Monument Monday

When the world went into lockdown in March 2020 and many of us shifted to working from home, I started sending an email every morning to the staff of the small federal agency where I was executive director. My "good morning team" messages were meant to keep us connected to each other. Sometimes I tried to be uplifting; other times, I took a more prosaic approach,  wishing happy birthdays; sharing information and resources of observances such as Hispanic Heritage Month or Juneteenth; eliciting comments on podcasts, books, and TV shows; and asking people to post picture of their pets and their summer vacations.  Pet content always elicited the biggest response -- alas, I have no pets.

As it turns out, having something to say every single damn day is harder than it sounds. As the weeks dragged on, I scrambled to keep it fresh. Out of desperation, I started the Monument Monday contest in which I would share a photo of what I thought was a somewhat obscure local monument, awarding points for the first correct answer.  While I thought this might encourage people to get out and about at a time when there was little else to do, it turns out that it simply taught folks how to use Google image search.

At any rate, in the spirit of Monument Monday, today's post is about a monument that I had no idea existed until I stumbled upon it during the Beyond Granite: Pulling Together exhibit in August.  The memorial to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence is on a small island in Constitution Gardens (on the north side of the Mall, between the Vietnam Memorial and 15th Street).  Conceived as part of the many Bicentennial celebrations that took place in 1976, it wasn't actually authorized until 1978 and not completed until 1984.

As monuments go, it's pretty modest, consisting of a series of smooth granite blocks etched with the actual signature of each signer, plus their state, hometown, and profession. There's no additional signage or commentary on the events that led to the declaration or the back stories of these men, whom history now tells us were both visionaries and deeply flawed individuals. In any case, the setting provides a wonderful spot for quiet contemplation, whether your thoughts run to evaluating the success of the American experiment or considering what's for dinner.