The Lincoln Memorial: Symbol of Unity, Equality & National Healing

Perched at the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Lincoln Memorial is more than a tribute to the 16th president—it’s a stone embodiment of the ideals that held the Union together.

Design as Allegory

• Statue: Daniel Chester French’s 19-foot seated Lincoln—grave, resolute—gazes toward the Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument.
• Columns: 36 Doric columns (one per state at Lincoln’s death) flank the chamber; north/south groupings subtly evoke the reunited sections.
• Materials: White Colorado Yule marble (purity, endurance) for the statue; Indiana limestone and Tennessee pink marble for the structure.

Inscriptions That Define the Theme

Front (above the statue): “In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever.” —Epitaph by Royal Cortissoz

South wall (Gettysburg Address): “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

North wall (Second Inaugural, March 4, 1865): “With malice toward none, with charity for all… let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds… to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.”

Enduring Significance

From Marian Anderson’s 1939 concert to Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, the memorial has staged pivotal civil-rights moments—living proof that its theme of unity, equality, and reconciliation remains a work in progress, inviting each generation to “finish the work.”