Talk:Lincoln Memorial

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The new picture isn't as good as the old one. Why was it changed? The new one crops off the edges of the building and shows distortion in the angles. Wetman 09:53, 31 Mar 2004 (UTC)

The old one was tiny, blurry, and taken from the corner. →Raul654 14:28, Mar 31, 2004 (UTC)

But now it has a handsome one, parallax-corrected, even. --Wetman 01:32, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Contents 1 On the National Mall? 2 Inscription 3 Confusing Date 4 Images 5 Really, now.... 6 Charlotte Scott 7 Other memorials to Lincoln

[edit] On the National Mall?

The opening sentence says, "The Lincoln Memorial, on the National Mall in Washington, DC...". According to the National Mall article, the Mall is officially only the area from the Washington Monument to the Capitol building. Can someone more knowledgable clarify? TheCoffee 04:20, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

Uh, that statement sounds VERY fishy. Every map I've ever seen includes the lincoln, jefferson, and roosevelt memorials as being on the mall, as well as the vietnam, korea, and WWII memorials. →Raul654 05:40, May 17, 2005 (UTC)

Howzat now? --Wetman 05:43, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

Apparently the area east of the Washington Monument is called the Constitution Gardens, adjacent to the National Mall (though popularly understood to be part of it). *shrug* TheCoffee 03:11, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

No no no no no no. The constition gardens are a little strip of water and gardening next to the reflecting pool - they're so nondescript, unless you are looking for them, you could easily pass right by them. →Raul654 03:20, May 18, 2005 (UTC)

Perhaps you should edit the articles accordingly. Everything else I find on the internet suggests that you're right and the National Mall and Constitution Gardens articles are wrong (they even have satellite maps..). TheCoffee 04:40, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

Officially, the whole area bounded by 17th st on the East, 23rd. st. on the West, Constitution Ave. on the North and the Reflecting Pool on the South is the Constitution Garden. The little "strip of water" is a lake, over half the size of the Reflecting Pool --grumpyoldman 12 Feb. 2006

[edit] Inscription

"In the first column of this speech the word "future" is actually misspelled and engraved into the stone of this architectural marvel. The word, instead, reads "euture."" Is this actually true? --Wetman 01:32, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Yes it is. It is at the end of the sixteenth line up from the bottom. It doesn't stand out as much, now that the lettering in the memorial has been cleaned up and highlighted but you can still see it.--grumpyoldman 12 Feb. 2006

Yep. Here's a low quality image of it: --Weatherman1126 (talk) 04:32, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Confusing Date

This sentence is in the content:

"the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial was not put into place until Lincoln's birthday, February 30, 1945."

Am I missing something?

[edit] Images

I changed out one of the images in the interior section with a new image I created which is higher resolution, shows the text above, and has a more accurate perspective. I'm not sure if we can go ahead and remove the inscription above Lincoln from our text, it's readable in the 180px wide version of this new image.

I've also uploaded the image on the right, should a tighter cropped and more dramatic image be desired. I do not prefer this image because it is less accurate, however most pictures I've seen of the statue are similarly contrast enhanced. The marble has very subtle tones, the environment is somber and subdued but enormous and engulfing. It's hard to capture in a little picture, and people are used to photos that pop....

I also have some other captures... the south wall I'm quite proud of even though Mediawiki's thumbnailing makes it look blurry on the image page, the north wall is mostly just a snapshot though even it required shift to get the perspective right. I also have some interior perspective shots showing the columns and giving a better sense to the scale of the interior, and a side shot which is sharper and correctly colorbalanced, but like the north wall these are tainted by tourists. I will go back on a low traffic day and retake those if we find room for them in the article. --Gmaxwell 00:59, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the photos. Make sure to put them in commons:Category:Lincoln Memorial, so they are easy to find. I like the interior shots, but right now, the number of images in this article is overkill in relation to the amount of text. Until the article is expanded, I suggest removing a few, (e.g. Lincoln Memorial viewed from the WWII memorial, and maybe the side view of the Lincoln statue). These can be moved to the commons gallery, if not already there. Thoughts? -Kmf164 (talk contribs) 01:05, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

My thoughts exactly! :) I've revised the commons gallery completely and put a higher resolution version of the aerial shot there.... I'll make sure all the images are in the commons gallery and prune some out. Side view would be better if we had more text. Thoughts on the inscription text above Lincoln? --Gmaxwell 01:29, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

I don't have a preference on the inscription. Whichever way you prefer is fine with me. -Kmf164 (talk contribs) 01:45, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Thoughts on the infobox and map? I think the article would look better with the building in the infobox and the map smaller someplace else. I don't want to be inconsistent with other monument articles, but right now the top is still very image crowded even though the lower part is now okay.

I just moved the image above the infobox, as done with Statue of Liberty. I don't entirely like the map either, but it's something consistently done for all "protected" sites. Coming up with a better infobox map is beyond the scope of this article, and should be done for all protected sites. -Kmf164 (talk contribs) 02:01, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Really, now....

I've removed the following few sentences:

On the back of Lincoln's head is rumored to be the faint outline of the face of Robert E. Lee. Close inspection shows that the outline does not exist. One hand is clenched, the other open. It is said that French, who had a hearing-impaired daughter, carved Lincoln's hands to sign the letters "A" and "L" in American Sign Language.

I don't think it's necessary for WP to propegate rumors, only to deny them in the next sentence. The fourth sentence is weasely, and, upon a cursory inspection of the statue, is easily disproved. While his right hand, it could be argued, is forming a vague ASL "A" -- indistinguishable from a resting fist, his left hand is NOT forming an "L" -- the fingers other than the index would have to be curled under the rest of his hand for this to be true.
I noticed I removed a sentence I didn't intend and will be restoring it. —  MusicMaker 00:12, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Charlotte Scott

Two different Charlotte Scotts, wondering which to attach a ( ) suffix to- one (the mathematician) receives more links at present. Schissel | Sound the Note! 05:27, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

• The architect of a building generally appears in the opening paragraph. I have added the architect, sculptor and painter reponsible for the Memorial.--Wetman 00:04, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Other memorials to Lincoln

I am wondering if this section should be here, connected to this article? There are many, many other memorials to Lincoln and I'd love to list the dozen or two closest to my heart, but think that a spot (and there could well already be one) on the Abe Lincoln page would be a better place to do it. Carptrash 17:39, 20 January 2007 (UTC)