Editing Lincoln Memorial (section)

====Sculptural features====
[[File:Lincoln Memorial.jpg|thumb|The sculptor's possible use of sign language is speculated, since the statue's left hand forms an "A" while the right hand portrays an "L".]]

An [[urban legend]] holds that the face of General [[Robert E. Lee]] is carved onto the back of Lincoln's head,<ref name=npsfaq /> and looks back across the Potomac toward his former home, [[Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial|Arlington House]] (now within the bounds of [[Arlington National Cemetery]]). Another popular legend is that Lincoln's hands are shown using [[sign language]] to represent his initials, his left hand signing an ''A'' and his right signing an ''L''. The National Park Service denies both legends.<ref name=npsfaq>[http://www.nps.gov/linc/faqs.htm "Lincoln Memorial: Frequently Asked Questions"] on the [[National Park Service]] website</ref>

However, historian Gerald Prokopowicz writes that, while it is not clear that sculptor Daniel Chester French intended Lincoln's hands to be formed into sign language versions of his initials, it is possible that French did intend it. French was familiar with [[American Sign Language]], and he would have had a reason to do so, to pay tribute to Lincoln for having signed the federal legislation giving [[Gallaudet University]], a university for the deaf, the authority to grant college degrees.<ref>Prokopowicz, Gerald J. (2008) ''Did Lincoln Own Slaves? And Other Frequently Asked Questions About Abraham Lincoln''. Pantheon. {{ISBN|978-0-375-42541-7}}</ref> The [[National Geographic Society]]'s publication "Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C." states that Daniel Chester French had a son who was deaf and that the sculptor was familiar with sign language.<ref>Evelyn, Douglas E. and Dickson, Paul A. (1999) ''On this Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C.'' [[National Geographic Society]]. {{ISBN|0-7922-7499-7}}</ref><ref>[http://library.gallaudet.edu/Library/Deaf_Research_Help/Frequently_Asked_Questions_(FAQs)/OtherMiscellaneous/Lincoln_Memorial_Statue.html Library.gallaudet.edu] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104223348/http://library.gallaudet.edu/Library/Deaf_Research_Help/Frequently_Asked_Questions_%28FAQs%29/OtherMiscellaneous/Lincoln_Memorial_Statue.html |date=2009-01-04 }}</ref> Historian James A. Percoco has observed that, although there are no extant documents showing that French had Lincoln's hands carved to represent the letters "A" and "L" in American Sign Language, "I think you can conclude that it's reasonable to have that kind of summation about the hands."<ref>Percoco, James A., speech given on April 17, 2008, in the Jefferson Room of the [[National Archives and Records Administration]] as part of the National Archive's "Noontime Programs" lecture series. [https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2008/nr08-66.html Broadcast on the C-Span cable television network on April 4 and April 5, 2009.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126032009/https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2008/nr08-66.html |date=January 26, 2021 }} [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/204737-1 c-spanvideo.org]</ref>