Grant's Tomb
Encyclopedia
General Grant National Memorial (as designated by the U.S. National Park Service
), better known as Grant's Tomb, is a mausoleum
containing the bodies of Ulysses S. Grant
(1822–1885), American Civil War
General and 18th President
of the United States
, and his wife, Julia Dent Grant
(1826–1902). The tomb complex is a presidential memorial in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan
in New York City
. The structure is situated in a prominent location in Riverside Park
overlooking the Hudson River
.
“Dear Sir: In order that the City of New York, which is to be the last resting place of General Grant, should initiate a movement to provide for the erection of a National Monument to the memory of the great soldier, and that she should do well and thoroughly her part, I respectfully request you to as one of a Committee to consider ways and means for raising the quota to be subscribed by the citizens of New York City for this object, and beg that you will attend a meeting to be held at the Mayor’s office on Tuesday next, 28 inst., at three o’clock…”
85 New Yorkers attended this preliminary meeting and established the Committee on Organization. The chairman of the Committee was Ex-President Chester A. Arthur
and the secretary was Richard T. Greener. This organization would come to be known as the Grant Monument Association (GMA).
donated $5,000 on the 29th of June, the day that the committee announced its proposal. The GMA continued to receive donations of large and small amounts. At a membership meeting, former New York State Governor Alonzo Cornell proposed a fundraising goal of $1 million. (Kahn page 31) Private industries such as the insurance companies and iron trading companies donated funds to the project. For every ton of coal The Consumers Coal Company sold, they gave a major donation of 37½ cents to the GMA.
Although there was great excitement for a monument to President Grant, early fundraising efforts were stifled by growing negative public opinion expressed by out of state press. The Clay County Enterprise in Brazil, Indiana wrote, “We have not a cent for New York in the undertaking, and would advise that not a dollar of help be sent to the millionaire city from Indiana…If the billions of New York are not sufficient to embellish the city…let the remains be placed in Washington or some other American city.” (September 11)
The opposition was highly attributed to the belief that the monument should be in Washington D.C. Mayor Grace tried to calm the controversy by publicly releasing Mrs. Grants’ justification for the New York site as the resting place for her husband, in her own words. Mrs. Grant wrote:
Criticism was not limited to the debate on the location of the monument. According to the New York Times, there was discontent with the internal management of the GMA. The criticism was that even though the members of the GMA were of the wealthiest in New York, they were making very comparatively small donations to the effort that they themselves were promoting. The New York Times characterized the members as, “sitting quietly in an office and signing receipts for money voluntarily tendered.” In this early stage, the GMA did not have a model for what the monument was to be; They continued to ask for donations for the project without explaining what the money would be used for, which frustrated and discouraged donors. Joan Waugh captures the feelings of an average citizen in her book, American Hero American Myth, by saying, “Why should citizens give money to build a monument whose shape was still a mystery.” The GMA did not propose a concrete plan for the monument until five years later.
Fiscally, the first few years of the GMA achieved below the expectations set by Alonzo Cornell in the first days of the organization. In the first year, 1885, the GMA raised just over $111,000, 10% of their goal. In the two years that followed they raised 10,000, 10% of their donations in 1885. This slow pace of fundraising in and of itself detracted donations and trustees began to resign. By this time there still was no design of what the structure would be and until that process began, fundraising efforts remained low.
. Duncan was one of sixty-five contestants. John Duncan made his first architectural claims in 1883, designing the “Washington Monument at Newburgh”, “The Newburgh Monument”, and the “Tower of Victory.” Duncan built these structures as a celebration of the one hundred year anniversary of the revolutionary war. He became a member of the Architectural League in 1887. Duncan cited the objective of his design was, “to produce a monumental structure that should be unmistakably a tomb of military character.” And he wanted to avoid “resemblance of a habitable dwelling.” The structure was meant to be the epitome of reverence and respect. He estimated his design would cost between $496,000 and $900,000. The tomb's granite exterior is modeled after the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and but for the Ionic order
, resembles the Tropaeum Alpium. While within the tomb the twin sarcophagi of Grant and his wife Julia are based on that of Napoleon Bonaparte at Les Invalides
.
A Poem Written in General Grant's Honor
Walt Whitman
(1819–1892) wrote::
laborers laid down new marble flooring in the crypt. The W.P.A. played a large role in sustaining the monument. Joan Waugh explains that, "In the 1930s the tomb was kept afloat, barely, by funds from the Works Progress Administration." Shortly after the restoration project began the old New York City Post Office was being demolished and donated two statues of eagles to decorate the front of the Grant Monument. The laborers of the W.P.A. worked on several projects throughout the 1930s, including roof restoration, the electric lighting and heating systems, and taking out the purple stained glass windows. The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company installed amber glass to replace the purple stained glass. Toward the end of the 1930s a project began to restore the two reliquary rooms where encasings with flags where added as well as murals of the wars Grant had fought in were painted on the walls. In 1938 the Federal Art Project
selected artists William Mues and Jeno Juszko to design the busts of William T. Sherman, Phillip H. Sheridan, George H. Thomas, James B. MacPherson, and Edward Ord. The W.P.A. installed the five busts in the crypt around the sacrophogi. After the many contributions of the W.P.A. the Grant Monument Association held a rededication of the tomb on April 27, 1939.
In 1958 the National Park Service (NPS) took authority in the overseeing of the monument. According to a report by the NPS itself, a historian admitted that when the service was granted authority over the tomb they "had no program for the site." This led to great negligence of the site, particularly in the maintenance of the monument. By the 1970s the Tomb was characterized by vandalism and graffiti. The NPS undertook a plan to tear down the trophy cases in the reliquary rooms. The abuse of the monument continued until renewed restoration efforts began in the early 1990s.
In 1994 Frank Scaturro pushed an effort to restore the tomb and brought his concerns to Congress. A New York Times
article articulated Mr. Scaturro's concerns saying, " 'improvements' have detracted from the tomb's solemnity." There was not only grafitti, but at the time there were only three maintenance workers and three rangers
on daytime duty with a yearly budget of $235,000. The tomb was in great need of reform. The monument's poor state of being caught the attention of two Illinois state lawmakers. State Sen. Judy Baar Topinka
and State Rep. Ron Lawfer sponsored a resolution to force the National Park Service to meet their obligations in maintaining and restoring Grant's tomb. If the NPS did not comply then Topinka and Lawfer were to demand that the tomb be placed in the state of Illinois. Senator Topinka said, "He would be better off anywhere than New York, but my argument is not with New York; it's the National Park Service." The demands for restoration did not stop at the state level. In 1994 the United States House of Representatives
introduced legislation to, "restore, complete, and preserve in perpetutiy the Grant's Tomb National Memorial and surrounding areas." The legislation set by the U.S. House of Representatives required that the restoration be completed by April 27, 1997 On April 27, 1997 the restoration effort sanctioned by Congress was completed and the tomb rededicated.
, a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to create works of public art by bringing together children and artists. The sculpture underwent restoration during the summer of 2008 under the supervision of Silva.
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
), better known as Grant's Tomb, is a mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
containing the bodies of Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
(1822–1885), American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
General and 18th President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and his wife, Julia Dent Grant
Julia Grant
Julia Boggs Dent-Grant , was the wife of the 18th President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant, and was First Lady of the United States from 1869 to 1877.-Background:...
(1826–1902). The tomb complex is a presidential memorial in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The structure is situated in a prominent location in Riverside Park
Riverside Park (Manhattan)
Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park on the Upper West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The park consists of a narrow four-mile strip of land between the Hudson River and the gently...
overlooking the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
.
Creation of the Grant Monument Association
On July 23, 1885 President Ulysses S. Grant died of cancer. The family of General Grant agreed to have the remains placed in New York City. The following day, Mayor Grace of New York City wrote a letter to prominent New Yorkers to gather support for a National Monument in Grant’s honor. The letter read as follows,“Dear Sir: In order that the City of New York, which is to be the last resting place of General Grant, should initiate a movement to provide for the erection of a National Monument to the memory of the great soldier, and that she should do well and thoroughly her part, I respectfully request you to as one of a Committee to consider ways and means for raising the quota to be subscribed by the citizens of New York City for this object, and beg that you will attend a meeting to be held at the Mayor’s office on Tuesday next, 28 inst., at three o’clock…”
85 New Yorkers attended this preliminary meeting and established the Committee on Organization. The chairman of the Committee was Ex-President Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...
and the secretary was Richard T. Greener. This organization would come to be known as the Grant Monument Association (GMA).
Funding
The Grant Monument Association did not originally announce the function or structure of the monument; however, the idea of any monument in Grant’s honor drew public support. The company Western UnionWestern Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
donated $5,000 on the 29th of June, the day that the committee announced its proposal. The GMA continued to receive donations of large and small amounts. At a membership meeting, former New York State Governor Alonzo Cornell proposed a fundraising goal of $1 million. (Kahn page 31) Private industries such as the insurance companies and iron trading companies donated funds to the project. For every ton of coal The Consumers Coal Company sold, they gave a major donation of 37½ cents to the GMA.
Although there was great excitement for a monument to President Grant, early fundraising efforts were stifled by growing negative public opinion expressed by out of state press. The Clay County Enterprise in Brazil, Indiana wrote, “We have not a cent for New York in the undertaking, and would advise that not a dollar of help be sent to the millionaire city from Indiana…If the billions of New York are not sufficient to embellish the city…let the remains be placed in Washington or some other American city.” (September 11)
The opposition was highly attributed to the belief that the monument should be in Washington D.C. Mayor Grace tried to calm the controversy by publicly releasing Mrs. Grants’ justification for the New York site as the resting place for her husband, in her own words. Mrs. Grant wrote:
“Riverside was selected by myself and my family as the burial place of my husband, General Grant. First, because I believed New York was his preference. Second, it is near the residence that I hope to occupy as long as I live, and where I will be able to visit his resting place often. Third, I have believed, and am now convinced, that the tomb will be visited by as many of his countrymen there as it would be at any other place. Fourth, the offer of a park in New York was the first which observed and unreservedly assented to the only condition imposed by General Grant himself, namely, that I should have a place by his side.”
Criticism was not limited to the debate on the location of the monument. According to the New York Times, there was discontent with the internal management of the GMA. The criticism was that even though the members of the GMA were of the wealthiest in New York, they were making very comparatively small donations to the effort that they themselves were promoting. The New York Times characterized the members as, “sitting quietly in an office and signing receipts for money voluntarily tendered.” In this early stage, the GMA did not have a model for what the monument was to be; They continued to ask for donations for the project without explaining what the money would be used for, which frustrated and discouraged donors. Joan Waugh captures the feelings of an average citizen in her book, American Hero American Myth, by saying, “Why should citizens give money to build a monument whose shape was still a mystery.” The GMA did not propose a concrete plan for the monument until five years later.
Fiscally, the first few years of the GMA achieved below the expectations set by Alonzo Cornell in the first days of the organization. In the first year, 1885, the GMA raised just over $111,000, 10% of their goal. In the two years that followed they raised 10,000, 10% of their donations in 1885. This slow pace of fundraising in and of itself detracted donations and trustees began to resign. By this time there still was no design of what the structure would be and until that process began, fundraising efforts remained low.
Design competition
On February 4, 1888 after a year’s worth of delay, the GMA publicly announced the details of a design competition, in a newsletter entitled “To Artists, Architects, and Sculptors”. This information was made public to the entire nation, and was also published in Europe. The GMA also proposed a new figure for the cost of the monument from $1,000,000 to $500,000. The deadline for all designs was rescheduled three times and was then set for a final date of January 10, 1889. The winner of the contest was an architect named John Hemenway DuncanJohn H. Duncan
-Biography:He was the designer of the Wolcott Hotel. One of the most famous architects in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, his popularity rose after being selected as the architect of what is now Grant's Tomb, another "reconstruction" of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus .Another of...
. Duncan was one of sixty-five contestants. John Duncan made his first architectural claims in 1883, designing the “Washington Monument at Newburgh”, “The Newburgh Monument”, and the “Tower of Victory.” Duncan built these structures as a celebration of the one hundred year anniversary of the revolutionary war. He became a member of the Architectural League in 1887. Duncan cited the objective of his design was, “to produce a monumental structure that should be unmistakably a tomb of military character.” And he wanted to avoid “resemblance of a habitable dwelling.” The structure was meant to be the epitome of reverence and respect. He estimated his design would cost between $496,000 and $900,000. The tomb's granite exterior is modeled after the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and but for the Ionic order
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
, resembles the Tropaeum Alpium. While within the tomb the twin sarcophagi of Grant and his wife Julia are based on that of Napoleon Bonaparte at Les Invalides
Les Invalides
Les Invalides , officially known as L'Hôtel national des Invalides , is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's...
.
Construction
By 1890, the GMA had a defined design and architect. Although the GMA was becoming more organized and the reality of the monument was becoming clearer, the debate over the location of the monument reopened in Congress. In October 1890 U.S. Senator Hale introduced legislation to have the sarcophagi placed at a monument in Washington D.C. The legislation did not pass but reopened the debate on the proper place for the remains of General Grant. A groundbreaking ceremony had already been scheduled for April 27, 1891 and although the parties had not agreed on a location for the monument by that date, a groundbreaking ceremony was still held. In June 1891 deliberations ended; the monument was to be built in New York City, and in that month the GMA hired a contractor named John T. Brady. Construction began that summer and by August preliminary excavation was complete. Construction was on schedule until in the spring of 1892 the GMA asked Duncan to alter his design; the design could not be as elaborate as originally planned due to the Association's inability to raise the sufficient funds. Construction was also slowed down due to a stonecutters’ strike in 1892. After 1894 construction proceeded at a faster pace and by 1896 all work on the outside of the tomb was close to complete. The monument was completed in time for the 75th anniversary ceremony of Grant’s birth on April 27, 1897.Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
(1819–1892) wrote::
- "As one by one withdraw the lofty actors
- From that great play on history's stage eterne
- That lurid, partial act of War and peace—of old and new contending,
- Fought out through wrath, fears, dark dismays, and many a long suspense;
- All past—and since, in countless graves receding, mellowing,
- Victors and vanquish'd—Lincoln's and Lee's—now thou with them,
- Man of the mighty days—and equal to the days!
- Thou from the prairies!—tangled and many-vein'd and hard has been thy part,
- To admiration has it been enacted!"
Decay and restoration
The initial restoration project began in December 1935, where the W.P.A.'sWorks Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
laborers laid down new marble flooring in the crypt. The W.P.A. played a large role in sustaining the monument. Joan Waugh explains that, "In the 1930s the tomb was kept afloat, barely, by funds from the Works Progress Administration." Shortly after the restoration project began the old New York City Post Office was being demolished and donated two statues of eagles to decorate the front of the Grant Monument. The laborers of the W.P.A. worked on several projects throughout the 1930s, including roof restoration, the electric lighting and heating systems, and taking out the purple stained glass windows. The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company installed amber glass to replace the purple stained glass. Toward the end of the 1930s a project began to restore the two reliquary rooms where encasings with flags where added as well as murals of the wars Grant had fought in were painted on the walls. In 1938 the Federal Art Project
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era New Deal Works Progress Administration Federal One program in the United States. It operated from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943. Reputed to have created more than 200,000 separate works, FAP artists created...
selected artists William Mues and Jeno Juszko to design the busts of William T. Sherman, Phillip H. Sheridan, George H. Thomas, James B. MacPherson, and Edward Ord. The W.P.A. installed the five busts in the crypt around the sacrophogi. After the many contributions of the W.P.A. the Grant Monument Association held a rededication of the tomb on April 27, 1939.
In 1958 the National Park Service (NPS) took authority in the overseeing of the monument. According to a report by the NPS itself, a historian admitted that when the service was granted authority over the tomb they "had no program for the site." This led to great negligence of the site, particularly in the maintenance of the monument. By the 1970s the Tomb was characterized by vandalism and graffiti. The NPS undertook a plan to tear down the trophy cases in the reliquary rooms. The abuse of the monument continued until renewed restoration efforts began in the early 1990s.
In 1994 Frank Scaturro pushed an effort to restore the tomb and brought his concerns to Congress. A New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
article articulated Mr. Scaturro's concerns saying, " 'improvements' have detracted from the tomb's solemnity." There was not only grafitti, but at the time there were only three maintenance workers and three rangers
Park ranger
A park ranger or forest ranger is a person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands – national, state, provincial, or local parks. Different countries use different names for the position. Ranger is the favored term in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Within the United...
on daytime duty with a yearly budget of $235,000. The tomb was in great need of reform. The monument's poor state of being caught the attention of two Illinois state lawmakers. State Sen. Judy Baar Topinka
Judy Baar Topinka
Judy Baar Topinka is the Illinois State Comptroller and former Illinois State Treasurer, having served as Treasurer from 1995 to 2007, and former chairwoman of the Illinois Republican Party. She was the first woman to become state treasurer, first to be elected to three consecutive terms and the...
and State Rep. Ron Lawfer sponsored a resolution to force the National Park Service to meet their obligations in maintaining and restoring Grant's tomb. If the NPS did not comply then Topinka and Lawfer were to demand that the tomb be placed in the state of Illinois. Senator Topinka said, "He would be better off anywhere than New York, but my argument is not with New York; it's the National Park Service." The demands for restoration did not stop at the state level. In 1994 the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
introduced legislation to, "restore, complete, and preserve in perpetutiy the Grant's Tomb National Memorial and surrounding areas." The legislation set by the U.S. House of Representatives required that the restoration be completed by April 27, 1997 On April 27, 1997 the restoration effort sanctioned by Congress was completed and the tomb rededicated.
Public art project
A sculpture consisting of 17 concrete benches bearing colorful mosaics was created around the monument. The sculpture, entitled The Rolling Bench, was designed by artist Pedro Silva and the architect Phillip Danzig, and was built with the help of hundreds of neighborhood children over a period of three years. The project was sponsored by CITYartsCITYarts, Inc.
CITYarts, Inc. is a nonprofit public arts and education organization founded in 1968, and then re-founded with a name change and new mission in 1989 when Tsipi Ben-Haim reopened the organization's closed doors. CITYarts brings together children and youth with professional artists to create public art...
, a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to create works of public art by bringing together children and artists. The sculpture underwent restoration during the summer of 2008 under the supervision of Silva.
See also
- United States Presidential Memorials