Thomas Jefferson Memorial
The temple to the author of the Declaration of Independence: cherry trees were cut down to build it, and women chained themselves to the trees
The story
Before you is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, a round domed temple on the shore of the Tidal Basin. Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States. The architect John Russell Pope took as his models the Pantheon in Rome and the buildings Jefferson himself loved: his home, Monticello, and the Rotunda of the University of Virginia. Pope died in 1937, and his partners built the memorial. It started with a scandal. To clear the site, some of the Japanese cherry trees by the basin had to be cut down. In November 1938 several women chained themselves to the trees in protest. The cherry trees here were a gift from Tokyo: in 1912 the city sent Washington 3,020 trees. Construction began anyway in 1939. President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated the memorial on the thirteenth of April 1943, Jefferson’s two hundredth birthday. The war was on, bronze was scarce, and at first a plaster statue stood in the hall. The bronze figure, nineteen feet tall, by Rudulph Evans was installed in 1947. On the walls are Jefferson’s words, including lines from the Declaration of Independence. Around the base of the dome runs his vow: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” Step out onto the stairs and look north: the memorial stands in a straight line with the White House.
Visiting
Open 24 hours, free. Rangers are on duty from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The memorial is on the south shore of the Tidal Basin. You can walk here from the King Memorial along the water. It is loveliest in spring, when the cherry trees bloom.
Photos
Sources
- National Park Service — Thomas Jefferson Memorial: History & Culture
- National Park Service — History of the Cherry Trees
- Wikipedia (EN) — Jefferson Memorial
- National Park Service — National Mall and Memorial Parks: Operating Hours
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