National monuments

President Harry S. Truman (standing at podium) prepares to address the crowd gathered for the Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. Also in attendance is Secretary of Defense Kenneth Royall (third row, seated next to woman in hat), General Wallace Graham, and Captain Robert Dennison (seated, back row, left to right). Others are unidentified.

The man who wrote the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, was honored on the 203rd anniversary of his birth in ceremonies at the Jefferson Memorial. Photo shows the massing of colors around a statue of Jefferson. The actual birthday of the country's third President was April 2nd, but it is observed on the 13th due to a revamping of calendars in the 1700's. From: Beth Gore.

The Lincoln Memorial, a tribute to Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States. The roof is supported by 36 fluted Doric columns of white marble representing the 36 states which constituted the Union at the time of Lincoln's death.

The Washington Monument, a towering marble obelisk 555 feet high. The cornerstone was laid in 1848; the obelisk was completed in 1855. At the height of 504 feet the walls are pierced with eight windows, two in each face. This observation deck can be reached by a stairway of 900 steps or by an elevator.

Washington D.C.; Thomas Jefferson National Memorial. It is a circular structure or rotunda in the classic style introduced in this country by Jefferson. It is located in a park of 1.2 acres.

Washington D.C.: Statue of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, in the Lincoln Memorial. The statue, the work of distinguished sculptor, Daniel Chester French, is composed of 20 interlocking blocks of Georgia marble, the figure is 19 ft high, the arm chair is 12.5 ft high.