The Lincoln Memorial

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the design of the Lincoln Memorial was the highlight of Henry Bacon's architectural career for which he received the 1923 Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects for his achievement on the memorial. The author points out that the building itself is as much of a symbol of the Union as Lincoln himself was; in designing a monument to the man who preserved the Union, Bacon used materials from many areas of the country---North and South, East and West. The paper stresses that Bacon's greatest success was his ability to blend the building's purpose and design with a message, which, in this case, is Abraham Lincoln's belief in peace, freedom, equality and unity, and that is the design motif of the Lincoln Memorial.

From the Paper:

"Bacon was an admirer of Greek architecture and used his imagination to bring uniqueness to the memorial he fashioned after the famous Parthenon. Situated at the west end of the mall, Bacon used the side of the temple building design as the front, thus placing an effective end to the mall at the memorial. Unlike the long and narrow Parthenon, the Lincoln Memorial presents a more open appearance. On the frieze above the colonnade are inscribed the names of the thirty- six states in the union at the time of Lincoln's death. Above these are the names of the forty- eight in the Union at the time of the memorial's dedication. Since that time a plaque has been added to the memorial that includes a representation for Hawaii and Alaska. Typical of the Greek Doric style, wreaths of carved leaves, scrolls, and lion heads decorated the frieze and the cornice above it."

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