Evening star., 1961-07-18
CONCRESsMANS REDsCOVERY
Lincoln Memorial Govern Found
By WILLIAM DUKE
Star Staff Writer

The Lincoln Memorial, one Of
the worlds most popular monu-
ments, sits atop a cathedral
like, man-made cavern which
has gone virtually unnoticed
for nearly 40 years.
The existence Of the cav
lern-about half as large as the
monument itSelf-waS known
to only a handful of National
Capital Parks employees until
it was "rediscovered" recently
by Representative Schwengel,
Republican of Iowa.
The Congressman, a we'll
known Lincoln buff. said yes
terday he had some definite
plans for the chamber.
II would like to see this be-
come the largest and the best
Lincoln museum in the world"
he said.
Mr.. Schwengel, who was
chairman of the Joint Con-
greSSional Committee to plan
for the anniversary observance
Of President Lincoln's first in
auguration, said he wrote Ma
tional Park Service Director
Conrad Wirth last week asking
the aid Of service architects in
estimating the cost of renovat-
ing the chamber.
Pleased by Idea
In the meantime, the Iowan
has worked with Randle Tru-
EFT. chief historian Of the Ma
tional Capital Parks system, in
making preliminary surveys of
his own. He said he is now
more enthusiastic about the
museum idea than he was
when he first saw the cavern
late one night three months
ago.
Nobody seems to know why
that chamber was built in the
first place." he said yesterday,
But I think it can be put to
wonderful use"
Yesterday. Mr.. Schwengel
and Mr.. Truett led two report
erS down a steep metal ladder
to show them the discovery"
"A floor could cut across the
main chamber, creating q COM
plete library in the bottom
half, and q small auditorium
at the top, he said. "SlideS
and movies Of the Lincoln ira
dition could be shown in the
auditorium, giving tourists a
better idea Of how important
Mr.. Lincoln's acts were"
Linked to FOrd'S
MIR. Truett, who worked in
the present museum in the old
Ford Theater, said the chamber
under the memorial would pro-
vide at least 10 times more
tspaee. --ssse
He said the idea Of creating
a museum at the monument
would also fit into plans for a
complete restoration of the
Ford Theater.
Mr.. Schwenge1 estimated
that the main chamber is 1853
feet long, and 81 feet wide.
Mr.. Truett guessed that it was
81 feet from the earthen floor
to the arched ceiling Of the
chamber. higher than the
statue chamber above.
There are three chambers.
The main one, dimly-lit by
naked light bulbs along the
walkway, looked like some
poorly maintained ancient
church as light reflected from
its Roman-arched ceiling.
Think of the possibilities
down here" Mr.. Schwengel
said. along this walkway there
are "a alcoveS that could be
used to display private collec-
tionS Of Lincoln memorabilia,
I've already contacted some Of
the best-known collectors, and
they're happy with the idea.
Unaffected by Tunnel
Mr.. Schwengel said the pro-
posed traffic tunnel under the
Lincoln Memorial plaza would
pass between the memorial and
the river, and wouldn't hurt
this plan at ALL"
Financing might create a
problem. Mr.. Schwengel said a
Congressional resolution would
have to be passed to provide
funds for a complete survey
and designs for the museum.
Mr.. Truett guessed that the
chamber was merely a build
er's device not specifically de-
signed by the architect. He said
the monument was construc-
ton on filled land, and that the
builder may have left the area
under the monument open
rather than haul in tons of
dirt to fill it.