8th Grade Report

LincolnMemorial

TheHistoryOfTheLincolnMemorial
TheLincolnMemorialwasbuilttohonorthe16thPresident,AbrahamLincoln.He
wasrewardedforsavingtheUnion,strengtheningthegovernmentandeliminating
slavery.Hisdeathwasshockingtothecountry.Itislocatedacrossfromthe
WashingtonMonument,intheNationalMall.ThememorialisatributetoLincoln
andthenationhefoughttomaintainduringtheCivilWar.
Ittookmorethan50
yearstogetamemorialforlincolnbuiltandopenedtothepublic.Also,the
memorialwasactuallythesecondlincolnsculpturethefrenchhadmade.
TheBuildingOfTheLincolnMemorial
TheheightoftheLincolnMemorialwas99feet.ThesculptureofAbraham
Lincolnsittingwas19feet.AtthetimeofAbrahamLincoln'sdeath,therewere36
statesoftheUnion.Thisisthereasonthattherewere36columnsdesignedintothe
LincolnMemorial.Thereare87stepsfromtheReflectingPooltoLincoln'sstatue
inthemonument.Thenumber87representsthe'fourscoreand7'speechAbraham

LincolnspokeinhisfamousGettysburgAddress.Thememorialwasbuiltwith
marblefromColorado.Lincoln'sstatuewasmadefromblocksofmarblefromthe
stateofGeorgia.ThepersonwhobuiltthisfascinatingmemorialwasHenryBacon.
HenryBaconwasanAmericanarchitectwhoisbestrememberedforthis
memorial.
TheLincolnMemorialEvents
TheLincolnmemorialhashostedalotofevents.Oneofthoseeventswerethe
MarianAndersonTributeConcert.There,differenttypeofperformerslenttheir
talentsinordertocelebrateAbrahamLincolnandthecivilrightslegacyofopera
starMarianAnderson.AnothereventwastheAbrahamLincolnsBirthday
Celebration.EachyearsincethededicationoftheLincolnMemorial,citizenshave
assembledinthechambertohonorAbrahamLincolnonthedayofhisbirth.
AnothereventwastheLincolnMemorialRededication.OnMay30,2009,
SecretaryoftheInside,KenSalazarledmanyperformersinrememberingthe
dedicationceremonyandonceagainacceptedtheLincolnMemorialforthe
AmericanPeople.ThereweremanyotherseventsthatalsooccurredbutIfeltthese
werethemostcommonandrememberable.

8th Grade Report

ThomasJeffersonMemorial

TheHistoryOfTheThomasJeffersonMemorial
ThememorialwasbuilttohonorThomasJefferson,thethirdpresidentofthe
UnitedStates,thedrafteroftheDeclarationofIndependenceandoneofAmericas
FoundingFather.ThedesignerofthememorialwasJohnRussellPope.Popedied
in1937duringconstruction,sotheprojectwastakenoverbyDanielHigginsand
OttoEggers.Thelocationwasselectedin1937,andPresidentFranklinRoosevelt
placedthecornerstoneofthememorialin1939.RudolphEvanscreatedthestatue

ofJefferson,andthememorialreceiveditsdedicationin1943.Ithasheldavariety
ofceremonies,includingtheworldfamousNationalCherryBlossomFestival.

TheBuildingOfTheMemorial
Theoutsideofthememorialhascircularmarblestairsthatleaduptotheinside.
Themainfloorhasanoutsidecolonnaderimmingit.Thecolonnadecontains26
ionicordercolumns,13metersinheight,allcoveredbyanIndianalimestone
dome,31metersfromgroundlevel.ThefloorismadewithTennesseePink
Marble,whiletheceilingismadewithIndianalimestone.Jeffersonsstatuestands
onapedestalofMinnesotaBlackGranitewhichismadewithMissouriGray
Marble.Thechamberis25metersindiameterand28metersinheight,tothe
highestpointofthedome.Thechamberhasfourentrancesmarkingthenorth,east,
southandwest,eachhaving4ioniccolumnsof12meters.Betweeneachopening
arememorialwalls,atotaloffour.Littlemajorchangeshavebeenmadetothe
Memorialsinceitsdedication.Themostimportantchangeisthereplacementofthe
plasterstatueofthepresidentbesidethebronzestatueaftertheWorldWarII
restrictionswhentheuseofmetalswerelifted.Thepersonwhobuiltthememorial
was
TheThomasJeffersonMemorialEvents
Therewerealotofeventsthathappened,attheThomasJeffersonMemorial.One
ofthoseeventswasthenationaldebateaboutrace.Itoccurredrightaroundthe
shootingofninepeopleinachurch.Itwasbasicallyadiscussiononpeoples
opinionsonthechurchshootings.AnothereventwastheceremonyonNovember

15,1939,wherePresidentRooseveltlaidthecornerstoneoftheMemorial.ALotof
othereventshaveoccurredattheJeffersonMemorial.

8th Grade Report

WashingtonMonument

TheHistoryOfTheWashingtonMonument
TheWashingtonMonumentwasbuiltbetweenthetimes1848and1884.Itwas
createdinordertohonorGeorgeWashingtonsmilitaryleadershipfrom1775to
1783duringtheAmericanRevolution.Although,theWashingtonMonument
mightbethoughtofasalateproject,itwasactuallythoughtofbeforeGeorge
Washingtonwaselectedpresident!
In1783,theContinentalCongressvotedto
buildastatueofGeorgeWashington.However,afterhebecamepresident,he

removedtheplansforhismonumentduetohimnotwantingtousepublicmoney
andbecauseofthefederalgovernmentfundsbeingtight.AfterWashingtondiedin
1799,Congressthoughtaboutbuildinghimapyramidshapedvaultforhim
;
however,theplannevercametoasuccess.

TheBuildingOfTheMonument
Surprisingly,
theoriginaldesignforthemonumentwasmuchdifferentthanwhat
wasbuilt.RobertMillswinningdesignwasastatueofGeorgeWashingtonriding
achariotandanEgyptianobeliskrisingfromthePantheonscenter.Thebuilding
ofthemonumentwasputonholdduetotheCivilWarandavarietyofangry
people.Whenitwasputbackintoaction,in1879,thechangesstartedtochange.
Theymadeafewchanges,andafewchangesturnedintoanabundantofchanges.
Theyendedupchangingalmosteverything!Thefinaldesign,whichisthecurrent
designwehavetoday,consistedof50flightsofstairsandmadeof
marbleand
granite,which

stood555feethigh,andweighedmorethan80,000tons.Itwas
knownforbeingthetalleststructure,untiltheEiffelTowerwasmade,in1879and
claimedthattitle.
TheWashingtonMonumentEvents
Thereweremultipleeventsthatoccurred,positiveandnegative,attheWashington
Monument.Oneofthoseeventswastheearthquake.
OnAugust23,2011,an
earthquakestrucknearWashington,D.C.Theshakingcausedbytheearthquake
madevisitorsunabletofocusandobserve.Theysayallthepeopleinsideexited
safely.Howevertherewereminorinjuriesduetopiecesofstone.Anotherevent
wastheshooting.OnDecember8th,
1982
,anavyveterannamedNormanMayer
drovehiswhitevantothebaseoftheWashingtonMonument.Hegotoutofthe
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vehiclecarryingaremotecontrolandthreatenedtobombtheMonumentwith
1,000poundsofexplosiveslocatedinhistruck.Nearbybuildingwereclosed
down,andpeoplewereremovedfromthearea.NormanMayorthentriedtomake
anescapebutendedupkilledbyapoliceman.

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8th Grade Report

TheWhiteHouse

TheHistoryOfTheWhiteHouse
TheWhiteHouseistheofficialresidenceandprincipalworkplaceofthePresident
oftheUnitedStates,locatedat1600PennsylvaniaAvenueNWinWashington
D.C
.
IthasbeentheresidenceofeveryU.S.presidentsinceJohnAdamsin1800.
JohnAdamsandAbigail,movedintothehousein1800eventhoughitwasnot
finishedbeingmade.DuringtheWarof1812,In1814,theBritishputtheWhite
Houseonfire.

TheBuildingOfTheHouse
OnOctober13,1792,GeorgeWashingtonlaidthefirstcornerstoneofthebuilding.
Itisamansionintheinterestingstyle,withdetailsthatshowGreekIonic
architecture.JamesHoban'soriginaldesignwasalreadytakenbyanotherbuilding
sohehadtocomeupwithannewone.ItismadeoutofwhitepaintedAquiaCreek
sandstone.Theysealedthesandstonebyusingawhitewashthatcoveredlikepaint

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butsealedlikeglue.After8yearsofbuildingtheWhiteHouse,theyhadspent
$232,372
.

TheWhiteHouseEvents
TherewereavarietyofeventsthathappenedtotheWhiteHouse.Youshould
knowthattheWhiteHousewasntpaintedwhitetocoverupthefire,thebritish
caused.Thebuildingwasalreadywhitewithlimelikedwhitewash,whileitwas
beingconstructed.Theeventthatpeoplesaythewhitepainttriedtocoverupwas
theBritishsettingthewhitehouseonfire.In1814,duringtheWarbetweenUnited
states,andEngland,theBritishburneddowntheWhiteHouseduetotheattackin
Canada,inJune1812.WhentheBritishgottotheWhiteHouse,theyrealizedthat
thecurrentpresidentandhiswifewereinMaryland.Theywentinside,satdown
andatesomefoodinthepresidentsdiningroomthensettheWhiteHouseonfire.
AnothereventwastheplanethatcrashedonthelawnoftheWhiteHousein1994.
FrankCorderwasanAmericantruckdriver.Heapparentlystolenaplaneand
crasheditonthePresidentslawn,attemptingtohitthebuilding.

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