Lincoln Memorial Washington DC reflecting

Ryan Janek Wolowski in Washington DC *********************** To the west of the Mall stands the Lincoln Memorial (23rd St. N.W. +1 202 426 6841), immediately recognizable as the building pictured on pennies and five-dollar bills. Inside sits a larger-than-life sculpture by Daniel Chester French of the Great Emancipator, staring pensively toward the Capitol. Built in 1922, the monument's 36 Doric columns represent the states in the Union at the time of Lincoln's death. Many demonstrators have spoken out from these steps, literally "backed" by Lincoln as they faced enormous crowds gathered around the long Reflecting Pool below. In 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his "I have a dream..." speech here. Well before that, in 1939, opera singer Marion Anderson gave a groundbreaking concert after being barred from performing at nearby Constitution Hall because of her race. If you stroll around to the Potomac side of the monument, you'll see it faces Memorial Bridge with a long view up to Arlington House, once Robert E. Lee's home. The view is intentional, a symbolic reuniting of North and South. *************** Contact: ryanisland@aol.com www.ryanisland.com www.myspace.com/ryanisland