The Lincoln Memorial stands at the west end of
the National Mall in Washington, D.C., as a
monument to Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865;
served 1861–65), the sixteenth president of the
United States. A commission to build the monument was first proposed in 1867, about two
years after Lincoln’s assassination. Because of a
lack of funding, the memorial was not built
until U.S. Congress approved it in 1910.
Construction began in 1914, and the monument was opened to the public in 1922.
Built from marble and limestone, the
Lincoln Memorial was inspired by ancient
Greek temples and designed by architect Henry
Bacon (1866–1924). It stands 190 feet (58
meters) long, 119 feet (36 meters) wide, and
nearly 100 feet (30 meters) high. Thirty-eight
columns support the building. Thirty-six of them represent the states in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death. The
remaining two columns are strictly for structural support.
The central hall of the memorial features a marble figure of Lincoln
sitting in thought. Sculptor Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) supervised the carving of the figure, which was done by the Piccirilli brothers.
The figure is 119 feet (36 meters) high and weighs 175 tons. The chambers to the north and south of the monument contain inscriptions of
Lincoln’s second inaugural address and the Gettysburg Address. The
inscription behind the statue reads, “As in the heart of the people for
whom he saved the Union, This memory of Abraham Lincoln is
enshrined forever.”