America’s monuments tell us something about the people who view the monuments, as well as informing us about the people or events the monuments commemorate.
With statues of brass, for example, if people touch the statute in the same place, repeatedly, the brass is brighter at that spot. At Lincoln’s tomb in Springfield, Illinois, the bust by Gutzon Borglum has a shiny nose, where thousands — or millions — have touched his nose.
At the relatively new monument to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the entirety of which I got to view for the first time last night, there is a statue of his wife, Eleanor.
Look at her hands, showing the bright brass history of people reaching out to touch her.
Eleanor Roosevelt’s statute at the FDR Memorial in Washington, D.C., where thousands of people touched her hands.
Touring and sight-seeing (and site-seeing) continue today on our Teaching American History grant studies tour of Washington. Blogging will be light, apologies. Much, much to talk about.
Related articles
- Eleanor Roosevelt (time.com)
- Eleonor Roosevelt (milenanik3.wordpress.com)
- Eleonor Roosevelt (abbuni.wordpress.com)
- Newstalgia Reference Room – Eleanor Roosevelt Addresses The 1956 Democratic Convention. (crooksandliars.com)
Posted by Ed Darrell 
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 