Facts About Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Washington D.C.
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The Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC, dedicated to the third US President, Thomas Jefferson, is one of the most famous landmarks in Washington!
It was dedicated to the former President by the then-current President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Thomas Jefferson's 200th birthday on April 13, 1943!
The land where the statue stands was made by landfill, dredged from the Potomac River!
The design of the circular colonnade was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome and the Rotunda at the University of Virginia that were designed by Jefferson himself!
In the center of the memorial, there's a 19-foot bronze statue of Jefferson that was sculpted by Rudolph Evans apart from excerpts from Jefferson's writings that are inscribed on the four internal panels.
The construction of memorial faced a lot of objections, right from Frank Llyod Wright who didn't approve of the classical design to opposition related to the destruction of the cherry trees (Cherry Rebellion)!
The current statue inside the memorial isn't the one that was originally inaugurated by President Roosevelt! As the country was in the middle of World War II, they didn't have enough bronze and other metal supplies. The current statue was later installed in 1947.
You can stand on the top step of the Jefferson Memorial from where you can see the whole of the White House clearly from the distance!
A part of the quote inscribed inside the memorial isn't that of Jefferson, instead, it is from the Declaration of Independence!