Of all of the iconic structures one sees in Washington DC, there is something especially unique and striking about the Washington Monument. Unlike either the Lincoln or Jefferson Monuments, which so closely resemble other structures in the ancient Greek style, the Washington Monument is far more distinctive. Nothing else in our nation’s capitol looks anything like it- and moreover, it looks like a far more modern structure than either of the other two monuments. But in fact, both the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials were dedicated in 1928 and 1943, respectively, while the much more modern-looking Washington Monument was completed way back in 1888 – which I find amazing.
I recently read that the original design of the monument was to include a circular colonnade at its base – which in my opinion would have made it look much clunkier and far less unique. Fortunately, a lack of funding is what led to the elimination of all of those columns, which is the best thing that could have happened!
Those same funding troubles, as you might know, forced a hiatus in construction that lasted almost twenty years (from 1858 to 1876.) If one looks carefully at the monument, you can easily detect where the original construction left off and the follow up construction took up from the difference in color in the marble. (I imagine it was the fervor surrounding our nation’s centennial that reignited the public’s interest in seeing the monument completed.)
As I stood close to the monument on this moment to get a good look at that subtle yet dramatic difference in old and new marble, I found myself- almost by accident- becoming much more aware of something that I had always taken completely for granted ….. that the Washington Monument is comprised of many individual stones: 36,000, in fact. When one looks at it from afar, it looks like one gigantic piece of marble that has somehow been shaped and placed by some sort of unearthly power. (Sort of like that ominous-looking obelisk in 2001-A Space Odyssey.) But of course, there is nothing magical or mysterious about how it came to be created. It was built stone by stone through the toil of hardworking men whose names are lost to history …. much like the names of whoever was responsible for building the Great Pyramids of Egypt or the Great Wall of China or Rome’s Coliseum or India’s Taj Mahal. In one sense, these structures lose some of their beauty when we view them up close and become aware of the individual stones of which they are comprised. But on the other hand, it is really only then that one is moved to acknowledge that it was human beings who designed them- and built them- and have maintained and repaired them as well over the years.
Of course, the same thing can be said for every building in Washington- from the U.S. Treasury to the Supreme Court Building to the Executive Office Building. But again, there is something about the sleek design of the Washington Monument that leads us to forget that. But if you make the long climb up to the hill on which it’s perched, and stand at its base, you can’t help but appreciate what it took to bring this magnificent obelisk into being. And maybe what made me even more acutely aware of it was the fact that I stood in the shadow of the monument on an incredibly windy day, with gusts up to 40 miles an hour that literally knocked me off balance. (The fifty American flags that fly from fifty different flag poles were flapping wildly that day, which made one even more aware of the wind’s ferocity.)
It was a reminder that the work of building the monument did not just happen under the most idyllic of circumstances, but in heat and cold and rain and wind. And chances are that the men who worked hardest on its construction received little if any proper recognition for their work. May we at least extend them the honor of our simple and heartfelt acknowledgement of a job well done.