I think the Lincoln Memorial plays an integral part of shaping D.C, and so I plan on making an exhibit exclusively just for the Lincoln memorial. In my exhibit i will include a modern YouTube video briefly speaking about the Lincoln Memorial and how today it is one of the greatest attractions to tourists from around the world.
To discuss what the statue means and what does it stand for, i will include a copy of a book that describes in details all the major monuments in our capital, from who created the design, to how much the construction costed, and when did the congress agree to pass the proposal of constructing all the different memorials.
I will then move on, or perhaps move back in history, all the way to when the congress put together a committee of artists to choose a location for the Lincoln Memorial, which is where Lincoln sits today, eyeing the Capital that he helped in building and preserving.
A lot of authors have said great things about Lincoln, in this book The Lincoln Room, the author have gone into details about every aspect of Lincoln’s life, his poverty, his presidency, his unfortunate assassination, all the way to where the rocks and granite were brought from to build this great memorial to commemorate such a great person in the history of the United States.
In the exhibit, i would use my google map that i created, to show The Lincoln Memorial along with other monuments and their relative positions in regards to each other.
After presenting all the information, I would also insert pictures of the original design, how it looked when it was first built, and how it looks now.
And then finally, i would end the exhibit with a short essay of what the Lincoln memorial symbolizes and how all of the information provided above comes together, to narrate a whole story about a great man that
“IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER”
Ali,
It looks like you’ve done a pretty thorough job of planning your exhibit, and I think you’ve got an excellent cache of secondary sources to work with. Good job on your research there. One thing I’m curious about is where you plan to get your primary sources. You link to one, and list the types of primary sources you’ll be including, but you don’t link to any other repositories. I’m sure you have them, but it your blog should demonstrate this research to Lee Ann and myself. Keep up the good work.
– Claire
Ali, remember that a really important part of the Lincoln Memorial is its cultural significance in an America and Lincoln’s political position as the president who freed enslaved people.
It is a contested space. It has been a contested space from the very beginning, and that contest has focused on racial issues, on who “owns” Abraham Lincoln. How is he a symbol for “white” America? How is he a symbol for African-Americans because of the Civil War, because of his role as President signing the Emancipation Proclamation freeing enslaved people?
If you look at images from the dedication of the Memorial, you will see that both AFrican Americans and white people were there and spoke at the dedication. But the audience was segregated.
If you look at the history of the public use of the Memorial, you will see that Marion Anderson’s historic concert took place at its steps, that demonstrations for racial equality in America began and ended there.
The design of the Memorial was argued about very greatly because the designers and Congress, who had to approve the design, were trying to figure out how to represent Lincoln. As the president who freed the slaves, as the president who worked to unite the country during a devastatingly divisive Civil War?
So, the president and the monument are points of conflict. How did that conflict get resolved in the final Memorial? is he a divider or a uniter? is the word slavery anywhere there?