Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-13
The Lincoln Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial.
The creation of a Lincoln memorial has
been assured by act of Congress. Lincoln
is to he honored and the capital is to be
adorned architecturally. and these ends
happily cannot be defeated by Kilkenny
cat fight between the advocates Of rival
sites.
Fortunately. also, the three sites most
strongly proposed for this memorial all
present. each for itself. strong claims for
favorable consideration; and in the per-
fected City Beautiful of the future every
one of these sites will doubtless be mark
ed by some grand structure of archi-
tectural beauty and impressveness.
The Capitol Hill site between the Capitol
and the marble, classic structure of the
Union station is conspicuous and COM
manding. and furnishes an opportunity to
American architectural genius to win I'M
dying fame by it's skillful utilization. The
proximity mot close) of the Capitol and
Union station presents problems in har-
mony and coordination and in artistic and
effective grouping and combination which
will test American genius. But there Is
no reason to suspect that these problems
will be too hard to solve, or that our
great architects. conceding their inferior
ity to their old world predecessors and
associates. will confess impotency.
The site at the crest of the hill at the
r head of 10th street is ideal for
grand arch. the beginning Of a Lincoln
.avenae to Gettysburg, and the sentiment
suggested by such an avenue has in 1t
a strong appeal. 1t is certain that some
day this hilltop some imposing archi-
tectural structure will dominate the view.
ho al hri6 Git in
Park carries with it the most inspiring
sentiment of all. The bridge Itself should
be viewed as an integral part of the
memorial even though Lincoln is specif-
cally honored INTELLECTUALLY by q beauti-
full and imposing structure at the Potomac
Park end Of the bridge. The Lincoln
memorial bridge will be a tie binding
north and south, connecting George
Washington's city Of the nation and Of
the Union and George Washington's state,
once of the Confederacy The symbolic
significance of such a bridge has been
recognized from the early days Of the re-
public. and for a generation It's building
has been urged by the people of Wash
. ington.
Daniel Webster before the civil var in
a speech designed to hold the Union
together referred, eloquently to President
.Jacksons desire to span the Potomac
with. arches of ever-enduring granite,
symboiical Of the firmly established union
of the north and the SOUTH" President
Mckinley after the civil war at the in
stance Of the Washington representatives
on the Capital centennial commission
urged its construction on similar grounds
AZ a memorial to American valor.
There will be nothing isolated or I'M
worthy In a river-bank site If the me-
mortal is brought into relation with the
movement and activities of the people
: by conspicuous location on the great
avenue o. boulevard named, perhaps, after
the Father Of His Country, which shall
sweep through Potomac Park from the
Washington Monument and across the
( Lincoln bridge to Arlington, and to the
= home and tomb of Washington at Mount
Vernon. 1t will then be the appropriate
adcrnment of noble thoroughfare and
: it has been unworthily exiled and buried
in a swamp.
The president of the Washington Board
of Trade said in 1899:
In the early days it the Potomac)
played unifying part like that then and
nov performed by the nations city itself
II bound together the long narrow belt
" Atlantic coast settlements and those OF
the Mississippi basin which were Sepa-
rated everywhere from the seashore pop
uiation by at least a hundred miles Of
mountainous country For years
the Potomac thus kept the east and west
IN touch until at last the railroads took
up the task and linked the sections with
bands of steel By means of the river
. and the incorporating streams which
united to form II the nation from its cap
itai extended westward an arm, a hand
q. and outstretched fingers. and, grasping
the Mississippi settlements, held them
firmly to the Union AS II was thus in
the beginning bond between the east
and the west, so the Potomac should now
e. be a bond between the north and south,
connecting instead of separating them.
While the latter sections were at sword $
- tically bridgeless Potomac, holding them
apart, might symbol have been
natural and defensible But now in the
reunion of the states the Potomac should
rc-enact its historic part unifier and
bind together through adequate connect
inc bridges the once hostile sections
The grandest and NEST hitting me-
mortal with which to commemorate the
- centennial of the National Capital and
the greater America, which miracle
working century has developed. would be
memorial bridge across the Potomac
70 Arlington, whose national patriotic
function IL should be to connect the
Crion's capital with the state of the late
Confederacys capital, TO bridge the
Watery chasm between the sections. to
unite the nations city of the living with
the city OF the nations dead. cemetery
now truly national since with the bones
OF those who died to save the Union in
civil war have been laid the remains of
men from south and north and east and
west who died for the whole great and
reunited republic Let the memorial bridge
Symbolic this reunion, this national ex-
pansion and development
Lincoln Is worthy In close relation with
George Washington. one the creator, the
other the savior of the Union, to be me-
mOrialized in this striking fashion, and
the grand memorial suggested is worthy
:. of Abraham Lincoln.