Evening star., 1936-03-08
A New Decoration
for Washington
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

"
unfinished monument at the National
Capital in honor of the men Of the sea.
The history of this monument is similar,
within a narrower compass, to the his
tory of the Washington Monument. in
that it was begun, then allowed to lapse,
and finally taken in hand.
There is wide interest in the memorial
because it is the first ever erected in the
world as sea memorial Of an impersonal
nature.
The Sea Memorial at Washington, as
it has come to be called, is different in
that it is impersonal. 1t is not monu-
ment to the Navy, to the Marine Corps
or any other branch of sea service, but
to the men of the sea as whole. The
Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard
and the American merchant marine are
all honored.
A part of the memorial is in place and
has been viewed by hundreds of thou
sands of visitors to the National Cap
ital, as it is placed on the Memorial High
way which connects Washington with
Mount Vernon. The monument proper
as now seen shows sea gullS in
apparent flight over the top of break
ing wave. Although cast in metal, the
birds seem to have movement. There is
no figure of any man, living or dead, on
the sculpture.
But the memorial is incomplete and
this recalls the vicissitudes of the Wash
ington Monument. After some early ef-
forts toward a Washington monument
made by members of Congress, which
proved abortive the Washington Ma
The great Chief Justice John Marshall
was it's first head. This society raised
altogether some 100000 by popular SUBJ
scription. The corner stone was laid in
1848 in the presence of President James
K Polk
With such an auspicious beginning it
would seem inevitable that the work
would be pushed to early completion.
Such was not the case. When the shaft
had attained a height Of $50 feet the
societys funds ran out and work stopped.
This was shortly before the Civil War,
and it was not until 1873 that work was
resumed, but not, this time, by the soci-
ety. Congress granted funds for con-
tinuation of the work. and in 1885 the
completed Monument was dedicated.
The similarity OF the Sea Memorial
experience is that 1t was started more
than a dozen years ago, which, in view
of the accelerated tempo of modern
times. compares with the 81 years which
had elapsed between the beginning and
completion of the Washington Monu-
ment. Edwin DENLY was Secretary OF
the Navy when the work began. Begnl
del Plata of New York was commissioned
as sculptor. his design having received
approval of the National Commission Of
Fine Arts. and Harvey Wiley CWbett
was named architect. The modelling was
done in the studio of Daniel Chester
French. once chairman of the Fine Arts
Commission and the sculptor of the CO.
lossal figure Of Abraham Lincoln which
occupies the atrium of the Lincoln Me-
mortal.
A private association, similar to the
Washington National Monument Society.
was in charge of the work. After Mr..
Denbys retirement as chairman, sue
cessive Secretaries of the Navy served.
In the regime of Charles Francis Adams
an appeal for subscriptions was made to
the personnel of the United States Navy,
not merely the officers, but also the en-
listed men. AS a result contributions
we're received from every ship and every
shore station. as the men felt that this
was their monument.
x !,
Then, too, because of the wide appeal
of the idea. together with the educa-
tional and patriotic value, the matter
was broached in the schools and collec-
tions of pennies and nickelS and dimes
were made from a total of 100000
school children. Newspapers, shipping
companies and thousands of citizens
made contributions of varying size, just
as in the case of the Washington Monu-
ment Society.
AS lack of adequate funds coupled
with the interruption Of the Civil War.
caused suspension of work on the Wash
ington Monument, so the inadequacy OF
funds and the phenomenon of the great
depression prevented completion of the
Sea Memorial. When the Civil War was
over the Washington Monument took
life again. this time with the aid of Con-
gress, and became the greatest monu-
ment of its kind in the world. Now that
the depression is nearing its end, if that
has not been wholly accomplished, plans
are afoot for the completion of the Sea
Memorial.
That part of the monument showing
the wave and the gulls was cast in
Cleveland and set in place in 1884. Un-
der 1t there is rough concrete base.
The whole has truncated and unfin-
ished appearance. A part of the entire
design is the base, designed by Harvey
Wiley Corbett. Mr.. del Piatta's sculpture
is given an unusual setting by the base,
in that it is to be constructed of sea
green granite The base rises in a series
of low steps which look extraordinarily
like ripping Water-if the large-Scale
models which have been made are not
at fault. The National Commission of
Fine Arts. of course, also has accepted
the design of the base. AS completed.
the whole memorial will give an impress
sion of moving water and gulls in flight.
Already the partly completed memo-
rial has attracted much attention. It
also has aroused some controversy. 1t
is the first adaptation of dynamics to
the sculptor's art and. to some critics.
the freedom and apparent movement OF
the gulls which seem to hang in midair
is too great departure from the older
canons of static sculpture. However.
the work has the applause of some Of
the most noted artists of both this and
the Old World. Be that as it may, so
far as Washington is involved, it no
longer is concerned with the artistic
merits, save in an academic manner, for