Washington Study Day One

Thank you all for your fortitude and your intrepid approach to learning about the history of Washington D.C. We are off to a great start with Jake's wonderful lecture, "Founding a Federal City, Finding a Federal Politics" and our viewing and discussion of the amazing and moving Lincoln Memorial. What I think might not have been mentioned last night, was Lincoln's own comittment to erecting the Washington Memorial. As a young congressman, he was in Washington when the cornerstone was laid in the late 1840s. From our conversation I learned that the meaning of the Civil War is still contested, which I suppose should not be surprising. Nevertheless, Daniel Chester French's brilliant memorial statue does seem especially well tuned to accomodate the complexity of Lincoln himself and the greatness of his mind and spirit. The golden tones of the temple setting against which the brilliant white statue is set brings to mind notions of purity and hope.