Abraham LincolnStatue of Abraham Lincoln, designed by Daniel Chester French, in the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.(more)Lincoln Memorial, stately monument in , honouring , the 16th president of the , and “the virtues of tolerance, honesty, and constancy in the human spirit.†Designed by on a plan similar to that of the in Athens, the structure was constructed on reclaimed marshland along the banks of the . The site selection caused controversy; the speaker of the House of Representatives, Joseph Cannon, favoured a more prominent spot across the Potomac, maintaining: “I’ll never let a memorial to Abraham Lincoln be erected in that g– damned swamp.†The cornerstone was set in 1915, and the completed memorial was dedicated before more than 50,000 people on May 30, 1922. Lincoln’s only surviving son, , attended the ceremony. President and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court , a former president, delivered addresses. Ironically, despite Lincoln’s renown as the “Great Emancipator,†the dedication ceremonies were strictly segregated; even Robert Moton, president of , who spoke in the ceremony, was not allowed to sit on the speaker’s platform and instead was required to sit in an area reserved for .The Lincoln Memorial includes 36 columns of Colorado marble, one for each state in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death in 1865; each column stands 44 feet (13.4 metres) high. The names of the 48 contiguous states are listed above the , and the dates of their admission to the Union are engraved in Roman numerals. Because Hawaii and Alaska attained statehood several decades after the Lincoln Memorial was finished, their names are inscribed on a plaque located on the front steps.The interior features a 19-foot (5.8-metre) seated statue of Lincoln made of Georgia white marble. It was assembled on the premises from 28 pieces and rests on a pedestal of Tennessee marble. The statue was designed by and carved by the Piccirilli brothers of . Inscribed on the south wall of the monument is Lincoln’s , on the north wall his Second Inaugural Address. On the ceiling are two paintings by , Reunion and Progress and Emancipation of a Race. On a direct east-west axis with the and the , the Lincoln Memorial serves as the terminus to the western end of . It is situated on the Reflecting Pool near the and the ., The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the National Mall of Washington, D.C., "as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever." Beneath these words, the 16th president of the United States sits immortalized in marble as an enduring symbol of unity, strength, and wisdom..