Editing Lincoln Memorial (section)

===Construction and dedication=== 
[[File:West Potomac Park c1912 prior to construction of the Lincoln Memorial.jpg|thumb|[[West Potomac Park]] prior to the memorial's construction, {{circa|1912}}]]
The first public memorial to [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], was [[Statue of Abraham Lincoln (District of Columbia City Hall)|a statue]] by [[Lot Flannery]] erected in front of the [[District of Columbia City Hall]] in 1868, three years after [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln's assassination in Ford’s Theatre]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Renovation and Expansion of the Historic DC Courthouse|url=http://www.dcappeals.gov/dccourts/appeals/pdf/appeals_renovation_expansion.pdf|publisher=DC Court of Appeals|access-date=5 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105052517/http://www.dcappeals.gov/dccourts/appeals/pdf/appeals_renovation_expansion.pdf|archive-date=5 November 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Washington's Lincoln: The First Monument to the Martyred President|url=http://intowner.com/2016/01/11/washingtons-lincoln-the-first-monument-to-the-martyred-president/|publisher=The Intowner|access-date=29 June 2016|archive-date=14 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114225609/http://intowner.com/2016/01/11/washingtons-lincoln-the-first-monument-to-the-martyred-president/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Demands for a fitting national memorial had been voiced since the time of Lincoln's death. In 1867, [[United State Congress|Congress]] passed the first of many bills incorporating a commission to erect a monument for the sixteenth president. An American sculptor, [[Clark Mills (sculptor)|Clark Mills]], was chosen to design the monument. His plans reflected the nationalistic spirit of the time and called for a {{convert|70|ft|m|adj=on}} structure adorned with six equestrian and 31 pedestrian statues of colossal proportions, crowned by a {{convert|12|ft|m|adj=on}} statue of Abraham Lincoln. Subscriptions for the project were insufficient.<ref name="nrhp4">NRHP Nomination, p. 4</ref>

The matter lay dormant until the start of the 20th century, when, under the leadership of [[United States Senate|Senator]] [[Shelby M. Cullom]] of [[Illinois]], six separate bills were introduced in Congress for the incorporation of a new memorial commission. The first five bills, proposed in the years 1901, 1902, and 1908, met with defeat because of opposition from Speaker [[Joseph Gurney Cannon|Joe Cannon]]. The sixth bill (Senate Bill 9449), introduced on December 13, 1910, passed. The Lincoln Memorial Commission met for the first time the following year and President [[William H. Taft]] was chosen as the commission's president. Progress continued steadily, and in 1913 Congress approved the commission's choice of design and location.<ref name=nrhp4/>

[[File:Lincoln Memorial Under Construction 1916.jpg|thumb|The memorial under construction in July 1916]]

There were questions regarding the commission's plan. Many thought architect Henry Bacon's Greek temple design was far too ostentatious for a man of Lincoln's humble character. Instead, they proposed a simple log cabin shrine. The site too did not go unopposed. The recently reclaimed land in [[West Potomac Park]] was seen by many as either too swampy or too inaccessible. Other sites, such as [[Washington Union Station]], were put forth, but the commission stood firm in its recommendation, feeling that the Potomac Park location, situated on the axis connecting the [[Washington Monument]] and [[United States Capitol|Capitol]], overlooking the [[Potomac River]] and surrounded by open land, was ideal. Furthermore, the Potomac Park site was already designated in the [[McMillan Plan]] of 1901 to be the location of a future monument comparable to that of the Washington Monument.<ref name=nrhp4/><ref>Thomas, Christopher A. (2002) ''The Lincoln Memorial and American Life'' Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|069101194X}}</ref>

[[File:Taft Harding Robert Lincoln 1922.jpg|thumb|Chief Justice [[William Howard Taft]], President [[Warren G. Harding]], and Lincoln's eldest son, [[Robert Todd Lincoln]], at the memorial's dedication on May 30, 1922]]

With Congressional approval and a $300,000 allocation, the project got underway. On February 12, 1914, contractor M. F. Comer of Toledo, Ohio; resident member of the memorial's commission, former Senator Joseph C. S. Blackburn of Kentucky; and the memorial's designer, Henry Bacon, conducted a groundbreaking ceremony by turning over a few spadefuls of earth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83045462/1914-02-12/ed-1/?st=text&r=0.841,0.403,0.173,0.167,0 |website=Library of Congress |access-date=29 March 2022|title=Image 1 of Evening star (Washington, D.C.), February 12, 1914 }}</ref> The following month is when actual construction began. Work progressed steadily according to schedule. Some changes were made to the plan. The statue of Lincoln, originally designed to be {{convert|10|ft|m}} tall, was enlarged to {{convert|19|ft|m}} to prevent it from being overwhelmed by the huge chamber. As late as 1920, the decision was made to substitute an open portal for the bronze and glass grille which was to have guarded the entrance. Despite these changes, the Memorial was finished on schedule. Commission president William H. Taft – who was then Chief Justice of the United States – dedicated the Memorial on May 30, 1922, and presented it to President [[Warren G. Harding]], who accepted it on behalf of the American people. Lincoln's only surviving son, 78-year-old [[Robert Todd Lincoln]], was in attendance.<ref name=nrhp5>NRHP Nomination, p. 5</ref> Prominent African Americans were invited to the event and discovered upon arrival they were assigned a segregated section guarded by [[U.S. Marines]], a policy implemented by director of the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds, Lieutenant Colonel [[Clarence O. Sherrill]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Yellin|first=Eric S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fixBOW3902UC&q=Whitefield+J.+McKinlay&pg=PA176|title=Racism in the Nation's Service: Government Workers and the Color Line in Woodrow Wilson's America|date=2013-04-22|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=978-1-4696-0721-4|language=en}}</ref><ref name=sherrill>{{cite web | url=https://www.nps.gov/people/clarence-o-sherrill.htm | title=Clarence O. Sherrill | publisher=National Park Service | accessdate=January 27, 2025}}</ref>