What The Lincoln Memorial Dedication Ceremony Was Really Like

The dedication of the Lincoln Memorial was attended by the sitting president Warren G. Harding, Vice President Calvin Coolidge, and the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, former president William Howard Taft. Harding spoke at the event, emphasizing that the memorial was as much intended for modern Americans as for Lincoln (via the National Park Service). His speech followed an invocation by Reverend Wallace Radcliffe from the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, which Lincoln had attended, and a speech by Robert Russa Moton, president of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Also in attendance was Lincoln’s oldest and last surviving son, Robert Todd Lincoln, who was 78 at the time. He had served as Secretary of War under presidents James Garfield and Chester Arthur, as well as Minister to Great Britain under President Benjamin Harrison. He had taken a great interest in the building of the Lincoln Memorial, visiting the site during construction and often asking his driver to take him past it. He didn’t speak at the dedication, but did receive an ovation from the crowd (via the National Park Service).