July 8

Today I will share with you pictures from the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial.

I think the Lincoln Memorial was my favorite place to visit!

This is inscribed above Lincoln: 

"IN THIS TEMPLE
AS IN THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE
FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION
THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IS ENSHRINED FOREVER."

Here are a few facts I learned about the Lincoln Memorial:

• They began the construction on the memorial on Abraham Lincoln's birthday, February 12, 1915--50 years after he died.
• It took over 7 years to build.
• The sculpture of Abraham Lincoln is 19 feet tall, sitting!  He was a tall man in real life, but not that tall!
• The 36 enormous columns represent each of the states in the Union at the time of the President's death in 1865.
• A picture of the Lincoln Memorial is featured on two pieces of the US currency.  Do you know which?  (Answer below)

I then walked over to the Jefferson Memorial

The design of the Jefferson memorial is similar to Monticello - Thomas Jefferson's home, which was modeled partially after the Pantheon in Rome.

The nineteen foot tall statue of Thomas Jefferson inside the monument was originally cast in plaster, due to metal being rationed because of World War II when the monument was built. Shortly after the war ended, the plaster statue was replaced with the bronze one that stands today.

They began building the memorial in 1939.  The memorial was dedicated in 1943 on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth.

Answer:  A picture of the Lincoln Memorial is featured on the reverse side of the penny and the back of the American five-dollar bill.