Tag Archives: Wasington DC

Handbook on the Lincoln Memorial

For me, it’s always been an emotional experience to visit the Lincoln Memorial — and it will be even more so next time, now that I have read books about our 16th president. In my view, Lincoln was our nation’s greatest leader. Not only that, but he was one of the greatest persons ever to live.

The memorial houses the great marble statue of a seated Lincoln within a Greek temple, with his Gettysburg Address and portions of his Second Inaugural Address inscribed on either side of the interior. From the steps you can see the Washington Monument and the United States Capitol. It was dedicated on Memorial Day 1922, by then President Warren G. Harding and then Chief Justice (and former President) William Howard Taft. It’s been the site of countless political demonstrations over the years, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I have a dream” speech during the Civil Rights March in 1963.

Fred Michmershuizen

This 50-page handbook, published by the National Park Service, is divided into three sections: An overview of the memorial, a brief biography of Lincoln, and a section about the how the monument itself was conceived and built. A map and historical photographs help tell the story.