New Book About Inscriptions and Monuments

Yesterday's Talk of the Nation on NPR featured a new book called Etched in Stone: Enduring Words From Our Nation's Monuments, by Ryan Coonerty (published by National Geographic), which "collects immortal words from 50 monuments and memorials, public buildings, walls and sidewalks around the country," according to NPR's website.

I haven't seen the book yet, but it got me thinking about Lewis and Clark statues, memorials, and such, and what, if any, words are incorporated into their design. I include here some photos of two memorial sites that immediately come to mind: the graves of Sergeant Floyd in Iowa and Meriwether Lewis in Tennessee.


The obelisk near Sioux City, Iowa, commemorating the grave of Sergeant Floyd and other themes. The bronze plaque at the base of the obelisk includes the words: "In commemoration of the Louisiana Purchase . . . , of the successful exploration by the heroic members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, of the valor of the American soldier, and of the enterprise, courage and fortitude of the American pioneer to whom these great states west of the Mississippi River owe their secure foundation."


This newer bas-relief sculpture at the Floyd site shows the expedition meeting the local native people on one side . . .


. . . and this interesting "carved" lettering on the other, providing general information about the establishment of the sculpture.

I'll have to go back and review my photos and notes and, after I look at Mr. Coonerty's book to see what perspectives he takes, I can say more about any patterns or themes I might find. Certainly, many of the quotations associated with L&C exhibits of all sorts are Thomas Jefferson's.


Meriwether Lewis' grave site with the "broken obelisk" memorial erected by the state of Tennessee in 1848 along the Natchez Trace southwest of Nashville. This is one of the least-visited Lewis and Clark-related sites, according to a documentary on Oregon Public Broadcasting. There are inscriptions all around the square base of the obelisk.


This weathered inscription says: "In the language of Mr. Jefferson: 'His courage was undaunted; his firmness and perseverance yielded to nothing but impossibilities; a rigid disciplinarian yet tender as a father of those committed to his charge; honest, disinterested, liberal with a sound understanding and a scrupulous fidelity to truth.'" These are the famous words written by Jefferson some years after the expedition and Lewis' suicide.

I think it would also be interesting to analyze differences over time. The memorials featured here were established several generations ago and are very patriotic and supportive of the process of westward expansion. The newer interpretive signs that accompany them are more neutral and reflective of the consequences of manifest destiny.

The 1848 Lewis memorial also includes some inscriptions in Latin, which more recently-designed memorials make little or no use of. In the discussion on Talk of the Nation, the author of Etched in Stone said that the way we envision memorials was revolutionized by Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which inscribes not lofty, patriotic rhetoric but merely thousands of names of the dead.

[All photos by K. Dahl, copyright 2007.]