The Home of the Commandant's was one of the few buildings not burned by the British when they sacked the Capitol in 1814. This omission by the British has given rise to several legends as to why the house was spared. One version is that Adm. Cockburn and Gen. Ross, commanding the British troops, spared it to use as their headquarters, then neglected to apply the torch upon their withdrawal. Another contends that Marines at the Battle of Bladensburg so impressed Gen. Ross that he ordered the house and the Barracks spared as a gesture of soldierly respect.
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The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is one of the most expansive memorials in the nation. Yet, its shade trees, waterfalls, statuary, and quiet alcoves create the feeling of a secluded garden rather than an imposing structure.
The memorial is divided into four outdoor galleries, or rooms, one for each of FDR's terms in office. The rooms are defined by walls of red South Dakota granite and by ornamental plantings; quotations from FDR are carved into the granite. Water cascades and quiet pools are present throughout. Each room conveys in its own way the spirit of this great man.
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As the Revolutionary War intensified, George Mason was elected to represent Fairfax County at the Virginia Convention held in May of 1776. Patrick Henry informed the delegates that Congress was instructing the colonies to draft their own constitutions and declaration of rights. As part of a thirty-man committee, it was George Mason who drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights. The declaration was presented to Congress in mid-June, making it the first Bill of Rights in the country. A few weeks later Thomas Jefferson would liberally quote from the Virginia Declaration of Rights while writing the Declaration of Independence.
At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, George Mason refused to sign the Constitution, in part because it failed to protect the rights of the individual citizen. In 1789, three years before George Mason's death, Congress amended the Constitution. The first ten amendments were a revised version of the Virginia Declaration of Rights.
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The Lincoln Memorial is a tribute to President Abraham Lincoln and the nation he fought to preserve during the Civil War (1861-1865).
The Lincoln Memorial was built to resemble a Greek temple. It has 36 Doric columns, one for each state at the time of Lincoln's death. A sculpture by Daniel Chester French of a seated Lincoln is in the center of the memorial chamber. Inscribed on the south wall of the monument is the Gettysburg Address. Above it is a mural painted by Jules Guerin depicting the angel of truth freeing a slave. Guerin also painted the unity of North and South mural on the north wall. Etched into the north wall below the mural is Lincoln's second inaugural speech.
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President Roosevelt was disappointed with the fact that there was not a memorial dedicated to the memory and accomplishments of Thomas Jefferson. Like Washington and Lincoln, Jefferson's impact on this country was monumental. His legacy can still be seen and felt in all aspects of our lives. However, it would take another sixteen years for Roosevelt's disappointment to turn to delight. In 1934, Congress passed a Joint Resolution to establish a Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission. The commission subsequently was given the authority to plan, design, and construct a memorial which was to be a tribute to Jefferson's many accomplishments: president, politician, architect, farmer, and educator. The commission was to be for foundation of the memorial in the same way Jefferson was the foundation for this country. The style would be one that Jefferson himself used for Monticello and the University of Virginia. It would be a circular domed design based upon the Pantheon in Rome, which Jefferson believed to be a perfect model of a circular building.
If you stand in Jefferson's footsteps, you will notice that he looks towards the Whitehouse through a gap where trees once stood. FDR ordered the trees chopped down to allow for a clear view to symbolize Jefferson's ever watching eye on the Presidency.
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Established in 1801, Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., is the "Oldest Post of the Corps" and has been the residence of every Commandant of the Marine Corps since 1806. The selection of the site for the barracks was a matter of personal interest to President Thomas Jefferson, who rode through Washington with Lieutenant Colonel Commandant Burrows in search of a suitable location. The site now occupied was approved since it lay near the Navy Yard and within easy marching distance of the Capitol.
The early nineteenth-century barracks was arranged in a quadrangle as it is today, and the use of the building was similar. The areas on the south and east side of the quadrangle were used for offices, maintenance facilities and living spaces for troops, and a building on the west was the location of the officers' quarters. The Commandant's House at the north end of the barracks was completed in 1806 and is the only original building still standing. It is the oldest public building in continuous use in the Nation's Capital. The rest of the barracks was rebuilt between 1900 and 1907.
The training of new officers and recruits started at the barracks soon after it was established and continued throughout the nineteenth-century. Until 1901, it was also the location of Marine Corps Headquarters. Marines from the barracks participated in the defense of Washington in the War of 1812, and served in the Indian Wars of 1826-37, the War with Mexico, the Civil War and the Spanish American War. Most recently, Marines from the barracks deployed to Southwest Asia and participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
The Marine Barracks has also been home of the United States Marine Band since 1801. Shortly after its formation, the Band was requested to play for President John Adams at the Executive Mansion. This White
House engagement began a tradition which became so established that today the names "Marine Band" and "President's Own" are synonymous. It was at the barracks that John Philip Sousa, during the time he was the director of the Marine Band, wrote many of his immortal marches.
Today's barracks' Marines perform a variety of tasks in support of our diverse missions. These include light infantry training, ceremonies, and presidential support duty. A company of "8th and I" Marines serves at Camp David; another serves at the U.S. Naval Academy. The barracks is also home to the Marine Corps Institute - the Corps' distance training center, which is responsible for all nonresident military education programs.
If you see nothing else in our nation's capital, you must see the sunset parade at the barracks. Make sure that you reserve tickets well in advance.
The images in the following slideshow are of a personal tour of the grounds of this historic place. A special thanks and a " Semper Fi " goes out to Colonel O'Brien, USMC, from all of us, for allowing us to tour the barracks.
Up until 1997, the bell on the parade deck at Marine Barracks was the bell from the USS Samuel Nicholas. In the summer of 1997, it cracked and was replaced by another bell. Rather than getting rid of the bell from the USS Samuel Nicholas, it was relocated to the front of Center House on the parade grounds, a historic house that acts as the bachelor's officers quarters/officers club for the Marine and Navy officers stationed here.
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Images of the tallest of the monuments dedicated to our first President.
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Conceived by the Father of Our Nation as a Holy Fortress from which to guard against the tyranny of "big government" and "social programs" while tirelessly promoting the essential freedom of completely unregulated commercial enterprise.
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