Andy Gallo, co-owner of Eastern Memorials, Falls Church, Va., etches the final touches onto the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, marking the exact spot where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech 40 years ago.

The serene “memorial within a memorial” is a simple 10-inch-tall by 24-inch-wide inscription that reads:

I HAVE A DREAM
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON
FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM
AUGUST 28, 1963

The five lines center on the memorial’s first granite landing, 18 steps down from the top of the pedestal upon which Daniel Chester French’s famed sculpture of the seated Lincoln sits.

According to the July 25 Washington Post, Park Service Project Manager Glenn DeMarr matched historical photos and video footage of the speech with the features of the exterior stone to “triangulate” the precise location. Placement of the inscription is in response to Public Law 106-365, which authorized the Secretary of the Interior in October 2000 to install a plaque in the area of the Lincoln Memorial.

Although the Park Service originally had thought that the marker should be near the bottom of the steps, so as not to detract from the approach to the memorial chamber holding the statue, those who argued for the exact spot—King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, among them—eventually prevailed. The Park Service did not close down the memorial during the four days that Gallo worked on the carving (see the blue staging tent in the photo). Flocks of tourists therefore were able to approach the work in progress, literally watching history in the making.

Copyright 2003 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved. Home Page