PRESIDENT TAFT DEDICATES THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 30, 1922, William Howard Taft, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court and former President of the United States, dedicated the LINCOLN MEMORIAL here in the Nation's Capital.
Mr. Taft, in his role as president of the Lincoln Memorial Commission, presented the memorial to President Warren G. Harding on behalf of the people of the United States of America and in the presence of Robert Todd Lincoln, the only surviving son of our 16th President.
The architect of the memorial was Henry Bacon while the figure of Lincoln inside was the work of Daniel Chester French. The Lincoln Memorial Commission was the brainchild of Illinois Senator Shelby M. Cullom* whose proposal, Senate Bill 9449, passed in 1910.
The memorial is surrounded by 36 columns, 1 for each of the 36 states which were part of the United States on April 15, 1865, the day of Lincoln's death.
Above the colonnade are inscribed the names of those states and the dates which they entered the UNION.
Flanking the steps at the entrance of the memorial are 2 buttresses each crowned with an 11 foot tripod carved from pink Tennessee marble. The statue of Lincoln was done in Georgia white marble while the pedestal is of Tennessee marble.
*Shelby Moore Cullom (1829-1914) was born in Monticello, Kentucky and moved to Springfield, Illinois where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1855. Before his election to the US Senate in 1882, he served in the US House of Representatives and as Governor of Illinois.
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 30, 1922, William Howard Taft, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court and former President of the United States, dedicated the LINCOLN MEMORIAL here in the Nation's Capital.
Mr. Taft, in his role as president of the Lincoln Memorial Commission, presented the memorial to President Warren G. Harding on behalf of the people of the United States of America and in the presence of Robert Todd Lincoln, the only surviving son of our 16th President.
The architect of the memorial was Henry Bacon while the figure of Lincoln inside was the work of Daniel Chester French. The Lincoln Memorial Commission was the brainchild of Illinois Senator Shelby M. Cullom* whose proposal, Senate Bill 9449, passed in 1910.
The memorial is surrounded by 36 columns, 1 for each of the 36 states which were part of the United States on April 15, 1865, the day of Lincoln's death.
Above the colonnade are inscribed the names of those states and the dates which they entered the UNION.
Flanking the steps at the entrance of the memorial are 2 buttresses each crowned with an 11 foot tripod carved from pink Tennessee marble. The statue of Lincoln was done in Georgia white marble while the pedestal is of Tennessee marble.
*Shelby Moore Cullom (1829-1914) was born in Monticello, Kentucky and moved to Springfield, Illinois where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1855. Before his election to the US Senate in 1882, he served in the US House of Representatives and as Governor of Illinois.
Lincoln Memorial Dedication
Washington, D.C.
May 30, 1922
Lincoln Memorial
Washington, D.C.
Photo by John White (2017)
Lincoln Memorial
Washington, D.C.
Photo by John White (2003)
