The Memorials in Washington D.C

#District of Columbia World War Memorial
Following Congressional authorization in 1924, Washington Evening Star President Frank B. Noyes led the District of Columbia World War Memorial Commussion to collect donations from District residents, school children, veterans groups, labor unions, and government officials. Designed by local architects Fredrick H. Brooke, Nathan C. Wyeth, and Horace W. Peaslee and constructed by Washington's John Barid Company, this simple, dignified Doric temple testifies to the city's sacrifice. "We gather here today to dedicate a new shrine to those residents of the District of Columbia who served in the World War. This temple will recall for all time their services and sacrifices."-Preseident Hebert C. Hoover

#The Thomas Jefferson Memorial

The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is under construction when I get there. It is one of the most famous president memorial as a beatiful memorial. Thomas Jefferson is the third president of the United States and an American Founding father. The memorial was bulit in 1943 by Tyler Nichols. As you see from this picture, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial is created next to the Potomac River. I'll absoultely go to see the national cherry blossom festival at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.

# The Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is located near the National Mall. The Washington Monument was established in 1884. It was built to honor the first President George Washington. The monument is consist of marble. It is the tallest monument in the world. It stands 555 feet 5 1/8 inches. Robert Mills designed the Washington Monument. I can feel pride to the American people from the Washington Monument.

# The Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial was built to commemorate the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is also located on the National Mall. Constuction of the Lincoln Memorial ended in 1922. Henry Bacon designed the sculpture. Piccirilli Brother carved the statue of Abraham Lincoln. It is about 19 feet tall. "IN THIS TEMPLE AS IN THE HEART OF THE PEOPLE FOR WHOM HE SAVED THE UNION THE MEMORY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN IS ENSHRINED FOREVER."

-CL

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery




Arlington National Cemetery is the nation's premier military cemetery. There are thousands of tombs located in Arlington National Cemetery. About 400,000 veterans are currently buried on Arlington National Cemetery. It was established during the American Civil War. It ranges from the American Civil War to War in Afghanistan and Iraq.



The interesting scenery at Arlington National Cemetery is a ceremony of the Sentinel for the tomb of unkowns. The ceremony is performed in front of Arlington National Cemetery Amphiteater named ANNO DOMINI MDCCCXV. This ceremony is to honor unknown soldiers from World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam War. The ceremony is performing all day. The sentinel of the picture walks down on the black board. The sentinel rotates walks every a few minutes. The sentinel pauses at the left and right edge of the black board. He turns his body to the tomb of unknowns. He looks out the tomb of unknown soliders for a few minutes. The implication of this ceremony I believe is that the sentinel representing Americans remembers and respects unknown soliders who sacrified their lives for the United Sastes. I respect for veterans in slience with the sentinel.




Arlington House flag is flying at half-staff. The flag is lowered during interments. The cross is for Robery Francis Kennedy.

-CL

Photos with Archie Griffin

Shakespeare's Birthday and the Climate Rally

The weekend of April 23, 23, and 25 was a really happening weekend here in D.C, there seemed to be all sorts of fun things going on, the Folger-Shakespeare Library Open House, the Climate Rally, the Smithsonian Crafts Fair, a Vintage Poster Sale, the Emerson String Quartet playing. It was one of those weekends where I really wanted to do it all. I had a friend who came to D.C. for the climate rally. Actually, some of the smaller colleges in the Midwest provided whirlwind trips to D.C. to participate in the rally, my friend goes to Oberlin—which of course sent a bus! We went to the Folger-Shakespeare Library open house, which was full of people in costume and interactive stations (geared toward children but fun nonetheless). We learned about the printing press, and got to make Shakespeare birthday cards, and got a lesson in extra illustration, a popular way to present Shakespeare in the 1800s. We also got tattoos of Shakespeare on a Birthday Cake. But by far the best part was just seeing all the old books scholars had on reserve just, sitting there, being out in the open. I wish I had a reason to use that library. After spending the morning at the library, my friend and I went to the Climate rally, which had everything from dirty hippies to Avatar face painting. My friend is biochemistry major, so we spent a fair amount of time at the Climate Day sponsored poster session, looking at science projects. Quite frankly, it was all a little above my history-music-politics brain. The rally was exciting and full of enthusiasm from the dirty hippies. But after a while, our enthusiasm died in the heat and crowded grass, and we sought refuge at the Shakler Gallery of Asian Art. This is a smaller Smithsonian gallery, near the Castle. The collection was sparse, but widespread. Currently, they have a Tibetan monastery on display, full of meditation objects and dharma transcriptions. I enjoy Asian religious art, because I had this really interesting class on Asian culture, religion and aesthetics, so its fun to be able to recognize symbols and figures I learned about in class.

LM

LM

Monuments and Memorials at Night

World War II Memorial
[PHOTO CREDIT: www.nationalparkstraveler.com]

The monuments are some of my favorite things about D.C., and I love that the National Mall is practically in our backyard! A few of us frequently go on night walks on the Mall, from our house to the Washington Monument and back.

On Monday night, Liz and I were feeling particularly ambitious, so we walked all the way to the the Lincoln Memorial and back. We stopped at the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, all of which seemed much more powerful lit up at night.

It also happened to be Memorial Day, so there were lots of flowers and other items left at the World War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials. It was a moving reminder of what those structures really represent.

-Kristen

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Kristen sums up the memorials perfectly! Being so close to the monuments really is amazing. As we were walking, Kristen told me about an article she read in The Washington Post of how several older women have been walking The Mall and along the monuments for the past few decades! It just goes to show no matter what age or how long you've lived in D.C., the majesty of the monuments, especially at night, never ceases. The WWII Memorial and Lincoln Memorial, my two favorite monuments, take on a special significance lit up in the evening!

-LB

Eastern Market

Eastern Market, on 7th Street SE, is a short walk away from our home on Constitution Avenue. It has been a great way that many of us have started our weekend mornings. Boasting great selections on Saturday and Sunday, this has been a favorite spot for many of us to pick up some treats, buy some produce, or simply enjoy the sights and weather of D.C. An antique and flea market makes up part of the market- great jewelry, rare finds, and music can be found here. Elise and I have been known to pick up a baguette to bring home for later in the day while Andrew bought a great cookbook and found some of the ingredients for one of the recipes at the market. There is also an indoor part to the market where you can find, among other things, fish, meat, and cheese products. Along 7th Street are some great local restaurants where some of us have been known to grab brunch together! In general, Eastern market is a lively place with great food that’s worth going to at least once…if not every weekend! To learn more about D.C.’s oldest continually operated fresh food public market, check out the website! http://www.easternmarket-dc.org/
-LB, JJB, AM, KR, EG, AC

Some like it HOT

Some of my cohorts have been quite alarmed at my recent choice of hair alterations. I shaved approximately a pound of hair off my head. Some speculated as to why I would commit such a crime against the curly locks of this world, my reply, its simply too hot in the beltway. The only place on the hill where tourists and locals alike can be found seeking the comforts of a muggier environment is the Botanical Gardens. Above are some shots I took of the Flora fauna. On bottom is a shot taken of their current orchid exhibit, and on top is the extension of a banana tree. Home to many rare species, the Botanical Gardens is a must see, if ever you are looking for a good hot spot, and wish to pretend you are on a vacation in a far away land.

JJB, LB

Cultural Arts Group and the Corcoran Gallery

I had to miss the dome tour, to go to a meeting. Luckily the meeting was pretty interesting. The particular meeting was with the cultural arts group. The attendees were government affairs people from various arts and cultural organizations. This included representatives from the museum, performing, visual, presenting, architectural arts community. A wide variety of issues and initiatives were discussed. And while it seems like sometimes government action can be very incremental its nice to know that, people work with the government everyday to improve society and its constructs.
After the cultural arts group meeting, I went to the Corcoran Art Gallery. The Corcoran Gallery of Art is really close to the White House. I didn’t realize that when I started walking there, so I ended up walking by the White House (which made me smile, because Obama lives there, some days) and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Office Building. The White House always seems to look smaller in person…maybe that’s just me?
Anyway, the Corcoran is a really lovely space, and has a nice set of statues and fairly nice permanent collection. I was going in hopes of seeing the Turner to Cezanne exhibit, which was closed due to an Air Conditioning glitch. That was a bummer, and the rest of the exhibits I had to share with children on a school tour, all under the age of 6. I like children, just not when they’re hot, tired, bored and ruining my time in an art gallery. I also learned that the Corcoran is an educational institute for fine arts, and my mentor actually interned at the Corcoran when she was a John Glenn Fellow-so I was glad to see the Gallery before I met her for a second time.

LM

National Gallery

One of the other earlier trips I made was to the National Gallery of Art. So, as you will gather form several of the other touristy activities I’ve chosen to do, I really like art. The National Gallery has a beautiful collection, and an especially nice representation of Rococo. One of their current exhibitions, the Chester Dale Collection was really interesting as it brought many different eras of French painting to one location. I saw a Renoir I had never seen, which I really enjoyed. The National Gallery also is home to Picasso’s Family of Saltimbanques. A Saltimbanque is an “itinerant circus performer” who were a symbol of alienation of avant-garde artists. Interestingly, the painting serves as an autobiographical statement to Picasso, who is pictured in the painting along with his “circle” http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/20centpa/20centpa-46665.html It is interesting to me that, our National Art Gallery houses little American Art, which is in the Renwick Gallery. This however, is fine with me-as I'm not fond many American painters.
I also had lunch with a friend in the sculpture garden, which is home to this ridiculous eraser (pictured above). The garden cafe was surprisingly quiet and not jammed packed of tourists, nor was it super expensive-I think I paid $12 of a salmon salad? All of these factors made it a lovely lunch (especially the part about being at the National Gallery)

LM

Memorial Walks

There’s so much to do and see in D.C. that it hardly leaves time for blogging!! After being in the city for a little over a month now, I think we’ve all fallen into the rhythm of living, working and sightseeing in the city. Springtime here is absolutely beautiful and I really enjoy being outside, something is always in bloom and for the most part, the sun is out.
One of the first weeks we were here, Scott, Katherin and I went out to the Washington Monument (which you can see from just about anywhere on Capitol Hill) and walked around to look at some of the other memorials. We did the “abbreviated” version of the tour de force of monuments in the area, Washington Memorial, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War and Vietnam War Memorials. While walking around the WWII memorial and looking at the various details in the homage to the 16 million members of the armed forces who served in the war, a woman approached us. This was woman was curious about Scott’s always present, Ohio State t-shirt, turns out she was an alumna! She was really excited about meeting us, and said she might be at some of the events--goes to show, Buckeyes are actually, everywhere.
All of the monuments are quite impressive, although to me, the most moving still is the Vietnam Memorial. The cool, black reflective stone creates a somber and meditative timbre that is hard to ignore when at the memorial. Though it was not my first time at the memorial, this time I learned that its architect, Maya Ying Lin (who’s from Athens, OH) won the competition for her design, but received a B+ for the project in her class.
LM