Jefferson Memorial
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is a national memorial in Washington, D.C., built in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the nation's third president. Built between 1939 and 1943, the memorial features multiple quotes from Jefferson intended to capture his ideology and philosophy, known as Jeffersonian democracy. Jefferson was widely considered among the most influential political minds of his era and one of the most consequential intellectual forces behind both the American Revolution and the American Enlightenment.
The Jefferson Memorial is built in neoclassical style and is situated in West Potomac Park on the shore of the Potomac River. It was designed by John Russell Pope, a New York City architect, and built by Philadelphia contractor John McShain. Construction on the memorial began in 1939 and was completed in 1943, though the bronze statue of Jefferson was not completed and added until four years after its dedication and opening, in 1947. Pope made references to the Roman Pantheon, whose designer was Apollodorus of Damascus, and to Jefferson's own design for the rotunda at the University of Virginia as inspirations for the memorial's aesthetics. The Jefferson Memorial and the White House form anchor points to the National Mall in Washington, D.C..
The Jefferson Memorial is a designated national memorial and is managed by the National Park Service of the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Mall and Memorial Parks division. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and ranked fourth on the American Institute of Architects' "list of America's favorite architecture".
History
Early considerations
The Jefferson Memorial sits on filled land within the Potomac River that, in the late 19th century, was used as a beach. The site was appealing at least partly because it was located directly south of, and in view of, the White House. In 1901, the Senate Park Commission was established to create a plan for Washington, D.C.'s park system, later to become the McMillan Plan. The commission proposed building a Pantheon-like structure on the site to host "the statues of the illustrious men of the nation". This structure, if built, would have been accompanied by six larger structures. Congress took no action on the commission's recommendation.The completion of the Tidal Basin Inlet Bridge in 1908 helped facilitate and expand recreational usage of East and West Potomac Parks. In 1918, large liquid chlorine dispensers were installed under the bridge to treat the water, which made the Tidal Basin, also known as Twining Lake, suitable for swimming. The Tidal Basin Beach, on the site of the future Jefferson Memorial, opened in May 1918, operating as a "Whites Only" facility until 1925, when it was permanently closed to avoid addressing the question of whether it should be racially integrated. The same year, a design competition was held for a memorial to Theodore Roosevelt. The winning design, submitted by John Russell Pope, consisted of a semicircular memorial situated next to a circular basin. Like the McMillan Plan, this was never funded by Congress or acted upon.
1930s proposal
Plans proceed
Another opportunity for the Jefferson Memorial's development emerged in 1934, when then President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who came to admire Jefferson after reading a book on Jefferson by his friend Claude G. Bowers, inquired with the Commission of Fine Arts about erecting a memorial to Jefferson. Roosevelt included plans for the Jefferson Memorial in the Federal Triangle project, which was then under construction. Later the same year, Congressman John J. Boylan followed Roosevelt's lead, urging Congress to create the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission to explore the memorial's development.The organization was established on April 12, 1935—the day before Jefferson's 192nd birthday—with Boylan as the Commission's first chairman. At the time, the Commission was tentatively considering a memorial building to Jefferson opposite the National Mall from the National Archives Building, as well as a monument to Jefferson halfway between the two structures. In conjunction, the original manuscript of the United States Declaration of Independence was to be moved to a new monument in the National Archives Building, forming a straight line of three memorials. The Commission chose John Russell Pope, the new National Archives Building's designer, as architect for the Jefferson Memorial.
Pope prepared four different plans for the project, each on a different site. One was on the Anacostia River at the end of East Capitol Street; one at Lincoln Park; one on the south side of the National Mall across from the National Archives administration building; and one was situated on the Tidal Basin, directly south of the White House. The Commission preferred the site on the Tidal Basin mainly because it was the most prominent site of those proposed and completed the four-point plan called for by the McMillan Commission, which encompassed the region including the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol and from the White House to the Tidal Basin site. Pope designed a large pantheon-like structure designed to be situated on a square platform, flanked by two smaller, rectangular, colonnaded buildings.
Funding and authorization
Pope had died in 1937 and his surviving partners, Daniel P. Higgins and Otto R. Eggers, assumed leadership for the Jefferson Memorial's construction. The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission supported the pantheon-like structure, but the Commission of Fine Arts wanted the design to be "more open in character", with more horizontal design emphases and greater similarities to the White House. At the request of the Commission of Fine Arts, a slightly more conservative design for the memorial was agreed upon. The memorial's cost was approximately $3 million. Congress eventually appropriated this amount for the Jefferson Memorial, including $500,000 in its deficiency bill of June 1938.Construction
Construction proceeded amid some opposition. The Commission of Fine Arts never actually approved any design for the memorial and even published a pamphlet in 1939 opposing both the proposed design and site for the memorial. Additionally, some Washingtonians opposed the proposed location for it because it did not align with L'Enfant's original plan for the city, and many established elm and cherry trees, including rare stock donated by Japan in 1912, would be removed under the memorial's original plan. Construction continued amid the opposition, which included women protestors chaining themselves to cherry trees around the construction site in November 1938. Opposition to the memorial proved dismaying to Roosevelt, but the opposition diminished notably once revised plans identified a means for maintaining the surrounding cherry trees amidst the memorial's construction.Construction on the Jefferson Memorial began December 15, 1938. The cornerstone, containing 15 volumes with all of Jefferson's publications, was laid roughly eleven months later, on November 15, 1939, by Roosevelt himself. In 1939, the Memorial Commission hosted a competition to select a sculptor for the planned Jefferson statue to be placed in the center of the memorial. They received 101 entries and chose six finalists. Of the six, Rudulph Evans was chosen as the main sculptor, and Adolph A. Weinman was chosen to sculpt the pediment relief situated above the memorial's entrance.
Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. designed the memorial landscape, which featured a simple design within a circular driveway including primarily Evergreen trees with limited flowering trees or shrubs. The design was perceived as too thin, so white pines and some other plantings were later added before the memorial's dedication in 1943.
Opening and subsequent history
On April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birthday, the Jefferson Memorial was officially dedicated and opened by Roosevelt. At the time, Evans' statue had not yet been finished due to material shortages that emerged during World War II. Instead, the memorial opened with a temporary plaster cast statue similar to the bronze statue that Evans completed four years later. The statue's cast was developed by Roman Bronze Works in New York City. The statue was ultimately installed inside the memorial in April 1947. The ground around the monument began to visibly sag in the years after it was completed.In the 1970s, nearly three decades after the memorial's opening, additional changes to Olmsted's landscaping were implemented. But in 1993 and 2000, attempts to restore the integrity of Olmsted's initial design were made. Roosevelt ordered trees be cut so that the Jefferson Memorial was clearly visible from the White House; additional tree pruning was also completed to create an unobstructed view between the Jefferson Memorial and Lincoln Memorial.
By the 2000s, the grounds were sinking, and part of the seawall surrounding the monument was falling into the Tidal Basin, despite efforts over the years to shore up the monument. Water regularly flooded over the seawall at high tide by the 2020s, sometimes reaching the monument, prompting a reconstruction of the seawall.
Site
The monument is located in West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C.. It sits on the shore of the Potomac River's Tidal Basin, which borders the monument to the west and north; ramps from the 14th Street Bridges surround it on the other two sides. Because the monument sits on filled land, it is supported by deep foundations that extend deep. The park is enhanced with the massed planting of Japanese cherry blossom trees, which predated the memorial's construction and were a 1912 gift from the people of Japan.The Jefferson Memorial is located exactly south of the White House. The north–south axis through the Jefferson Memorial and White House, and the west–east axis through the Lincoln Memorial and National Mall, were originally intended to converge at the Washington Monument. The Washington Monument was built farther east because the ground at that location was deemed too soft and swampy. The Jefferson Memorial also lies approximately on the same axis as Maryland Avenue across the Tidal Basin, which continues northeast.
Although the Jefferson Memorial is geographically removed from other buildings and monuments in Washington, D.C., the National Mall, and Washington Metro, the memorial plays host to many events and ceremonies each year, including memorial exercises, the Easter Sunrise Service, and the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival, and ranks highly among destinations for visitors to the city each year.