WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — On this day 85 years ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt set the cornerstone for the Jefferson Memorial in a ceremony.
On Nov. 15, 1939, President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone, which included copies of:
- The Declaration of Independence
- The U.S. Constitution
- The 1939 Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission report
- The 10-volume Writings of Thomas Jefferson by Paul Leicester Ford
- Jefferson’s The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth
- One edition of each of the four prominent D.C. Newspapers
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President Franklin Roosevelt speaks at the laying of the cornerstone of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, which he called the nation’s “third great shrine,” in Washington, Nov. 15, 1939. Behind the president at left is Sen. Elbert Thomas (D-Utah). At extreme right is Joseph Tumulty, secretary to President Woodrow Wilson. Next to Tumulty is Senator Charles McNary (R-Ore.). (AP Photo) -
President Franklin Roosevelt speaks at the laying of the cornerstone of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, which he called the nation’s “third great shrine,” in Washington, Nov. 15, 1939. Behind the president at left is Sen. Elbert Thomas (D-Utah). At extreme right is Joseph Tumulty, secretary to President Woodrow Wilson. Next to Tumulty is Senator Charles McNary (R-Ore.). (AP Photo)
The National Park Service (NPS) described Thomas Jefferson as “a complex 19th-century man with a wide-ranging impact on the very makeup of America itself.”
Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence and the first Secretary of State for the United States of America.
The memorial was dedicated on Jefferson’s 200th birthday — April 13, 1943.
The Jefferson Memorial’s construction didn’t finish without a hitch — rotten rock and lots of fillings have caused issues for the monument’s foundation since its construction. According to NPS, settlement issues pushed roadways and sidewalks up three feet in 1965, leading to a stabilization project in 1969.
The original statue inside the memorial was also made of plaster due to metal restrictions during World War II. The statue was replaced with the current bronze statue in 1947.
Today, the Jefferson Memorial is still located along the tidal basin and — according to NPS — is one of the best places to see peak cherry blossom bloom in the spring.
