American Shrines

American Shrines: The Architecture of Presidential Commemoration explores the history of presidential memorialization as a series of richly complex architectural designs that unite art, sculpture, architecture, and landscape to represent the nation’s collective memory, expressing civic ideals within the public realm. From the Washington Monument to the new memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower, these structures enshrine presidents as heroic figures who embody ideals and aspirations associated with American identity—democracy, freedom, equality, and sacrifice, concepts also conveyed in the smaller commemorative works of gravesites, burial markers, and sculpture. Earlier presidential memorials employed the ancient forms of obelisks and temples, reinterpreted for a new nation; since the mid-20th century, their designs have broadened to include routes through narrative landscapes and libraries that encompass archives, museums, and gardens. Most closely associated with the iconic monuments of Washington, D.C., presidential memorials are located throughout the country. Their evolving forms reflect and shape changing concepts of what it means to be American and of what America itself represents.