpting, industrial workers, and so on. And finally we see another great waterfall, this one broken up into terraces, evocative of the works of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The deluge is coming under control.
4. We leave this plaza and move to his third term. The great national crisis has moved past the Depression and we start to confront the World War. The designers cleverly illustrate the destruction of the war in abstract means. You will see large blocks strewn about, as if they were ripped from the Memorial itself. Look back from where you came and contrast the finish of the walls. You will see that it is much rougher and less even. The focal water fountain matches the chaos of the surrounding design (and no, the fact that it's perpetually broken has no greater significance). The world is falling apart. I might note here my one quibble with the Memorial. You'll see here a quote beginning with "I hate war" etched on the wall. It very much mistakenly, in my opinion leaves the impression that FDR was a bit of a pacifist and sought to avoid engagement in the conflict overseas.
5. Leaving that aside, we move to his fourth term. FDR died a bare 82 days after being inaugurated, so the plaza acknowledges this with the bas relief sculpture of the funeral procession in front of a still pool. The stillness, of course, represents the end of life. After this we see a statue of Eleanor, who, appropriately enough is acknowledged after her husbands death. In many ways, she came into her own then, serving, among other things as the U.S. Delegate to the newly formed United Nations. The final fountain serves as a conclusion to the narrative, with a large combination of water devices borrowing from the earlier fountains.
   

Take note of the use of water throughout. Whether by design, or simply the encrusted layers of tour guide stories, the symbolism of the fountains (assuming they're working) has acquired great meaning. There is much to absorb here, and I myself learn new things all the time about this Memorial.

Once you're done taking it all in, and I encourage you to take your time, we'll finish our tour tomorrow with, in my opinion, the greatest of the Presidential Memorials. You know, the one on the back of the penny.

Knocking out the Monuments: Washington Monument

Let's start our tour of the Monuments with everyone's favorite land mark, the Washington Monument. Thanks to our height limit, the Monument continues to dominate the skyline around DC, and is the focal point to any trip to the Mall.

One of the first things you may notice about the Monument, besides of course it being very tall, is the color break about a third of the way up. While I have sent many an eighth grader back home believing this is a result of a giant flood, the truth is one of my favorite stories in all of DC.

Back in 1854, as construction was progressing on the Monument, a group of anti-immigration zealots, aptly named the "Know Nothings", mustered up some outrage that Pope Pius IX had the temerity to donate a stone to the Monument (the immigrants they despised were largely Irish Catholics). In 1849, the State of Alabama had donated a stone from Alabama, and it had become traditional for states, countries, groups of citizens, and other organizations to donate stones to line the walls along the staircase up.

Fortunately, the Know Nothing party saw through the Pope's transparent ruse to establish a Catholic theocracy in America via a hunk of rock. They stole the stone, broke it up, and threw it in the river; thereby preserving American democracy as we know it. Feeling that they must remain vigilant in preventing a return of Popery, the Know Nothings then took control of the Washington National Monument Society to keep an eye on things. Unfortunately, raising funds and overseeing a complex engineering program is more difficult than staging a drunken riot, and construction ground to a halt. It wasn't until 1876 that the Federal Government intervened, taking over the project and completing the Washington Monument in 1885. In the intervening three decades, the quarry outside Baltimore they had been using continued to dig stone out. As a result, the marble comes from a different stratum, and hence the slight, but noticeable color change.

There's a great little book about the Washington Monument that tells this story, and many others. The Flying Cat and Other Amazing Stories of the Washington Monument is well worth getting ahead of time to help you prepare for your visit. It's not a guide book (fortunately) but it's full of great stories and some background. For a Monument whose grandeur is not balanced with a whole lot of visual interest, these stories flesh out the monument a bit, adding a little depth to your visit. You know, the stuff a good guide is supposed to do. The Flying Cat is particularly nice in that it's quite readable and broken into little chunks. Think chicken nuggets, not a roast chicken, and is a fun read for an airplane ride to DC.

Now, for logistics. The Monument is open from 9 am to 10 pm in the Summer Season (Memorial Day to Labor Day) and 9 to 5 the rest of the year, with closings on the Fourth of July and Christmas. I most heartily recommend getting your tickets ahead of time. If you're a cheapskate and don't want to pay the $1.50 service charge, you can always wait in line the morning of. They start issuing tickets at 8:30 am, but if you're coming in the peak times of Spring and Summer, you're going to want to be in line no later than 7:30 (and maybe earlier). One of the many reasons I enjoy the Fall and Winter in DC, when you might even get lucky at 10 am (wouldn't plan on it though). Tickets are given out at the starting point of our little tour, the lovely bathrooms along 15th ST. No, not in the bathrooms; there's a will call booth there as well.

To get there, I'd take the Metro to Federal Triangle or Smithsonian stop. If you're planning to wait in line in the morning, I'd particularly recommend Fed Triangle, as you can get some not great coffee at the kiosk under the Reagan Building plaza (right by the Metro stop) to keep you company while you wait.

photo by Kevin Burkett

Knocking out the Monuments

I know, I know. I'm full of advice on off the beaten path treasures, quirky little museums, and other idiosyncratic items. I'd rather spend the day hanging out on Capitol Hill, wandering around Dupont Circle, or eating in Adams Morgan.

But that's not why you are here. You came to visit Washington, DC. That means the stuff on the back of the money. And I don't blame you, if you go back home and tell everyone you went to the nation's capital and did not see the Lincoln Memorial, they're going smile, and nod, and then politely say "that's nice". But then they're going to remark to each other when you leave the room "they went all that way and didn't see old Abe?" So to save you that unfortunate social awkwardness, let me share with you my standard walking tour of the major DC Memorials:

View Bathrooms of the National Mall in a larger map

But wait! Isn't that just your "Bathrooms of the National Mall" map? Are you honestly just passing that off as a tour of the monuments? Are you the laziest guy in the known world, or just the greater DC area?

Yes, yes, and yes. But, in my defense, you don't really need a map to find the Washington Monument, and you just might happen to need a bathroom as we stroll about. So for the next four days, we're going to examine in greater detail the four Presidential Memorials on the Mall. And we're going to follow the same route as the "bathroom" tour. I'll share with you tips and techniques for getting the most out of each of them, some great stories behind them, and maybe prepare you for a few urban legends you are likely to hear about them.

So find your most obscene T-shirt, your largest fold out map (doesn't have to be DC), some widely inappropriate footwear, and let's go be tourists!

So how much does the Smithsonian cost to visit?

Alright, for locals this is kind of like asking who's buried in Grant's Tomb, but it's a legitimate question, or at least one I'm asked fairly often. And in all fairness, those of us who live and work here should think hard about snickering at others. After all, just a few weeks ago, a friend of mine (and fellow tour guide), who we shall call "Mike", visited a large Midwestern city, perhaps Chicago, and was taken aback that their museums charged admission. In fairness to Mike, I too have an initial burst of surprise when I visit a museum outside the Beltway and have to reach for my wallet.

The short answer, of course, is that the Smithsonian is free, unless you count it's museum of design, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York, which will set you back fifteen bucks. Oh, and the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum out near Dulles International Airport will charge you fifteen bucks for parking, so that is a de facto admission charge as it almost, but not quite, impossible to get there any other way.

But for all the Smithsonian Museums in DC, and specifically on the National Mall, the cost is nothing. That's right, they're free. And not just them, the National Gallery of Art (also on the Mall), the Building Museum, and the Holocaust Memorial Museum, among others, also charge no admission

Now, I'm sure all you Heinlein fans out there are crying TANSTAAFL, and you're right. The truth is, you've already paid your admission to these Museums, whether you choose to read every exhibit placard or sit at home eating Cheetos, assuming, unlike some of our City officials, you actually pay your taxes. The Smithsonian is operated as a trust by Act of Congress and acts, more or less, as a Federal entity. Something like 70% of it's operating budget comes from the US Treasury, with the rest made up of gifts, contributions, and other proceeds such as that eight dollar hamburger you bought.

So what does this all mean? It means that you're being shortchanged if you don't visit. This may be the most direct return you get on your tax return, so take advantage of it.