On April 13th, 1743, Thomas Jefferson, American statesman, lawyer, architect, Founding Father, First Secretary of State, and 3rd President of the United States, was born in Shadwell, Virginia, and some 200 years later, a memorial was dedicated his honor by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Situated on the south bank of the Tidal Basin among cherry trees, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial was built between 1939-1943, standing in a straight line to the White House. Its architect, John Russell Pope, incorporated Jefferson's tendencies towards classical architecture, with influential designs that signaled freedom and democracy, while modeling the monument after the Pantheon of Rome. The 19 foot bronze statue within was commissioned by Rudolph Evans and the quotations inscribed in the interior of the monument illustrate the principles to which Jefferson committed his life.
The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.
- Dedication Set For Jefferson Memorial. (1943, Jan 29). The Washington Post (1923-1954)
- Special to The New York Times. (1943, Mar 07). Model Of Statue For Jefferson Memorial. New York Times (1923-Current File)
- Thompson, S. G. (1943, Mar 14). Jefferson Memorial Dedication To Be Held April 13 in Capital: Ceremony At Domed, Marble Edifice In Potomac' Park, Begun In 1938, to Mark 200th Birthday Of Third President. New York Herald Tribune (1926-1962)
- Scarborough, K. (1943, Apr 04). Jefferson Memorial Recalls the Man. The Sun (1837-1995)
- Capital's New Jefferson Memorial. (1943, Apr 10). Afro-American (1893-1988)
- Jefferson Memorial Dedication Is Today. (1943, Apr 13). The Hartford Courant (1923-1995)
- New Jefferson Memorial Completes Group Of Washington Monuments. (1943, Apr 13). The Hartford Courant (1923-1995)
- Stringer, W.H. (1943, Apr 13). Jefferson Memorial Dedicated: Memorial To Jefferson Dedicated By Roosevelt. The Christian Science Monitor (1908-Current File)
- Short, J. H. (1943, Apr 14). President Dedicates Jefferson Memorial: Executive Predicts Today's Fight Against Will Bring Greater Freedom Than Before. The Sun (1837-1995)
- Hershey Jr, R.D. (1986, Oct 22). They Who Come To Honor Jefferson. New York Times (1923-Current File)
Tips:
- Jefferson, Thomas. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011. e-book
- McDonald, Robert S. Light and Liberty: Thomas Jefferson and the Power of Knowledge. Charlottsville: University of Virginia Press, 2012. e-book
- Onuf, Peter S. and Nicholas P. Cole. Thomas Jefferson, the Classical World, and Early America. Charlottsville: University of Virginia Press, 2012. e-book
Images:
- Washington, D.C.: Thomas Jefferson Memorial, by Reinhard Link. Licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
- Special News Slide, Courtesy of the Gottesman Libraries
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