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Saturday, April 13, 2019

IN MEMORY OF MR. JEFFERSON

JEFFERSON MEMORIAL DEDICATED 

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On April 13, 1943, the Jefferson Memorial* was dedicated here in the Nation's Capital. The impressive memorial, dedicated on the anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth, was designed by architect John Russell Pope*.

The memorial is modeled after the Parthenon and the 19 foot tall, 5 ton statue of Mr. Jefferson inside was sculpted by Rudolph Evans**.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the memorial's cornerstone on November 15, 1939 and gave the dedication speech.  FDR concluded with the words:

"The words which we have chosen for this memorial speak Jefferson's noblest and most urgent meaning and we are proud indeed to understand and share it: 'I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man'".


*John Russell Pope (1874-1937) was born in New York City & studied at Columbia University.  JRP designed the National Archives Building, Jefferson Memorial & West Building of the National Gallery of Art, all located in Washington, D.C.

**Rudolph Evans (1878-1960) was born in Washington, D.C. & grew up in Front Royal, VA.  RE studied in France & in 1918 became a member of the National Academy of Design.  His work includes the statue of Robert E. Lee in the Virginia State Capitol.

SOURCES

"Jefferson Memorial," Washington, D.C. National Park Service.  www.nps.gov/

"Thomas Jefferson, a Brief Biography", Thomas Jefferson Monitcello, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., www.monticello.org/



Thomas Jefferson Statue
Jefferson Memorial
Washington, D.C. (2013)
Photo by Ingfbruno
www.wikimedia.org.


Jefferson Memorial
Photo by John White (2007)