Troop 322                 Dickson City          Pennsylvania

Washington Day 2.2 - May 20, 2006

The Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial, on the extended axis of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is a United States Presidential Memorial built for United States President Abraham Lincoln. The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple, and contains a large seated sculpture of Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln. The memorial has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on August 28, 1963, during the rally at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Standing apart from the somewhat triumphal and Roman manner of most of Washington, the memorial takes the severe form of a Greek Doric temple. It is 'peripteral,' with 36 massive columns, each 33 feet (10 meters) high, entirely surrounding the cella of the building itself, which rises above the porticos. Five adults holding hands cannot quite embrace the columns.

By a happy afterthought, the 36 columns required for the design were seen to represent the 36 states of the Union at the time of Lincoln's death, and their names were inscribed in the entablature above each column. The names of the 48 states of the Union when the Memorial was completed are carved on the exterior attic walls, and a later plaque commemorates the admission of Alaska and Hawaii.

The focus of the memorial is Daniel Chester French's sculpture of Lincoln, seated. One hand is clenched, the other open. It is said that French, who had a hearing-impaired daughter, carved Lincoln's hands to sign the letters "A" and "L" in American Sign Language.

On the north wall of the monument is Lincoln's second inaugural address. It is claimed the word "FUTURE" was mispelled as "EUTURE". You can barely see a spot where it looks like it was fixed.

On the back of Lincoln's head is rumored to be the faint outline of the face of Robert E. Lee. According to what I have read, that is not true. What do you think? In a funny coincidence, the back of the Lincoln's statue happens to be facing Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetary. Arlington House is the former home of Robert E. Lee.

The Reflecting Pool, World War II Memorial, and Washington Monument taken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial

The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located in Washington, D.C.'s West Potomac Park, southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and just south of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall.

The memorial is in the form of a triangle intersecting a circle. Within the triangle are 19 stainless steel statues designed by Frank Gaylord, each slightly larger than life size (between 7 feet 3 inches and 7 feet 6 inches), representing a squad on patrol, 15 Army, 2 Marines, 1 Navy Medic, and 1 Air Force Observer, dressed in full gear, dispersed among strips of granite and juniper bushes, representing the rugged terrain of Korea.

No further explanation necessary!.

To the north of the statues is a path, forming one side of the triangle, and behind, to the south, is a 164 foot long black granite wall, created by Louis Nelson, with photographic images sandblasted into it depicting soldiers, equipment and people involved in the war, forming the second side.

The Jefferson Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial taken from the other side of the Tidal Basin.

Lunch with the Washington Monument in the background.

The Capitol Building taken from the Mall.

Ford's Theatre

Ford's Theatre at 511 10th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. is an active theater in Washington DC, used for various performances. The theater became well known when it became the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865.

Since this is still a working theater and there was a performance going on we were unable to get in the theater but did spend time in the museum.

The National Archives Building

The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, located north of the National Mall on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC, opened as its original headquarters in 1935. It houses the original copies of the three main formative documents of the United States and its government: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These are displayed to the public in the main chamber of the National Archives, which is called the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom. Flash photography of the documents is prohibited and the rooms are kept dark to preserve them so we have no pictures to display, but seeing these important pieces of paper was quite a thrill. And NO the busses were not for us.

Ecumenical Service on Saturday night.

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Last modified: June 1, 2006