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Monumental Impact:
Lighting and History Intersect on the National Mall
Abby Hildebrand
AMST 180.10W
December 14, 2009
2
Pulitzer Prize winning writer Carl Sandburg published a collection of poetry in 1922, and
of the more than thirty poems, one, “Washington Monument by Night,” was highlighted in an
article. Sandburg, inspired by the nighttime view of one of the most famous landmarks in the
nation, writes:
The massive structure, standing at 555 feet and 5 1/8 inch high and 55 feet wide, jets out of the
ground straight into the sky, a “lean swimmer” against the “night sky.” Although the monument
was not electrically lit quite yet, the color contrast of the bright white stone against the dark
expanse of sky overwhelms visitors of the Monument, a sentiment echoed in the use of “coal
black” trees and “great white ghost.” The “great white ghost” refers to the history behind the
monument, to the man and legend for which it is named. Sandburg successfully captures the
nighttime vista is telling. What was it about the nighttime images that inspired Sandburg? And
what is it that keeps people inspired by night skylines? Humans are drawn to the brightest spots
in our field of vision,2 so even though the Washington Monument was not lit when he wrote this
poem, its impact would still be striking—of course, even more so once the monument was lit.
There is something indescribable or inexplicable that gives an after dark visit meaning. Perhaps
1
“Washington Monument by Night.” Carl Sandburg in Current Opinion, Oct. 1, 1922. American
Periodicals Series Online, 526, (accessed November 27, 2009).
2
Christopher Cuttle, Lighting By Design (New York: Architectural Press, 2008), 74.
3
the serenity and quiet of the night allows for a better environment for introspection and
consideration of what is on display. Perhaps the nighttime makes us feel smaller somehow, or at
least insignificant in comparison to the grand structures at which we gaze in awe. There may be
no way to articulate the feelings of people as they stand in front of modern temples to fallen
soldiers or great men, but there is one thing that enhance to view such scenes: the electric light.
Electrification allowed for a complete transformation in American life at the turn of the
twentieth century. As technology progressed, it gave way to incredible uses of light, especially in
urban areas. The emergence of the electric displays at large fairs in urban America contributed to
electricity’s use in the creation of spectacles. These spectacles of large scale dazzling displays
attracted sightseers with their bright lights seen from great distances, in the same way lighted
skyscrapers were able to enhance the nighttime city skyline to draw tourists. Spectacles, as David
Nye argues, were also so attractive because they were able to transport Americans away from the
harsh living conditions of cities at the turn of the twentieth century and allow them to imagine a
The Monuments on the National Mall, first with the Washington Monument, were turned
into spectacles as well, illuminated by bright, harsh lights. However, with the development of
new technology, the Washington Monument, Abraham Lincoln Memorial, and Thomas Jefferson
Memorial have used lighting to increase attention to detail, allowing for more stylistic lighting
schemes that have evolved alongside technology. People do not view grand displays of
electricity as spectacular in the same sense that they did in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, but people are still awed by the bright lights of the big city. The aforementioned
monuments fit as spectacles; however, instead of using light to transport people into the future,
the monuments use light to transport visitors back into history. When viewing bright lights
3
David Nye, Electrifying America (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1990), 4.
4
shining on the white marble of the Washington Monument, visitors think of the great man who
helped found our country and his story; the monument does not invoke thoughts of the next
century in the same way that visitors once associated the future with electric light. The idea that
a static stone memorial takes visitors on a historic journey is not a new idea; that is their purpose
—to keep history close as we are propelled into the future. Americans are attracted to their
history and past in the same way that the eye is drawn to the brightest spot, and like beacons
shining in the night sky, the lighting used on the monuments amplifies their visibility and
History of Electrification
the United States as well as the emergence of spectacles. The historical background of
electrification will be helpful for the later discussion of the evolution of lighting schemes for the
different monuments.
Edison first demonstrated his light in 1879 in Menlo Park, New Jersey, and four months
later, the little town of Wabash, Indiana lit up its streets. One of the first spectacles was simple
lighting of shop windows and streetlights. Wabash welcomed trainloads of visitors who were
“overwhelmed with awe, as if in the presence of the supernatural” when the lights turned on.4
Residents of another small Indiana town, Muncie, similarly felt this experience when one
resident installed a coal-burning Edison plant and lit several stores. To these residents,
illumination in its most basic form “was ideally suited to staging a spectacle.”5 The spectacle
As David Nye contends, while lighting does have functional purposes, like safety and
visibility, it also performs “symbolic expression”—that is, that the use of lighting went well
beyond necessity and became spectacle. An early instance of such grand displays was the first
lighting of the Statue of Liberty in 1886, which placed incendiaries with the power of eight
thousand candles at the bottom of the statue.6 That display must have been especially grand since
the Statue of Liberty, located on Liberty Island, would be visible for miles around. Also in New
York City, the headquarters for the Edison Company celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of
the inauguration of George Washington in 1889. They covered the building in fabric and placed
several stars made out of light bulbs on it.7 Since Edison conducted much of his work in New
Jersey and his headquarters were in New York, it seems logical that numerous demonstrations
took place there. Those events occurred in a time when electric lights not only were scattered in
Once fairs became popular starting with the 1894 Chicago World’s Fair and continuing
until San Francisco in 1915, the spectacles became bigger and brighter. “Electricity buildings”
were among the main attractions that allowed those in attendance to escape their daily lives and
imagine a totally industrialized and electrified future. The dazzling lights lured many Americans,
and as Nye finds, about “one-third of the population of the United States saw the electrical
displays” at the Chicago, Buffalo and St. Louis fairs between 1894 and 1904.8 These staggering
numbers are a testament to the draw electric spectacles possessed. It also supports one of Nye’s
major points that people needed an escape from the world around them. Before the turn of the
century, America was in a turbulent period, full of corrupt politicians, plagued by strikes and
unfair labor laws that allowed for rapid industrialization, as well as massively expanding cities
6
Nye, 32.
7
Nye, 33.
8
Nye, 33-34.
6
thanks to large amounts of Southern European immigrants. For many Americans, escape from
The fair’s use of electric lighting leads to another important development: specialists who
could use their skills to plan light attractions with theatricality and employ other special effects,
like colored light. These specialists are the ancestors of modern lighting designers and
technicians. While technology limited the scope of their expression, the lighting specialists of the
early twentieth century were able to create spectacles at fairs that awed Americans. The types of
lights, like arc lights, which lack the dimming capabilities of their more modern counterparts,
In more recent times, electric lighting has been used to stylize neighborhoods. In their
examination of urban planning and design history, Eran Ben-Joseph and Terry S. Szold maintain
that decorative lighting, along with other factors like public art and street furniture that “upgrade
the streetscape,” help to beautify an area undergoing the process of gentrification9. While the
National Mall is not a neighborhood, the lighting here is used in the same way cities utilize
lighting to revitalize areas. Both the lighting of the monuments and lighting of gentrified
neighborhoods enhance the beauty of the areas to draw new visitors to their respective
attractions. Light is used to emphasize select stories or moments in our past and disregard others,
in the same way that street lights placed in certain neighborhoods allows cities to call attention to
Like the lighting used in spectacles, the lighting used on the monumental core was not a
necessity. As Sarah Pressey Noreen explains, the lighting used on the monuments “is intended to
distort, to raise the luminosity of a surface beyond that of its surroundings.” She continues,
9
Eran Ben-Joseph & Terry S. Szold, Regulating Place Standards and the Shaping of Urban
America. (New York: Routledge, 2004), 154.
7
writing that “the cherished monuments” become more visible than the “distracting details of the
city,” and that in eliminating “the contrasts obvious in the daytime city,”10 the monuments at
night are given that air of serenity and tranquility that we see in Sandburg’s poem. This
environment created by the lighting is reminiscent of the same environment created by the
spectacles. The visitor is fixed upon the lighted objects or the lights themselves and not on the
rest of their surroundings. For visitors to the monuments, they focus on the brightly light marble
structures and the histories behind them, just as visitors to fairs viewed the grand electric
The lighting history of the Washington Monument, like that of America, has spanned
much of the twentieth century. The monument, like a spectacle, was brightly lit to attract visitors.
According to the National Park Service Historic Structure Report, the Powhatan Hotel “shone
search lights on the monument during the summer of 1925—a first—done for entertainment.”11
The Report indicates that in 1931 that lighting changed from the search lights to on-site
floodlights in 1931. The first mentions of lighting and the Washington Monument by the
Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) was from 1955. Established by an act of Congress in 1910, the
Commission approves any proposed changes to lighting, or any aesthetic or design aspect, of
buildings, streets, or parks in Washington DC. That means if there had been no mention of
lighting from 1925 to 1955, there had been no significant attempts to change the previous
10
Sarah Pressey Norton, “Public Street Illumination in Washington, D.C.: An Illustrated
History,” GW Washington Studies, (Washington D.C.: The George Washington University1974)
Vol. 2.
11
“Historic Structure Report-Final Report,” National Park Service, June 2004.
8
The Washington Monument, like other large-scale displays of bright light before it,
certainly created a spectacle like that of the electricity buildings. Although unlike previous
displays of light, the Washington Monument did not need darkness to appear spectacular; it
could awe any American during the day just as much as the night. However, as we see from Carl
Sandburg’s poem, the nighttime view of this monument evokes inspiration, and a return to
history. This continuation of the introductory poem delves into the history of the man who
The poet is transported back to one of Washington’s most challenging and famous
moments as general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War when he writes,
“The wind bit hard at Valley Forge one Christmas.” 12 Clearly, the nighttime view of the
Washington Monument evoked thoughts of the winter nights Washington spent with his troops;
Sandburg connects the present to the past in the lines “red footprints wrote on the snow” and
“stone shoots into stars here.” He also ties this verse to the first one by repeating the phrase “half-
moon mist.” The imagery of the man standing alone also fits with the imagery of the monument
standing alone against the night sky, “shoot[ing] into stars.” The bright white stone of the
monument leaves visitors inspired and wrapped up in the history of George Washington, just as
visitors to fairs viewed elaborate electric light displays to imagine the industrialized future.
While Sandburg was writing at a time when the Washington Monument was unlit, his view of
the monument at night is still valuable because it shows the historical value of the monument.
His view of the marble obelisk gives an early perspective of the monument at night that would
have been enhanced by light. The white stone would look whiter and brighter, and while there is
no way to know if his poem would be the same had there been lights shining on the monument in
12
“Washington Monument by Night.” Carl Sandburg in Current Opinion, Oct. 1, 1922.
American Periodicals Series Online, 526, (accessed November 27, 2009).
9
1922, his view of history inspired by the Washington Monument would still contrast the view
Early lighting, according to the CFA assessment, was “inadequate” and “spotty,” possibly
not even fully light from top to bottom.13 The lighting was probably very dim and yellowish in
color, with sizeable gaps since there were limited fixtures in use. In 1955, the CFA proposed a
new plan for the monument that would gradually increase the candlelight power to be four times
the previous lights’ strength and also suggested using hydraulic lamps that could be in the
ground during the day and risen at night. With this, we see a prime example of how new
technology impacted the lighting of the monuments; early lighting could not have allowed for the
brightness and coverage the Commission found desirable. The Monument originally inspired
Carl Sandburg to recall Washington’s troubled nights at Valley Forge, but shifts in the lighting
would inspire visitors to recall another part of history associated with the Washington
Monument.
More recently, lighting designers decided to take the connection of the Washington
Monument to the past further and create a more visible link between the viewer and history.
Between the initial renovations of the lighting in 1955 and the next restoration in 1986, there
were few, if any, changes made. The lighting of the monument was decided to be “increasingly
spotty” and “unsatisfactory in several other respects” by the CFA in 1986.14 The fixtures that had
been installed in 1957 were no longer functioning properly and the Commission came up with a
three light system so that light fixtures would block no view. This new system would also
include illumination on the east and west sides of the monument as to increase the three-
13
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, April 13, 1955, p. 13. Commission of Fine Arts,
Washington DC.
14
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, January 15, 1986, p. 3. Commission of Fine Arts,
Washington DC.
10
dimensional look of the obelisk.15 The new design when installed in 1988 also coordinated the
color and intensity of the lighting of the Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial and Washington
Monument. Before this time, the three buildings would have had slightly different levels of
brightness and even color. This coordination is often taken into consideration by the CFA, which
speaks to its significance. The lighting of the Capitol, Lincoln and Washington coordinates for
practical purposes most likely, as these three monuments line up directly with each other down
the extent of the lawn of the Mall. In the 1973, the Commission debated about whether or not to
add lighting to the American flags around the base of the monument and ended up using a soft
illumination since the law required the lighting of the flags. Advances in technology and style,
like the development of smaller but stronger fixtures, as well as positioning lights to enhance the
monument’s shape, helped to create a better lighting scheme for the Washington Monument that
The most recent lighting renovations on the Washington Monument took place in 2004.
In a presentation to the CFA, landscape architect Laurie Olin told the Commission he wanted to
“make clear how the obelisk was built, its material, and the phases of construction.”16 As
opposed to the history of the man behind the monument, Olin wanted to highlight the history of
the monument itself. It was built in two stages, first between 1848 and 1856, interrupted by a
lack of funds and the uncertainty of the nation’s future due to the Civil War, and then completed
in 1884.17 During these two periods, different types of stone, Maryland and Massachusetts white
marble, were used and a visible line about one hundred and fifty feet up the monument delineates
the shift. Olin also wanted to use uplighting on the monument to control the shadows to enhance
15
Ibid.
16
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, November 18, 2004, Commission of Fine Arts,
Washington DC.
17
“Washington Monument.” National Parks Service.
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wash/dc72.htm (accessed November 22, 2009)
11
“the details of the stone construction.”18 These techniques that enhance the features of the
This use of light to promote the history of the monument brings into question the
motivations for this technique. Olin’s motivations may have simply been to show visitors the
disparity in the stone color so they may question it and learn about the history of the monument.
His technique certainly enriches the history behind the monument by adding another layer of
which many visitors are unaware. This technique becomes significant when considering that
people think of certain histories when viewing the monument; for Sandburg, it was Valley Forge.
For another visitor it may be when that during the tumultuous time of the Civil War, Washington
served as a symbol of unity. Yet, when the lighting purposely promotes the history of the
monument instead of the man it commemorates, the visitor’s perception of the monument may
change. We are naturally drawn to the brightest object we can see, and in this case, the line
where the color shifts becomes central. Appreciating the architecture and structure becomes the
central focus of the viewer’s eyes, as opposed to the symbols the structure represents.
Technology has changed the way in which the monuments are perceived by allowing more
attention to fall on the details of the monument, thus, adding to and altering the history that
Like the Washington Monument, nighttime views of the Lincoln Memorial have also
recording in 1955, after a visit to the Lincoln Memorial. Hughes remarks that Lincoln sits
18
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, November 18, 2004, Commission of Fine Arts,
Washington DC
12
“lonely in the marble and the moonlight,” 19 which speaks to the serenity found in a visit to the
monument at night. He also makes the Lincoln Memorial seem ancient, “quiet for ten thousand
centuries, old Abe. / Quiet for a million, million years.”20 The quiet could be in reference to the
many years of slavery and oppression that African Americans continued to experience at that
time. He also calls it “timeless,” speaking to Lincoln’s wisdom and strength that has been
commemorated in this memorial. Hughes uses a contradiction in the poem, saying that Abe is
quiet but also “a voice forever/Against the/Timeless walls/Of time.”21 He assesses the Lincoln as
a somber place where Lincoln’s voice is always ringing out against the injustices in the world,
which is probably in reference to Lincoln’s famous speeches printed on the walls. It seems fitting
that Hughes decided to write about Lincoln under the moonlight in 1955 since the Civil Rights
Movement was still relatively young. The moonlight connotes a dark time, as opposed to a sunny
or happier time. The loneliness may also refer to the social conditions of the day, or perhaps it
refers to Lincoln’s position as the only president memorialized who fought for equal rights for
African Americans. Hughes, like Sandburg, was inspired by a nighttime view of a monument
Finished in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial was temporarily lit in a trial shortly after its
completion, but architect Henry Bacon disapproved.22 The Memorial’s ceiling above the statue is
like a giant sky light, with a covering of translucent panels to allow light in. During the day, this
type of lighting “bounced off the marble and uplit the statue,” which gave the effect of “holding
a flashlight under Lincoln’s chin, giving him a surprised look” according to lighting specialist
19
“Lincoln Monument: Washington by Langston Hughes” Old Poetry.
<<http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/38986-Langston-Hughes-Lincoln-Monument--Washington>>>
20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
22
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, Sept. 22, 1921 & Nov. 11, 1922, Commission of
Fine Arts, Washington DC.
13
Dan Zuczek who surveyed the lighting of the Memorial in 1998.23 Sculptor Daniel Chester
French was disappointed with the effects of the natural light, so he lobbied to have artificial
lights installed,24 and in 1927, “quiet and subdued”25 illumination of the Lincoln Memorial
began. That lighting remained unchanged until 1962, when the CFA reassessed the Lincoln
Memorial. The Commission decided that there needed to be less light in the general area around
the memorial so that the lights of the memorial would stand out. They wanted to “enhance [the
monument’s] value as focal points after dark in the city.”26 The Commission’s desire to create a
nighttime destination for Washington DC tourists is significant in a variety ways. First, we see
that part of the Commission’s motivation is to draw as many people to the monuments as
possible, perhaps for economic reasons or perhaps to expose the most people to the history
contained there. Secondly, lighting the monuments with greater precision to create focal points
for the city maintains the idea that the Commission wishes to create spectacles out of the
Monuments. The history behind the Lincoln Memorial, that of the man who “saved the Union”
as the inscription above the statue says, also becomes more striking as the structure that
represents that history becomes more central to the skyline. The lighting of the monuments was,
and is, used to attract tourists in the same way that the “electricity buildings” were used at fairs
to draw in visitors. These changes were implemented in 1963, but in 1969, the Commission
found that there was “too much” light on the Lincoln and added light to the Ellipse to balance out
23
Charles Linn. “Study Finds Lincoln Looks Best Basking in Incandescent Glow,” Architectural
Record, vol. 186, no. 2 [February 1998],
http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?
docLinkInd=true&risb=22_T8135299045&format=GNBFI&sort=BOOLEAN&startDocNo=1&r
esultsUrlKey=29_T8135813529&cisb=22_T8135299051&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=14
3850&docNo=10 [Accessed November 13, 2009]
24
Wayne Craven, Sculpture in America (Newark DE: University of Delaware Press, 1984), 405.
25
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, Feb. 17, 1927, Commission of Fine Arts,
Washington DC.
26
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, September 18, 1962, Commission of Fine Arts,
Washington DC.
14
the overall view of the Mall. This speaks to concerns of highlighting one monument too much
over another. The CFA may have been wary of making the Lincoln Memorial too bright to keep
the Lincoln, Washington and Capitol Building coordinated in their lighting. When aligned, those
three structures create one of the most picturesque views in Washington, making it important for
This idea became especially significant during the early 1970s as Washington DC
prepared for its Bicentennial celebration. In a letter from J. Carter Brown, the Chairman of the
Commission of Fine Arts, to a special consultant to the President, Brown writes of the
advantages of nighttime tourism. “The impression that [nighttime] visitors carry away with them
of this symbolic town will be largely influenced by how it looks at night.”27 Brown clearly places
importance on the aesthetics of Washington DC, something to which lighting contributes. For
Brown, the appearance of the monuments affects the symbols that characterize the city. For
visitors during the Bicentennial, viewing the monuments on the National Mall would conjure the
history of the founding of our nation, and for the Lincoln Memorial, visitors would think of the
man who saved the nation in its darkest hours. This history becomes enhanced by lighting
because, as the monuments become the focus of the city, visitors think of the history associated
with the Mall and the Bicentennial as opposed to the city itself. Brown also wanted to
differentiate the day from the night by using lighting techniques. He wanted the columns on the
Lincoln Memorial to provide a “silhouette like a decorative cosmetic screen rather than
presenting the building as it is seen by day, with its outer dimensions defined by the columns and
attic projecting above.”28 Brown’s specific desires for the appearance of the Lincoln at night
again show the weight he places on the lighting scheme. This lighting can affect the impression
27
Brown to Leaonard Garment, Special Consultant to the President. October 11, 1973,
Commission of Fine Arts. Washington, DC.
28
Ibid.
15
of history, and for the Bicentennial celebration in Washington DC, the “symbolic expression” of
In recent years, the Commission called for renovation in 1998, a process that would not
be completed for several years. In 2003, the CFA debated about the inscription on the stairs of
the memorial that commemorates Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous 1963 speech. The inscription,
added in August 2003 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington,
remained unlit since the Commission decided to leave it as “something to come upon.”29 The
result of the debate once again shows how light can be used to highlight certain events. While the
store inside the memorial contains materials about Martin Luther King, Jr., the Civil Rights
Movement, and Marian Anderson (who sang the national anthem on the steps after being denied
from performing at DAR Constitution Hall because of her race), the decision to leave the
commemorative inscription unlit means that the history associated with the Civil Rights
important to note that the Commission began debating this topic because of the fortieth
anniversary of the March on Washington that year. The inscription, and the movement it honors,
has been regarded by the CFA as just something to stumble over, as opposed to a piece of history
that deserves recognition of its own. The visitor is not able to experience the history of the Civil
Rights Movement if visiting the memorial at night, unless of course they already know the
inscription’s location. While Lincoln’s story should be the dominant history at his memorial, the
lighting limits the experience of the memorial by hiding a piece of history that speaks to the
The final result of this most recent renovation was a more dramatic view of the statue.
29
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, October 16, 2003, Commission of Fine Arts,
Washington DC.
16
The Commission wanted the “area around the statue slightly darker” so that “the figure would
emerge from a very deep, dark space and would be considered more powerful.”30 To make
Lincoln a stronger presence not only enhances the experience of visiting the memorial at night,
but also intensifies the reading of the viewer. Lincoln, while an incredibly important figure in
American history, becomes a more powerful authority when his sculpture emerges from the
darkness, like a beacon in a black sky. The size of the statue, which is nineteen feet high, also
contributes to the commanding presence of Lincoln in his memorial. The backlighting and use of
shadow to create a more powerful experience deepens the connection between the visitor and
history by making Lincoln seem even more larger than life. By making Lincoln the brightest
part of the interior, the statue becomes the focus, and in turn Lincoln’s history becomes the
focus, as opposed to other stories of the structure, like that of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial, completed in 1943, was not permanently lighted until a
Congressman became personally involved. California Congressman Clyde Doyle wrote “to the
Secretary of the Interior, urging that the Thomas Jefferson Memorial be permanently illuminated
at night.”31 During the inaugural week of 1949, January 19 to 23, the memorial was temporarily
lit but the south side was “displeasing” and the National Park Service could not attain a
floodlight to fix the situation. An Assistant Superintendent of National Capital Parks, Harry T.
Thompson, “was advised that the Commission of Fine Arts have deprecated the floodlighting of
monuments and memorial statues in the National Capital over a period of many years. An
30
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, March 18, 2004, Commission of Fine Arts,
Washington DC.
31
Memorandum from Irving C. Root, Superintendent National Capital Parks, to H.P.
Craemmerer, Commissioner, February 11, 1949, p.5-6, Commission of Fine Arts, Washington
DC.
17
exception has been made in the case of the Washington Monument to protect it from airplanes.”32
The difficulties in securing permanent lighting did not stop there. The Memorial’s interior and
exterior were lit in 1949, but over a decade later, the steps remained unlit. Concerns of safety
brought this matter to the Commission’s attention in 1963, but they felt as long as there were
railings, “illumination of the steps by any source of light in the railings would disrupt the
appearance of the approaches to the [Thomas Jefferson Memorial] at night and could not be
recommended.”33 The Commission, rather than ensuring the safety of visitors by lighting the
handrails, they place more importance on the look of the Memorial. The aesthetics of the
monument trumped concern for visitor safety in that the CFA, out of fear that the memorial’s
appearance would be ruined by extra light, decided not to add lighting to the railings. Perhaps
worried tourists would not find the change agreeable or that Washingtonians would protest to the
In 1963, the CFA began the process of updating the lighting. After determining that
“accent lights on the periphery and some additional lighting of the interior and on the Jefferson
statue would produce a desirable total effect,” the CFA decided that they wanted the lighting
structures hidden. This created significant problems, as this type of light would be costly. They
wanted the lights to be screened by the trees around the memorial and would not “any scheme
involving towers.”34 In 1972, the Commission took a walk through the Jefferson Memorial to
evaluate the lighting but in 1973 “temporary measures [were] investigated for [it] while
financial” problems were being assessed. Since it was so close the Bicentennial Celebration, the
32
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, February 11,1949, page 6, Commission of Fine
Arts, Washington DC.
33
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, April 16, 1963, Commission of Fine Arts,
Washington DC.
34
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, July 8,1971 Commission of Fine Arts, Washington
DC.
18
CFA had to keep the Jefferson Memorial lit in some capacity. During this point it remained lit,
with little changes to the original lighting standards. In 2001, the CFA approved lighting the
steps for the first time and to “change the color of the light to be more compatible with the
Washington and Lincoln, whose memorials were coordinated starting in 1988, is evident in the
lighting. Even though it was built last, the Jefferson Memorial was not lit permanently lit for six
years, whereas the Lincoln and Washington were lit more than two decades earlier. The CFA
limited the nighttime experience of visitors by keeping the Jefferson dark for so long, and only
during special events, like the 1949 Inaugural Week or Bicentennial Celebration, did they pay
attention to it.
The 2001 renovation also included lighting the inside of the dome for the first time. The
side of the Memorial that faces the White House was also never lit until after 2001. All in all, the
new design “illuminated about 30% more of the Memorial.”36 This includes the dome ceiling and
bronze statue that were once dimly lit due to the columns blocking the light. There is also a line
of text around the interior of the dome that had previously never been lighted because of
technological constraints. But, with the development of LED lights that are small enough to fit
under the text, it has finally been lit for the first time since the monument’s completion. The only
part of the monument still unlit is the very top of the dome because the only way to do so would
mean using a light on a very high pole (129 feet), “which would visually alter and degrade the
presentation of the memorial.”37 The new additions to the Jefferson Memorial enhance the
35
Commission of Fine Arts meeting minutes, March 15, 2001, Commission of Fine Arts,
Washington DC.
36
Amy L. Slingerland, “A Capital Idea: The Jefferson Memorial Gets a Glamorous Yet Energy-
Efficient Facelift,” Live Design. May 2, 2002.
37
U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Federal Energy
Management Program, “The Jefferson Memorial,” July 2008,
https://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/sod_jefferson_memorial.pdf
19
visitors experience and also call attention to new aspects of the memorial previously left dark.
The quote from Thomas Jefferson on the interior of the dome reads, “I have sworn upon the altar
of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” The line speaks to
the commitment to democracy Jefferson embodied throughout his life, as well as the
commitment to his values that comes through in his memorial. In lighting this phrase, the
designers have added emphasis to the words and visitors can now contemplate its significance
Conclusions
The spectacle created by the Washington Monument has drawn visitors since 1925 but
the new renovations in the monument’s lighting have emphasized the history of the monument’s
construction, more specifically the role of the Civil War in monument’s completion. The
highlighting of this aspect also highlights a different history than had previously been associated
with the monument. The Lincoln’s picturesque nighttime views have enchanted visitors since
shortly after its dedication. The Commission of Fine Arts’ decision to leave the commemorative
inscription for Martin Luther King, Jr. shows how light can truly impact which stories we
envision upon our visits to the National Mall. In the same respect, the Jefferson Memorial finally
properly lit the interior dome and text below it, adding another element to a visitor’s experience.
The quote, while not integral to the monument, supplies another example of Jefferson’s
dedication to democracy. Additionally, the lack of coordination among Jefferson and the other
monuments shows that perhaps the CFA does not regard Jefferson in the same manner that it
The examination of the history and current lighting of the presidential monuments has
answered and uprooted a number of questions. We see that in some instances, the lighting, or
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lack thereof, can dictate or influence which history a visitor contemplates while visiting a
monument or memorial, but there are several other monuments that have been left unexplored.
The newly completed World War II Memorial has a similar feel as those examined in this paper.
While this memorial and the Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson light up the Washington D.C.
skyline, the Vietnam Veterans and the Korean War Memorials reside below those massive white
structures and in both design and lighting offer an anti-spectacle to the grandeur of the
presidential structures. This contrast has been written about, especially in regards to the styles of
their designs. The different lighting schemes have not been explored extensively and a study of
these contrasts could be a valuable addition to writings about lighting and public spaces.
Perhaps Sandburg said it best when he wrote, “strong men, strong women, come here.”
The National Mall calls out to us at night, drawing us into the bright lights. The calm of the dark
and the peaceful white marble symbols of history tower over us and, allow for an escape from
the technological future that people once imagined when they viewed the bright lights of
electrical displays a century before. Our eyes may be more accustomed to the brilliant displays of
illumination but we are just as intrigued by them as we were when they first took us out of the
darkness.
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