HISTORIC PRESERVATION REVIEW BOARD
Historic Landmark Designation Cases
Case No. 07-05: Samuel Hahnemann Monument
Reservation 64, Massachusetts and Rhode Island Avenues, NW at Scott Circle
Case No. 07-06: Daniel Webster Memorial
Reservation 62, Massachusetts and Rhode Island Avenues, NW at Scott Circle
Case No. 07-07: Guglielmo Marconi Memorial
Reservation 309A, 16th and Lamont Streets, NW
Case No. 07-08: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Memorial
Reservation 150, Connecticut Avenue and M and 18th Streets, NW
Case No. 07-09: Francis Griffith Newlands Memorial Fountain
Reservation 335A, Connecticut and Western Avenues, NW at Chevy Chase Circle
Case No. 07-10: Union Station Plaza/Columbus Plaza/Columbus Fountain
Reservation 334, Massachusetts, Louisiana and Delaware Avenues and 1st Street, NE
Case No. 07-11: Temperance Fountain (Fountain)
7th Street and Indiana Avenue, NW
Case No. 07-12: Samuel Gompers Memorial
Reservation 69, Massachusetts Avenue and 10th and L Streets, NW
Case No. 07-13: James Cardinal Gibbons Memorial
Reservation 309G, 16th Street and Park Road, NW
Case No. 07-14: Cuban Friendship Urn
Reservation 332, Ohio Drive at 14th Street Bridge, SW
Case No. 07-15: General Jose de San Martin Memorial
Reservation 106, Virginia Avenue and 20th Street, NW
Case No. 07-16: Francis Asbury Memorial
Reservation 309B, 16th and Mount Pleasant Streets, NW
Case No. 07-17: Titanic Memorial
Reservation 717, Southwest Waterfront Park, Water and P Streets, SW
Meeting Date:
Applicant:
Staff Reviewer:
February 22, 2007
National Park Service
Kimberly Prothro Williams
Introduction:
As part of the Multiple Property Document: Memorials in D.C., the National Park Service has
prepared individual nominations on twelve monuments, as well as provided additional
documentation on Union Station Plaza (the Columbus Fountain), listed in the National Register
in 1980. All of these monuments, located on National Park Service land, qualify for listing in the
National Register according to the Registration Requirements developed as part of the Multiple
Property Document.
Staff recommends that all twelve monuments be listed in the D.C. Register of Historic Places
and that the documentation (including the additional documentation on Union Station Plaza) be
forwarded to the National Register of Historic Places for listing. The following provides a brief
outline of each of the monuments and their significance:
Guglielmo Marconi Memorial: The Marconi memorial, located on Reservation 309A at the
intersection of 16th and Lamont Streets, N.W., memorializes Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) an
Italian physicist who developed wireless telegraphy. The gilded bronze and granite monument,
sculpted in 1941, incorporates three major elements in an abstract academic manner: a gilded
bronze portrait bust of Marconi; a gilded bronze sculpture comprised of electrical waves beneath
an emerging world; and a dynamic nude female whose features echo the electrical waves and
emphasize the concepts of speed and dynamism. The memorial is a rare example of the
commemoration of an individual associated with technology in this city.
Francis Asbury Memorial: The Francis Asbury Memorial is a bronze, life-size equestrian statue
on a marble pedestal located at the intersection of 16th and Mount Pleasant Streets, N.W. The
monument was commissioned as a memorial to the 100th anniversary of the death of Francis
Asbury (1745-1816). Asbury, a follower of John Wesley who came to America from England as
a Methodist missionary and remained throughout the Revolution and beyond, is largely
recognized as the father of the American Methodist Church. The memorial, funded entirely by
private contributions, was unveiled in 1924 and was erected on Public Reservation 309B. The
Asbury Memorial provides a rare example of the commemoration of a religious leader in this
city.
General Jose de San Martin Memorial: The General Jose de San Martin Memorial is a bronze,
over life-size equestrian statue now located in Reservation 106 at the intersection of Virginia
Avenue and 20th Street, N.W. (moved from its original location at Judiciary Square). This statue,
originally erected in 1925, is a cast copy of a late 19th-century work created by the French
sculptor Augustin-Alexandre Dumont that is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina and presented to
our country as a gift. Jose de San Martin (1778-1850), born in Argentina to Spanish parents,
transformed the country’s volunteer soldiers into a disciplined army that ultimately liberated the
country from Spanish rule. The equestrian statue is significant as the first gift of sculpture to this
city by a foreign nation.
Cuban Friendship Urn: The Cuban Friendship Urn, located in West Potomac Park, is a white
marble urn completed in 1928. The urn, carved from a fragment of the Maine Monument in
Havana, Cuba was a gift from the citizens of Havana. The U.S.S. Maine battleship, sent to
Havana in January 1898 to protect American interests when Cuba began to agitate for freedom
from Spain, was destroyed in February of the same year, precipitating the Spanish-American
War. In 1925, a monument to the victims of the U.S.S. Maine was erected in Havana, only to be
toppled the following year by a hurricane. A fragment of one of the fallen columns was used for
the Cuban Friendship Urn.
James Cardinal Gibbons Memorial: The James Cardinal Gibbons Memorial at 16th Street and
Park Road, N.W. is a bronze portrait statue dedicated in 1932 depicting the Roman Catholic
Bishop. During his tenure as Archbishop of Baltimore (1877-1921), Gibbons was the
acknowledged leader of the Roman Catholic Church in America. The Knights of Columbus, a
benefit society founded in 1882 and dominated by Irish Americans, commissioned the James
Cardinal Gibbons Memorial, indicating the strong link between the benefit society and the
Catholic Church. The memorial is a rare example in this city commemorating a religious leader.
Samuel Gompers Memorial: The Samuel Gompers Memorial on the triangular parcel of land
formed by Massachusetts Avenue, 10th, 11th and L Streets, N.W. is a bronze memorial erected in
1933 consisting principally of an over life-size statue of Samuel Gompers. Samuel Gompers was
the first and longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor and for over one-half
century was the preeminent spokesman, advocate, organizer and leader of the labor movement in
the United States. The memorial survives as a good example of the artistic principles of the
Beaux Arts movement.
Temperance Fountain: The Temperance Fountain, located at the intersection of 7th and Indiana
Avenue, NW, was erected in 1884 at the personal expense of Dr. Henry Daniel Cogswell (18201900). Cogswell, a dentist and later businessman and real estate entrepreneur, advocated
temperance on a large scale, donating to any city that wanted one a fountain cast by the
Monumental Bronze Company, valued at $4,000. The fountain in D.C. is in the form of a
diminutive temple with each of the four friezes inscribed with the lettering of the following four
virtues: TEMPERANCE, FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY. The fountain is a rare, extant
Victorian-era fountain
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Memorial: The Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Memorial, located
at Connecticut Avenue, M and 18th Streets, N.W. is a bronze portrait statue completed in 1909.
The sculpture, created by William Couper, sculptor, was a gift of the Longfellow National
Memorial Association to the nation and is the first sculpture in this city to commemorate a
literary person. Longfellow (1807-1882) was one of the nation’s most important 19th-century
poets and was hailed for popularizing native themes related to the landscape and the indigenous
people, as well as the country’s early history and traditions. His Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863)
includes the legendary ride of Paul Revere. The Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Memorial is a
good example of statuary from the Nationalism period of sculpture.
Francis Griffith Newlands Memorial Fountain: The Francis Griffith Newlands Memorial
Fountain, which occupies the center of Chevy Chase Circle, is a large, 60-foot-diameter circular
fountain constructed of Aquia sandstone. Designed by Edward Donn, Jr., architect, the fountain
was dedicated in 1933 to commemorate Francis Newlands (1848-1917), a lawyer and Nevada
Congressman and the brainchild and developer of the suburb of Chevy Chase. The choice of a
fountain to memoralize Newlands is particularly relevant since he was dedicated to ensuring
water rights for dry western states that ultimately resulted in passage of the landmark
Reclamation Act of 1902.
Daniel Webster Memorial: The Daniel Webster Memorial at the intersection of Massachusetts
and Rhode Island Avenue on the west side of Scott Circle is a bronze, over life-size portrait
statue of Daniel Webster. Dedicated in 1900, the memorial was a gift to the city by Stilson
Hutchins, the founder of the Washington Post (Hutchins also donated a statue of Benjamin
Franklin to the city). Daniel Webster (1782-1852), the son of a New Hampshire farmer, became
a lawyer, statesman and orator, as well as his era’s foremost advocate of American nationalism.
Samuel Hahnemann Monument: The Samuel Hahnemann Monument on the east side of Scott
Circle at the intersection of Massachusetts and Rhode Island Avenues, N.W., is a bronze and
granite monument in the form of an elliptical exedra with a portrait statue of Hahnemann on
center of the niche. Christian Friederich Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) a German-born
medical doctor who became disillusioned by the medical orthodoxy that relied on over-drugging
and bleeding, is generally recognized as the greatest influence on the practice of homeopathy.
Dedicated in 1900, the monument initially arose out of the desire of members of the American
Institute of Homeopathy, but it also received funding from individuals across the country. The
monument is the first foreigner not associated with America’s independence to be represented in
sculptural form in the city. It is also an early example of a non-political-military figure in the
city.
Titanic Memorial: The Titanic Memorial is located at the southern limit of the Southwest
Waterfront Park near the intersection of Water and P Streets, SW. The pink and granite
memorial was originally dedicated in 1931 at the intersection of Rock Creek and Potomac
Parkway and New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., but was moved in 1968 due to its proximity to the
Kennedy Center. The memorial (completed in 1916, but not erected until 1931) was designed by
woman-sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. Gertrude. Whitney is today most recognized for
her vision and energy associated with promoting American art and as founder of the Whitney
Museum of Art in New York. It was the Women’s Titanic Memorial Association that raised the
funds and sponsored a design competition to honor those people drowned in the Titanic. The
Memorial is one of five public sculptures created by a woman in Washington, D.C.
Additional Documentation to Union Station (listed 1980): This nomination form is an
amendment to the National Register Nomination for Union Station and provides additional
documentation on Columbus Plaza (site). The nomination form identifies and describes the
Columbus Fountain; two pairs of triumphal columns, including stone balustrades and lampposts;
two circular granite fountains; curved granite steps; and three flagpoles. The principal feature of
Columbus Plaza, located in front of Union Station, is Columbus Fountain, erected in 1912, and
designed by sculptor Lorado Z. Taft and architect Daniel Burnham. Columbus Plaza and the
Columbus Fountain reflect excellent examples of the City Beautiful ideas.
Recommendations:
All of the above thirteen referenced monuments meet Criterion C of the National Register of
Historic Places with Art as the Area of Significance. Staff recommends that the Board approve
the memorials for listing in the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites and forward the nominations to
the National Register of Historic Places for listing in that Register. Staff also recommends that
the additional documentation for the National Register-listed Union Station be approved and
forwarded to the National Register of Historic Places.
Finally, staff recommends that the memorials be listed in the District of Columbia Inventory of
Historic Sites primarily as examples of “Artistry,” and frequently as works of “Creative Masters”
(HPRB Designation Criteria E and F, respectively), but the Columbus Plaza and Fountain is a
significant expression of City Beautiful urban planning, siting and design (Criterion D).
Although the Columbus Plaza and Fountain are already listed in the Inventory, it is
recommended that the additional documentation be accepted as an amendment to the existing
designation.