FDR lays cornerstone of Jefferson Memorial, Nov. 15, 1939

On November 15, 1939, FDR laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. From the article:

"On this day in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial. The memorial is located south of the National Mall along the Tidal Basin and directly south of the White House. It is dedicated to Thomas Jefferson, the nation’s third president and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.

In addition to a copy of the Declaration, the hollow cornerstone contains copies of the U.S. Constitution, the 10-volume “Writings of Thomas Jefferson” by Paul Leicester Ford, Jefferson’s "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth" and an edition of each of the city’s four major newspapers that were being published at the time.

John Russell Pope (1874-1937), an architect trained in the Beaux Arts tradition, designed the memorial. In undertaking the project, Pope had Jefferson’s design for the rotunda at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville in mind. (Pope also designed the National Archives and the west building of the National Gallery of Art.)

After his death, Pope’s partners completed the work. FDR again presided on April 13, 1943, when it was dedicated on Jefferson's 200th birthday. Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, which Jefferson helped write in 1776, appear on the panel along the memorial’s southwest interior wall.

FDR concluded his remarks at the cornerstone-laying ceremony by observing that Jefferson “lived, as we live, in the midst of a struggle between rule by the self-chosen individual or the self-appointed few and rule by the franchise and approval of the many. He believed, as we do, that the average opinion of mankind is in the long run superior to the dictates of the self-chosen.

“During all the years that have followed … the United States has expanded his philosophy into a greater achievement of security of the nation, security of the individual and national unity, than in any other part of the world.

“It may be that the conflict between [these] two forms of philosophy will continue for centuries to come; but we in the United States are more than ever satisfied with the republican form of government, based on regularly recurring opportunities to our citizens to choose their leaders for themselves.”

The memorial features a 19-foot bronze statue of Jefferson sculpted by Rudulph Evans, which was added four years after its dedication. Inscribed in a frieze below the dome are the words: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

Construction of the memorial began amid significant formal opposition. The Commission of Fine Arts never approved any design for the memorial; it published a pamphlet in 1939 opposing both the design and the site. Since then, however, the memorial, which is maintained by the National Park Service, has been widely praised by architectural scholars. Over the years, it has also become a favorite tourist destination."