The Thomas Jefferson Memorial is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States. The building was designed by John Russell Pope. It was built by Philadelphia contractor John McShain and was completed in 1943. When completed, the memorial occupied one of the last significant sites left in the city.

Composed of circular marble steps, a portico, a circular colonnade of Ionic order columns, and a shallow dome, the building is open to the elements. Pope made references to the Roman Pantheon and Jefferson's own design for the Rotunda at the University of Virginia.

President Franklin Roosevelt thought that Thomas Jefferson deserved a monument. On June26, 1934, following his initiative, Congress passed a resolution to create a monument commemorating Jefferson.

The cornerstone was laid on November 15, 1939 — two years after Pope's death. Daniel P. Higgins and Otto R. Eggers took over construction of the memorial. The Jefferson Memorial was officially dedicated on April 13, 1943, 1943 — the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birthday.



The interior of the memorial has a 19 foot tall, 10,000 pound (5 ton) bronze statue of Jefferson by sculptor Rudulph Evans which was added four years after the dedication, and the interior walls are engraved with passages from Jefferson's writings. Most prominent are the words which are inscribed in a frieze below the dome:

"I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Inscriptions in the Statue Chamber

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. We...solemnly publish and declare, that these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states...And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

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National Park Service   Wikipedia

George Mason

A site near the Thomas Jefferson Memorial was selected for the George Mason Memorial, which commemorates the often neglected contributions of an important Founding Father of the United States.



George Mason was the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Perhaps Mason's greatest act was withholding his signature from the United States Constitution because it did not abolish the slave trade and lacked necessary protection for the individual from the Federal Government.

For more information, see links below

National Park Service   Wikipedia

Thomas Jefferson Memorial