Category Archives: architecture

Jefferson Memorial

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Back on the bus we basked in the warmth. Tony, our driver, had the heater blasting. A welcome reprieve from the raw, wet cold outside.

Around the Tidal Basin we went pulling up next to an easily recognizable monument; the Jefferson Memorial. When I say we pulled up it was to a bus stop. You can’t get near any of the memorials by car. If you are visiting the monuments you will get plenty of walking.

The Jefferson Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial is a circular, open structure topped by a shallow dome. The exterior is beautiful white marble from Vermont. The interior with Jefferson’s 19 ft tall statue is accessed by a series of granite and marble stepped terraces.

For those of us who might not be in the best physical shape the stairs can be intimidating. There is an elevator if you are handicapped or just not up to stair climbing. Unfortunately it was out of order the day of my visit.

But back to some of the significance of various features. Until my visit I just thought the building was meant to resemble Jefferson’s home of Monticello but I learned that there is much more symbolism than that.

As I mentioned the outer marble is from Vermont, the interior walls are Georgia Marble. These choices symbolize the geographic extremes of the original 13 states. The floor is marble from Tennessee.  The inner dome is limestone from Indiana. This diversity symbolizes the expanding union.

Jefferson’s ties to the Louisiana Purchase are honored by the pedestal of Minnesota Granite and a ring of gray marble surrounding the base made of Missouri stone.

Four quotations from Jefferson’s writings are carved into the walls of the memorial chamber. One of the quotes, from the Declaration of Independence, can be found on the southwest wall.

Location

The monument is located on the south side of the Tidal Basin with a clear sight line of the Washington Monument. President Roosevelt ordered trees cut to make it possible to view the monument from the White House.

In 1912 Japanese Cherry Trees were planted on the site, part of the gift of 3000 trees from the mayor of Tokyo. That was what I wanted to see but sadly, most of the blossoms had been destroyed by the unseasonable cold weather.

In conclusion

Even without the flowers, the beautiful monument is a suitable memorial to our Founding father, an author of the Declaration of Independence, Statesman and Visionary for the founding of a Nation.

From the EEOB to the National Mall

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The Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) is a huge, overpowering building patterned after the French 2nd Empire architecture. Where the White House is small and unpretentious, the EEOB can only be described as “over the top”.  Built between 1871- 1888, for years it was the world’s largest office building, with 566 rooms and about 10 acres of floor space. Many White House employees have their offices in the massive edifice.

Its ornate architecture has been heaped with scorn over the years. Mark Twain called it “the ugliest building in America” and President Harry S. Truman referred to it as “the greatest monstrosity in America.”

Much of the interior was designed by Richard von Ezdorf using fireproof cast-iron structural and decorative elements , including massive skylights above each of the major stairwells and doorknobs with patterns indicating which of the original three departments (State, Navy, or War) occupied a particular space. But you can’t take a tour to see these elaborate decorative touches, the building is locked down tight.

 

We left the EEOB for the National Mall. First stop the World War II Memorial. Dedicated May 29, 2004 by President George W. Bush, the memorial honors Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II.

Designed in a large oval with 2 triumphal arches and 56 pillars that surround a center fountain, the pillars represent the 48 states that existed in 1945, the District of Columbia, the territories of Alaska and Hawaii and the Commonwealth of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Arches are inscribed as the Atlantic (North) and Pacific (South).

The Memorial includes two inconspicuously located “Kilroy was here” engravings. Their inclusion in the memorial acknowledges the significance of the symbol to American soldiers during World War II and how it represented their presence and protection wherever it was inscribed.

The Freedom Wall on the west side of the memorial has 4,048 gold stars, each representing 100 Americans who died in the war. In front of the wall lies the message “Here we mark the price of freedom”.

 

As We Leave Lafayette Sqaure

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Just a couple of tidbits I want to share before we leave Lafayette Square behind and move on.

Regarding the Church, St. John’s Episcopal,

  • Long known as “the Church of the Presidents,” St. John’s Episcopal Church has served virtually as the chapel to the White House for nearly two centuries
  • In the depths of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln would sometimes walk to St. John’s from the White House and settle into a pew at the back.
  • Every person who has held the office of president has attended at least one service at St. John’s, since Madison.
  • Since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s time, St. John’s has offered itself to incoming presidents for a pre-inauguration prayer service.
  • As far back as 1816, records show that a committee was formed to wait on the President of the United States and offer him a pew. James Madison chose pew 54 and insisted on paying the customary annual rental. The next five Presidents in succession–James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison–occupied this pew during their terms of office. Since then, by tradition, pew 54 has been set aside for Presidents of the United States.

A funny Story as to how Blair- Lee House became the preferred abode for visiting dignitaries. With 142 rooms you’d think the White House could find a bedroom for a head of state. Beginning in 1942, the Blair family began leasing the property to the U.S. government for use by visiting dignitaries; the government purchased the property outright the following December. The move was prompted in part by a request from Eleanor Roosevelt, who found the casual familiarity Winston Churchill displayed during his visits to the White House off-putting.On one occasion, Churchill tried to enter Franklin Roosevelt’s private apartments at 3:00 a.m. to wake the president for a conversation.

The last straw was when Eleanor walked in on Churchill in the White House kitchen clad only in his stogie.  According to the story Churchill was moved to Blair House the next day.

Blair House is know known as the World’s Most Exclusive Hotel!

 

White House, Home of the American People

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The official home for the U.S. president was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the 1790s. Rebuilt after a British attack in 1814, the “President’s House” evolved with the personal touches of its residents, and accommodated such technological changes as the installation of electricity. The building underwent major structural changes in the early 1900s under Teddy Roosevelt, who also officially established the “White House” moniker, and again under Harry Truman after WWII. Counting the Oval Office and the Rose Garden among its famous features, it remains the only private residence of a head of state open free of charge to the public.

The White house is small, no Buckingham Palace for the new country of the USA.  According to our tour guide this was because the White House was to represent every man’s home as opposed to “royalty”.

The White House was originally open to the citizen’s of the US. The first fence was not erected until 1803 but that fence was not to prohibit entry to citizens.  To the contrary, Jefferson opened the doors to the White House for citizens to visit, with the exception of when he was sleeping.  The grounds were generally open as if a public park.  That fence and subsequent fences and walls were largely to direct the flow of visitors.

A guard booth was not added until 1835, after an assassination attempt on President Andrew Jackson.

In the 1850s, the gates were open from 8 am until sundown.

Open public access to the grounds during daytime continued until World War II.  During the war, it was prohibited for security reasons.  Those security reasons have not relaxed, since.

Ever wonder why the entrances are refereed to as the east , west, north or south entrances? It’s because we do not want any visiting dignitary to feel slighted by entering through a “back door.”

Abraham Lincoln addressed the nation from the West Portico for the last time before his assassination. John Wilkes Booth and his c0-conspirators were in Lafayette Square when Lincoln made the address. What they heard so angered them that Booth is alleged to say, that will be the last time Lincoln makes a speech from the White House. Originally they only planned to kidnap the President but now incensed , they left  plotting the eventual assassination.

The White House may look small but it holds  142 rooms on six floors with  floor space totaling approximately 55,000 square feet. The “west wing” was added in 1942 and more than doubled the existing space.

 

Lafayette Square

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The tour bus came to a stop near Lafayette Square. Joey told us we were going to walk across the square and meet the bus  on the other side. Time to hustle because Joey doesn’t let any grass grow under her feet. She couldn’t really. Lafayette Square is a total of  7 acres! I’m kind of glad we didn’t explore the whole thing.

The Square is directly north of the White house on H street, Jackson Place is on the west and Madison Place is on the East. The 4th side is Pennsylvania Ave. The square was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1970.

Like a person who has had  many different jobs, one could say that Lafayette Square has a truly varied history. Over the years it has been used as a racetrack, a graveyard, a zoo, a slave market, an encampment for soldiers during the War if 1812 and many political protests and celebrations.. Some of protests continue to this day.

We stopped at the Statue of the Marquis de Lafayette since the square bears his name. Although Lafayette is singled out the square actually honors all the foreigners that have supported and helped the US, especially in the early days as our country was being born.

Today’s plan contains  five large statues dating from the 1930’s. In the center stands Clark Mills’ equestrian statue of President Andrew Jackson, erected in 1853; in the four corners are statues of Revolutionary War heroes: France’s General Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette and Major General Comte Jean de Rochambeau; Poland’s General Tadeusz Kościuszko; and Prussia’s Major General Baron Frederich Wilhelm von Steuben.

The area around Lafayette Square became one of Washington’s most upscale Neighborhoods. The White House, small and unprepossessing, anchors the neighborhood which includes The Blair-Lee House, Old executive Office Building, the Department of the Treasury, St. John’s Episcopal Church and the Renwick Gallery.