The Washington herald., 1912-01-21
Mrs. John B. Henderson
Will Present Her Sug-
geStiOn to the National
manifestations Out
Advantages of Site.

Mrs. John B. Henderson, wife of
the former Senator from Missouri,
has a. unique, suggestion for bin
coln Memorial to. be placed on
Meridian Hill. She has had plans
prepared, which will soon be sub
nHtted to Congress. The following
description will accompany the
plans: .....-. .............
To the Congress of the United States:
am sending herewith a plan designed
by Frederick V. Murphy and W. B.
Olmsted for a Lincoln memorial, to be
placed at the top of Meridian Hill Park.
Mr.. Murphy is a former student of the
Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris.
As is well known the Art Commission
first chose for this memorial a site in
Potomac Park. They objected to the
Upper Sixteenth street site saying that
the distant view of a monument from
there, If situated in the street, would
be too much restricted by trees Such
an objection would, Of course, also ap-
ply to Potomac Park, where the trees
along the avenues will soon grow tall
The question remains, II avenues in Po-
tOmac Park could give a more impressive
distant view Of the monument itself than
fOulu De gwen Dy a nlEn MIL NMer1Qlan
HID, which commands view of the
entire city Of old Washington, of the dis
tant hills of Virginia, and the broad
plains Of Maryland. Meridian Hill Is 202
feet and Capitol HID is ninety feet above
the Potomac. For the monument here
suggested, the site is not in the street,
but on the crest of this hill. We have
here an opportunity for an impressive
base of masonry, for falling cascades,
and for a city view as from the PincIan
Hill at Rome.
When sites were being considered for
our Capitol building, could not the same
arguments for impressiveness have been
made for site on open ground near the
river?
Again Meridian Hill has the adyan-
tage Of accessibility. II lies in the CEN
ter and within a walk OF one or two
squares from our three lines OF cars, viz,
the Fourteenth street, the U street and
the Connecticut avenue cars Cat Colum-
bia road; thus all our lines of cars lead
to the Meridian Hin Park, as they do to
the Capitol
Danger of Floods.
DO not know II all danger from Poto-
mac floods has been, or could be. over
come. as far as our reclaimed marsh
land is concerned, but let us not forget
that in 1854 and again in 1855, Pennsyl-
vania avenue could be crossed in a boat.
and that Paris has been taught, by a
surprising experience. the value of high
locations for massive structures
The Meridian Hill site is in some re-
spects similar TO that of the Napoleonic |
memorial at Paris. Both are central |
high elevations. The main avenue that |
leads to the Are de Triomphe extends |
from the Tuileries to that point This |
same avenue continues to the Bois de /
Boulogne, the famous park on the out |
skirts Of Paris. The same geographical |
conditions apply to the Meridian Hill /
Park site, which is on the thoroughfare /
leading fSom the White House to Rock
Creek Park. the latter Of which viii |
some day be quite as grand as the Bols-
de BouloRne
AS the Capitol dominates all the region
Of Capitol Hill, so does the Washington i
Monument dominate the region Of Poto-
mas Park. All else Is, or would be- /
naturally dwarfed in Importance. In this
Potomac Park region one could hardly
build another important structure high
and 1t would seem pity to build it low
How would IL seem to have on the same /
axis for three important features
Cd Something very high. as the Capitol;
CD Something very high. as the WASH
iIgton Monument:
90 Something fat2
A building of low. construction there
might. by a stranger, be mistaken for 4
some small government building.
Have we no other region IN town for
Lincoin2 Is It too much to say that in
no city OF the world Is there another
ument as In the Meridian Hin Park7 II
lies both 10 the center OF the city and
also IN the center Of the District. COM Il