100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL
The concert will mark the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, reflecting on the meaning of Memorial Day.
The Gettysburg Address is less than 300 words. When Lincoln spoke them on that November day in 1863, they were words that were spoken in honor of those who gave the last full measure of their devotion for our nation, and have become so fitting every Memorial Day.
“We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth.”
-Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
Inscribed on the north interior wall of the Memorial, not very far from the Gettysburg Address, are Lincoln’s remarks from his second inaugural.
“With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
-Abraham Lincoln, second inaugural address
For the full tribute honoring the 100th Anniversary of the Lincoln Memorial, watch the 2022 National Memorial Day Concert, Sunday, May 29, 8/7c, only on PBS.
Lincoln Memorial Fun Facts
- There are 87 steps leading up to Lincoln a nod to the Gettysburg Address – “Four score and seven years ago…” (4 score = 80 + 7 years ago, total 87)
- It is composed of stone from all over the U.S. representing its theme of unity.
- It is surrounded by 36 columns, each representing a state at the time of Lincoln’s death in 1865.
- Upon its completion in 1922, there were a total of 48 states – all the names are carved around the top of the exterior. A plaque for Alaska and Hawaii was added later.
- The statue was originally designed to be 10 feet tall – It was redesigned to measure 19×19 feet to proportionately fill the interior of the memorial.
- If the Lincoln statue were standing upright, it would be 28 feet tall.
- The completed memorial was dedicated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1922.
- Lincoln’s only surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, attended the ceremony.