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Located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Lincoln Memorial
honors Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United
States. Lincoln was President during the Civil War (1861-65). The
memorial, which was built between 1914 and 1922, symbolizes his belief
that all people should be free.
The theme of the building represents the Union. The columns surrounding
the walls stand for the 36 states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s
death. The names of the 48 states in the Union (when the memorial was
completed in 1922) are carved on the walls along the outside of the
memorial. A plaque honoring Alaska and Hawaii is in the approach plaza.
The chamber inside the memorial contains a statue of Lincoln seated,
facing the Washington Monument and the Capitol. The statue of Lincoln is
19 feet high and weighs 175 tons. The chamber also houses two huge stone
tables, one engraved with Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, and the
other with the Gettysburg Address. Two murals represent the principles of
freedom, justice, unity, brotherhood, and charity.
On the North wall, the 16th president's second inaugural address; on the
South wall the Gettysburg address. Above the statue the words: "In this
Temple, as in the hearts of the people, for whom he saved the Union, the
memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever".
Inscribed on the south wall of the monument is the Gettysburg Address.
Above it is a mural painted by Jules Guerin depicting the angel of truth
freeing a slave. Guerin also painted the unity of North and South mural on
the north wall. Etched into the north wall below the mural is Lincoln’s
second inaugural speech.
The Memorial was built to resemble a Greek temple. It has 36 Doric
columns, one for each state at the time of Lincoln’s death. A sculpture by
Daniel Chester French of a seated Lincoln is in the center of the memorial
chamber.
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