April is National Poetry Month. And along with the 30 ways to celebrate national poetry month, there are also memorials you can visit in Washington, D.C. that honor poets. Four statues honor poets in D.C., Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, Dante Alighieri,Kahlil Gibran, and Taras Schevchenko. All are located in the northwest quadrant, and the styles range…
John Ericsson
Statue: John Ericsson Location: West Potomac Park, 23rd Street and Ohio Drive, SW Sculptor: James Earle Fraser Dedication: May 29, 1926 Cost to Taxpayer: $35,000 One year after the death of John Ericsson a bill requesting $30,000 for a memorial to him was proposed in the Senate and referred to the House Library Committee. Apparently…
Mary McLeod Bethune
Statue: Mary McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955) Location: Lincoln Park, 12th and East Capitol Streets, SE Dedication: July 10, 1974, 10:30am Sculptor: Robert Berks Cost to Taxpayer: $0, $100,000 raised and contributed by the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) On July 10, 1974, on what would have been Mary Bethune’s…
Tomas Garrigue Masaryk
Statue: Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, March 7, 1850 – September 14, 1937 Location: triangle park at Massachusetts and 22nd Street, NW Dedication Ceremony: November 2002 Completion Ceremony: March 8, 2003, 2pm Sculptor: Vincene Makovsky, Czech Cost: $0, $757,000 for the American Friends of the Czech Republic The Masaryk statue was a gift to the United States…
James Cardinal Gibbons
Memorial: James Gibbons (July 23, 1834 – March 24, 1921) Unveiling: August 14, 1932, 3:30 p.m. Location: Sixteen Street and Park Road, NW Sculptor: Leo Lentelli Cost: No cost to the United States, donated by the Knights of Columbus The unveiling coincided with the golden jubilee convention of the Knights of Columbus, who gave dedicated…