Jefferson Memorial, in Washington, D.C., is a shrine to the third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence. Its official name is the Thomas Jefferson Memorial.
The memorial is a white marble building on the south side of the Tidal Basin near the Potomac River. The shrine was designed by architects John Russell Pope, Otto R. Eggers, and Daniel P. Higgins. President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke at a ceremony that marked the start of construction in 1938. The memorial was built at a cost of $3 million. It was dedicated on April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson’s birth.
The building is circular, with a portico (porch) supported by 12 columns. This design is based on the classical style of architecture, which Jefferson introduced into the United States. Two circular terraces surround the memorial. Three broad flights of steps, with level platforms at intervals, lead from the edge of the Tidal Basin to the portico. A 19-foot (5.8-meter) statue of Jefferson by the American sculptor Rudulph Evans stands inside the memorial. Four quotations from Jefferson’s writings are engraved on panels inside the shrine. The memorial is administered by the National Park Service.
