Covid-19 delays Eisenhower Memorial dedication

These are scenes of sculptures of the Eisenhower Memorial behind a fence at the U.S. Department of Education building, taken in mid-April.

The Eisenhower Memorial Commission website describes the scene: "On the right side of the memorial core, Eisenhower as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force during World War II is commemorated by a bronze heroic-sized statue with sculptures of his soldiers inspired by the famous photograph with the 101st Airborne Division before their jump into France." See below/Photo by Patricia Leslie, April 19, 2020

The left side of the memorial which the Commission describes: "The bronze heroic-sized statue of Eisenhower as 34th President of the United States places him at the center of the White House Oval Office flanked by sculptures of civilian and military advisors, symbolizing the balance Eisenhower struck between conflicting demands of national security and peaceful progress. The bas relief global background depicts a map of the world symbolizing Eisenhower's role as a world statesman and preeminent internationalist pursuing universal peace." See below/Photo by Patricia Leslie, April 19, 2020

President Eisenhower in the Oval Office. The bronze sculptures are classic, lacking ugly modernity to detract from the beauty of the entire presentation/Photo by Patricia Leslie, April 19, 2020

A closer view of General Eisenhower talking to the troops, powerful in the emotion it stimulates of the memory of the great man, gentle, intelligent, forceful, an example of a leader, an extreme contrast to what we endure now day-to-day/Photo by Patricia Leslie, April 19, 2020

The stainless steel tapestry with scenes from D-Day beaches screens the dull and lifeless Education Building, on the left/Photo by Patricia Leslie, April 19, 2020

The tapestry on the right side at the corner of the Education Building/Photo by Patricia Leslie, April 19, 2020



The dedication of the long-awaited and controversial Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial has been rescheduled for 1 p.m. September 17, 2020 from May 8, the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.

Week-long festivities in honor of our 34th president will precede the event which will be live streamed on Facebook.
 

September 17 is "Constitution Day" formerly called "Citizenship Day" which President Harry S Truman signed into law in 1952.  During President Eisenhower's tenure, the U.S. Congress asked him to proclaim the week of September 17 - 23 "Constitution Week."

The four-acre Eisenhower Memorial site is at the base of Capitol Hill, across the street from the Independence Avenue entrance to the National Air and Space Museum, and in front of the monolithic federal Education Building, screened by a huge tapestry with scenes from  D Day beaches. (Praise Ike!)

Public and private events are planned with more information available at the website after July 1, 2020. 

Ed Perez, the director of government relations, public affairs and special events for the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, answered questions about events which include:

An exhibition at the Library of Congress, Eisenhower and the Essence of Leadership in the Thomas Jefferson Building. "Details to follow the reopening of non-essential DC businesses."

September 14, 6:30 p.m. - a lecture, Eisenhower and Infrastructure, hosted by the U.S. Capitol Historical Society. RSVP required. "Details to follow the reopening of non-essential DC businesses."

September 15, 7 p.m. - a moderated discussion, A Re-Appreciation of Dwight D. Eisenhower, with the U.S. Archivist David Ferriero and Eisenhower historians at McGowan Theater, National Archives. RSVP suggested.  "Details to follow the reopening of non-essential DC businesses."

September 16, 3 p.m. For Kansans, hosted by EMC Chairman Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), Russell Senate Office Building, Kennedy Caucus Room. "By invitation only."

September 16, 7 p.m. - a film, Ike: The Making of an American Hero, hosted by George Colburn, the director. "Details to follow the reopening of non-essential DC businesses."

The designer of the complex was Frank Gehry assisted by the sculptor, Sergey Eylanbekov; the tapestry artist, Tomas Osinski; and the inscription artist, Nicholas Waite Benson. Film of the artists and their work on the Eisenhower Memorial are presented at the website.

Eylanbekov was born in Russia where he attended the Moscow School of Fine Arts and the Surikov Academy of Fine Arts. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1989 and became a citizen. 

Osinski, also an American citizen, was born in Poland where he attended Warsaw's Visual Art High School and the Academy of Fine Art.

At age 15 Nicholas Waite Benson became his family's third generation stone carver when he began working with his father, John Everett Benson, at the John Stevens Shop, founded in 1705.  Nicholas studied in Switzerland at the Kunstgewerbeschule, Schule für Gestaltung, Basel, and upon his father's retirement in 1993, he took over ownership and creative directorship of the shop. He has designed and carved inscriptions for the National World War II Memorial and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial. In 2010 he was named a MacArthur Fellow. 

Among contributors to the Eisenhower Memorial are Gettysburg College, Donald and Joyce Rumsfeld, George and Charlotte Shultz, the Bristol, Tennessee Republican Women's Club, and United Daughters of the Confederacy, Loudoun, Virginia, Chapter 170.

Questions may be sent to info1@eisenhowermemorial.gov.   The website has many pictures, renderings, lesson plans, and graphics for grades 7 - 12.

Typical of all-things Washington, the site and design were controversial from Day One.  Read the lengthy description of the memorial's evolution at Wikipedia which is long enough for a book which it became. 

patricialesli@gmail.com

A sad Earth Day Park in Washington, D.C.

The entrance to Earth Day Park on Independence Avenue, Washington, D.C. with a hard-to-read sign that may have been installed when dinosaurs roamed/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 

The entrance to Earth Day Park, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

This unsightly rock, uncovered during excavation for the nearby expressway and surrounded by weeds, serves what purpose at Earth Day Park? Restrains weeds?/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Looking towards the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum, on the right, across Independence Avenue/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Bring a hacksaw to reach this bench at Earth Day Park/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A sad little bluebell matches its surroundings amidst the weeds at Earth Day Park/Photo by Patricia Leslie

If you look closely, more bluebells peek through the weeds at Earth Day Park/Photo by Patricia Leslie

What's this?  Little flowers waving in the wind in Forgotten Park/Photo by Patricia Leslie


On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, it's a sad little Earth Day Park which lies on Independence Avenue squeezed between an on-ramp to an expressway and a dull federal building which, ironically, happens to house transportation concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration.

Alone, unkempt, isolated, and uncared for are the adjectives which immediately spring to mind when visiting the park, not only during coronavirus, but all the time.  

It's abandoned. 

Who takes care of it?

The little park, dedicated by U.S. Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary on the 25th anniversary of Earth Day in 1995, is so unimportant it even lacks a page in Wikipedia, only the second time I've found a subject missing from its pages.*  

Think of that, not even important enough to warrant a Wikipedia page!  Now, this is a sad, little park. 

The link above says the park was built by the Department of Energy, an absent landlord for sure, which, in a March, 2010 quarterly report (page 101) still called the park its own.

One cannot blame coronavirus and the closure of the federal government for the forgotten park's appearance since it always looks like this, overgrown and ignored. 

Why not blame the Department of Energy under the Trump administration which despises everything environmental?

I say now is the time for the U.S. National Park Service to take over Earth Day Park and restore it to its original lustre and grandeur for obviously, the U.S. Department of Energy doesn't give a damn. 

*The first was "posy holders," and no, "nosegays" do not count.

patricialesli@gmail.com.