Arlington Memorial Amphitheater
Memorial Amphitheater is an outdoor amphitheater, exhibit hall, and nonsectarian chapel located in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. It was designed in 1913 as a replacement for the older, wooden amphitheater near Arlington House. Ground was broken for its construction in March 1915 and it was dedicated in May 1920. In the center of its eastern steps is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, dedicated in 1921. It has served as the site for numerous Veterans Day and Memorial Day events, as well as for memorial services and funerals for many individuals.
Genesis
Arlington National Cemetery was established in 1864. Due to the growing importance of the cemetery as well as the much larger crowds attending Memorial Day observances, Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs decided a formal meeting space at the cemetery was needed. A grove of close-growing trees just southwest of Arlington House Grove was cut down and a wooden amphitheater constructed in 1873.By the early years of the 1900s, however, the Old Amphitheater had grown far too small for the large ceremonies which were held there. Judge Ivory Kimball, Commander of the Department of the Potomac chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic, believed that not only should a new and larger facility be built, but also that the new amphitheater represent the dead of all wars in which the nation had fought. Kimball and the GAR began their push for a new amphitheater in 1903, and sketches for the amphitheater drawn up by Frederick D. Owen, a civilian engineer working for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. But legislation failed to pass Congress in 1905, 1907, and 1908. Legislation passed in 1908 authorizing the establishment of a memorial commission, but it received only $5,000 in funding. Legislation was introduced again in 1912 by Senator George Sutherland. Sutherland's bill proposed construction of a 5,000-seat amphitheater with an underground crypt to cost no more than $750,000. Prospects for passage initially seemed dim. But during the third session of the 62nd Congress, a number of new federal memorials were approved, including the Arlington Memorial Bridge, the Lincoln Memorial, a memorial to women who served in the Civil War, and a George Washington memorial auditorium. The successful push for new memorials helped supporters win the passage of legislation authorizing construction of Memorial Amphitheater. President William Howard Taft, in one of his last acts as president, signed the legislation into law on March 4, 1913.
The 1908 authorizing legislation established an Arlington Memorial Amphitheater Commission to oversee the design and construction of the structure. Its members included the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, the Superintendent of the U.S. Capitol, Judge Kimball, and Charles W. Newton.
It immediately became apparent, however, that although Congress had authorized the expenditure of $250,000 for Memorial Amphitheater, it had not actually appropriated any such funds from the U.S. Treasury. This left the AMAC without any funds to conduct its business. It was not until August 1, 1914, that Congress finally appropriated money for the amphitheater's construction. Ten days later, Colonel William W. Harts of the United States Army Corps of Engineers was elected the commission's executive director. On October 12, 1914, the AMAC contracted with the New York-based architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings to design the building. The AMAC hired the George A. Fuller Co. to construct it on February 11, 1915.
There is some disagreement among sources as to who should receive the majority of credit for designing Memorial Amphitheater. Lemos, Morrison, Warren, and Hewitt specifically name Thomas Hastings, as does the United States Commission of Fine Arts and others. But other sources name Frederick D. Owen, a civilian engineer working for the Corps of Engineers. Owen is named by architectural historians Butler and Wilson and by historian Rick Atkinson. The Arlington Memorial Amphitheater Commission is not clear as to who deserves the credit, as it notes that Owen "drew the first sketches for plans for the great Memorial in 1904" and later gave "suggestions and advice as to the form of the Memorial". Owen's significant role is made clear by the AMAC in other ways as well: He designed the memorial trowel used by President Woodrow Wilson to lay the cornerstone; he served on the reception committee for the cornerstone laying ceremony; he co-chaired the planning committee for the 1921 dedication; and he chaired the reception committee for the dedication. But the AMAC also said Carrère and Hastings prepared the plans for the building, provided the explanation of the design to the AMAC, and was named by Congress as the architects.
The AMAC's composition changed somewhat after Congress amended the commission's authorizing legislation on March 3, 1915. Congress added the leader of Camp 171, United Confederate Veterans of the District of Columbia, to the commission as a full voting member.
Design
Memorial Amphitheater was designed by Thomas Hastings to be the center of a biaxial grouping of landscape features and monuments that included the USS Maine Mast Memorial in the west, the Spanish–American War Memorial to the south, and a formal Italianate garden to the east. Greek Revival, Romanesque Revival, and Renaissance decorative elements are used throughout the structure. Ulysses Ricci designed the various friezes, ornamental devices, and decorative elements of the amphitheater and entrance hall. Hastings said he wanted Memorial Amphitheater to be the building he was most remembered by.As constructed, Memorial Amphitheater consisted of an elliptical outdoor amphitheater that sat 4,000. The bays formed by the colonnade can seat another 150 individuals. Another 1,000 individuals may be accommodated by standing.
The amphitheater is surrounded by a colonnade, with main entrances at the east and west axes. The capitals of the columns are Doric, but rest on an Attic base. The entablature above the columns, however, is Ionic to allow for inscriptions. These inscriptions, on the exterior of the entablature, list 44 major battles from the American Revolutionary War through the Spanish–American War. Low, backless marble benches in concentric circles face the semi-circular main stage, which has three levels. The lowest level features a klismos, a form of ancient Greek informal chair meant for rulers. The klismos chair faces the audience, much as a cathedra does. Hastings intended the klismos chair to remind the audience of the missing heroes honored by the amphitheater. The second level of the stage has a podium. The stage and amphitheater are designed so that any speaker must look down at the klismos chair while addressing the audience, and must look at the USS Maine Mast Memorial if looking up. The third and uppermost level of the stage contains a semi-circular seating area for about 100 people and an apse in the back.
The interior dome of the apse is richly carved, and the square pilasters on either side of the stage list the names of famous American generals and admirals from the American Revolutionary War through the Spanish–American War.
A quotation from George Washington's address to the New York Provincial Congress on June 26, 1775 is inscribed inside the apse of the Memorial Amphitheater. It says, "When we assumed the soldier we did not lay aside the citizen." It is an excerpt of this quotation: "When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen, & we shall most sincerely rejoice with you in that happy Hour, when the Establishment of American Liberty on the most firm, & solid Foundations, shall enable us to return to our private Stations in the bosom of a free, peaceful, & happy Country."
A quote from President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is inscribed above the stage. It says, "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."
Decorative tall urns carved with eagles, rams' heads, and snakes were placed on pedestals in niches on either side of the stage.
Above the west entrance of the amphitheater is a quote from the Roman poet Horace: "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori". Under the colonnade are 300 crypts, which were intended for the burial of important people.
In the basement beneath the amphitheater stage is a chapel. This domed structure was designed to seat 150, and has a raised ambulatory around the edges.
As originally designed, the main entrance was in the east through the doors of the cruciform entrance hall. The entrance hall is fronted by a six-columned portico with Corinthian capitals. A frieze above the main bronze doors depicts symbolic trophies of war. The entrance hall is not connected internally with the amphitheater. Stairways, bridges, and short corridors on the outside of the entrance hall provide access to the stage in the amphitheater. The main floor of the reception hall is clad in Botticino marble. The main floor originally housed a reception hall and stage, and the second floor housed a museum. In 1929, the main floor became a Memorial Exhibit Hall displaying honors received by the unknown soldiers lying beneath the Tomb of the Unknowns, and the second floor became offices.
Steps lead from the main doors of the entrance hall down to a small plaza. Hastings designed a series of short steps to lead from the plaza down to a landing, and then a series of monumental steps to lead from the landing to the eastern formal garden below. In the center of the short steps was a pedestal for a statue. No artwork was ever placed there. This pedestal was later removed, and the Tomb of the Unknowns took its place in 1921. The planned monumental steps leading down to the formal garden were not built when Memorial Amphitheater was dedicated. A retaining wall with false arches was constructed instead.
A roadway was designed to cross the plaza and circle the entire structure.