Jefferson Memorial

Jefferson Memorial

Thomas Jefferson is one of the greatest figures in the history of the nation. The author of the Declaration of Independence was one of the founding fathers of the United States.The interior walls are engraved with inscriptions taken from the Declaration of Independence and from other writings.The site of the Memorial was originally created using landfill dredged from the Potomac River in the late 1800s. It became a popular bathing beach for Washingtonians and other locals.Construction started in 1939 and it was dedicated four years later, in 1943. Since metal was being rationed during the Second World War, a plaster statue of Jefferson was created instead. After the war, the plaster statue was replaced by a 19ft / 6m tall statue in bronze, sculpted by Rudulph Evans. 

In 1941, Rudolph Evans was commissioned to sculpt the statue of Thomas Jefferson. The statue of Jefferson looks out from the interior of the Memorial toward the White House. It was intended to represent the Age of Enlightenment and Jefferson as a philosopher and statesman. The bronze statue is 19 feet tall and weighs five tons. Adolph A. Weinman's sculpture of the five members of the Declaration of Independence drafting committee submitting their report to Congress is featured on the triangular pediment. Also noteworthy, and adorning the interior of the Memorial, are five quotations taken from Jefferson's writings that illustrate the principles to which he dedicated his life.

A firm believer in equal rights, democracy, education available to all, freedom of religion and separation between church and state, he gave form to the nascent nation still searching for its identity. Besides being a politician, Jefferson was also an architect, a writer, musician, scientist and inventor.It became apparent that the site was well suited for another high-profile memorial since it sat directly south of the White House. By 1901 the Senate Park Commission, better known as the McMillan Commission, had proposed placing a pantheon-like structure on the site hosting "the statues of the illustrious men of the nation, or whether the memory of some individual shall be honored by a monument of the first rank may be left to the future"; no action was ever taken by Congress on this issue.

Battery Park

Battery Park

Battery Park is a 25-acre (10 hectare) public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years to protect the settlement behind them. At the north end of the park is Castle Clinton, the often re-purposed last remnant of the defensive works that inspired the name of the park; Pier A, formerly a fireboat station; andHope Garden, a memorial to AIDS victims. At the other end is Battery Gardens restaurant, next to the United States Coast Guard Battery Building. Along the waterfront, Statue Cruises offers ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The park is also the site of the East Coast Memorial which commemorates U.S. servicemen who died in coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean during World War II, and several other memorials.

For more than 200 years, Battery Park has been an invaluable part of New York City’s history. In 1855, Castle Garden, situated inside the Park, became the world’s first immigrant depot. Decades before Ellis Island was built or the Statue of Liberty gazed down at incoming boats, millions of newcomers arrived at Battery Park from Europe and elsewhere. Its beautiful waterfront and flower gardens make Battery Park a lovely place to wander. For those who'd like a longer stroll, the park’s location at the southern tip of Manhattan makes it a classic starting point for walking tours through the city.

Many 9/11 family members opposed that plan, saying it would be more appropriate to return the sphere to its original location beside the Twin Towers, on what is now the 9/11 Memorial. An online petition demanding the sphere's return to the World Trade Center site gathered more than 7,000 signatures, but Port Authority officials have not warmed to the idea.Koenig's bronze sphere was installed in Battery Park during an emotional ceremony on March 11, 2002, the six-month anniversary of the attacks, and an eternal flame was lit on Sept. 11, 2002 in memory of the nearly 3,000 people who were killed. The sphere became a symbol of hope and resilience after surviving amid so much destruction.