James A. Garfield Monument | |
_-_Washington,_DC.jpg) Garfield Monument in 2008 | |
| Location | First Street and Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, D.C., United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°53′20″N 77°00′44″W / 38.8889848°N 77.0123282°W |
| Built | 1887 |
| Architect | John Quincy Adams Ward (sculptor) Richard Morris Hunt (architect) Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company (founder) |
| NRHP reference No. | 78000256[1] 97000332[2] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 (National Mall) April 24, 1997 (L'Enfant Plan) |
| Designated DCIHS | November 8, 1964 (National Mall) January 19, 1971 (L'Enfant Plan) |
The James A. Garfield Monument stands on the grounds of the United States Capitol in the traffic circle at First Street and Maryland Avenue SW in Washington, D.C. It is a memorial to U.S. President James A. Garfield, who was elected in 1880 and assassinated in 1881 after serving only four months of his term. The perpetrator was an attorney and disgruntled office-seeker named Charles J. Guiteau. Garfield lived for several weeks after the shooting, but eventually succumbed to his injuries. The monument is part of a three-part sculptural group near the Capitol Reflecting Pool, including the Peace Monument and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial in Union Square. The monument is also a contributing property to the National Mall and L'Enfant Plan, both of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites. The bronze statue rests on a granite pedestal that features three sculptures, each one representing a time period in Garfield's life.
The monument, sculpted by John Quincy Adams Ward and cast by The Henry-Bonnard Co. of New York, with a pedestal designed by Richard Morris Hunt, is an outstanding example of Beaux-Arts architecture. It was unveiled on May 12, 1887. The memorial was commissioned in 1884 by the Society of the Army of the Cumberland, of which Garfield had been a member. The Society raised almost $28,000 to pay the sculptor. Some of the funds were raised by The Garfield Monument Fair, which was held in the Capitol's Rotunda and National Statuary Hall in 1882. Also in that year, Congress appropriated to the Society $7,500 in funds from the sale of condemned cannons; in 1884 it appropriated $30,000 for the pedestal. The monument was incorporated into the United States Capitol Complex on January 2, 1975.