While I didn't get to every historic site in the city, I don't think I ever took Washington for granted. But something I didn't properly appreciate were all the city's memorial statues. One of them, Clark Mills' equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, graces our cover. Others occupy traffic islands and squares all over the city. Many of the monuments came into being only after lengthy political battles over choice of sculptor and artistic approach.
Public monuments yield cultural power.
Each one carries a heavy load of invisible ideological baggage. Jacob also has an eye for the interesting detail. For instance, federal employees usually got time off from work to attend a memorial's dedication, but not when it came time to unveil the equestrian statue of Winfield Scott Hancock in 1896. The ceremony took place on an afternoon when the circus was in town, so government officials canceled the early dismissal out of a concern that their employees would opt for the big top instead of the dedication. One of the most interesting stories Jacob tells is the one behind the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial in front of the Capitol Building.