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Indiana World War Memorial Plaza

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The Birch Bayh Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse , formerly known as the U.S. Courthouse and Post Office and as the Federal Building , is a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana , located in Indianapolis . It is a distinguished example of Beaux-Arts architecture , and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Constructed from 1902 to 1905, the United States District Court for the District of Indiana met here until it was subdivided in 1928; the United States Circuit Court for the District of Indiana met here until that court was abolished in 1912. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as "U.S. Courthouse and Post Office" in 1974. The courthouse was renamed in honor of Senator Birch Bayh in 2003.

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78-597: The Indiana World War Memorial Plaza is an urban feature and war memorial located in downtown Indianapolis , Indiana , United States , originally built to honor the veterans of World War I . It was conceived in 1919 as a location for the national headquarters of the American Legion and a memorial to the state's and nation's veterans. The original five-block plaza is bounded by Meridian Street (west), St. Clair Street (north), Pennsylvania Street (east), and New York Street (south). American Legion Mall comprises

156-536: A Cobra helicopter and the USS ; Indiana 's commission plate. There are over 400 military flags housed in the museum, more than 300 of which are from the American Civil War . Indiana's Liberty Bell replica is located near the main entrance. It is of the kind given to each state by the federal government in 1950 to encourage the purchase of savings bonds . Additional museum exhibits are displayed on

234-636: A Commonwealth cemetery will contain a Stone of Remembrance , designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens with words from the Wisdom of Sirach : " Their name liveth for evermore "; all the Stones of Remembrance are 11 ft 6 ins long and 5 ft high with three steps leading up to them. Arlington National Cemetery has a Canadian Cross of Sacrifice with the names of all the citizens of the USA who lost their lives fighting in

312-452: A central cast-bronze and glass doorway, reached by a wide, shallow gray granite stair flanked by pedestals with heroic allegorical sculptures by John Massey Rhind entitled Industry , Science (or Justice ), Agriculture , and Literature . Completed in 1905, the new federal building was originally U-shaped. The symmetrical facade features evenly spaced Ionic pilasters and terraces with stone balusters . A heavy classical cornice tops

390-465: A community which has revered the fallen warrior and emblazoned the phrase 'Lest We Forget' on monuments throughout the land. [...] [D]o we make room for the Aboriginal dead on our memorials, cenotaphs, boards of honour and even in the pantheon of national heroes? If we are to continue to celebrate the sacrifice of men and women who died for their country can we deny admission to fallen tribesmen? There

468-726: A fountain. On October 11, 1994, the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza was designated a National Historic Landmark District . In 2016, the district was enlarged to include in its scope the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument and was renamed the Indiana World War Memorial Historic District . Combined, it is the largest war memorial project in the United States, encompassing 24 acres (9.7 ha). The origins of

546-713: A giant hanging 17-foot (5.2 m)-by-30-foot (9.1 m) American flag, is the Altar of Consecration, flanked at the corners with cauldrons on tripod stands. Above the flag is the Star of Destiny, made of Swedish crystal, representing the future of the nation. In December 2021, the Colonel Eli Lilly Civil War Museum reopened in new quarters in the War Memorial building. The museum had formerly been housed for almost 20 years three blocks south in

624-600: A location, and one of the promises the city made was to erect a fitting memorial to those who served in World War I. Thus, in January 1920 a public library, St. Clair Park, University Park, and two occupied city blocks were designated as the site for the plaza, with one new building for the American Legion to use as their national headquarters, various public buildings, and a war memorial. The Indiana War Memorial Bill

702-448: A virtual memorial (see The War Graves Photographic Project for further details). During WWI , many nations saw massive devastation and loss of life. More people lost their lives in the east than in the west, but the outcome was different. In the west, and in response to the victory there obtained, most of the cities in the countries involved in the conflict erected memorials, with the memorials in smaller villages and towns often listing

780-426: Is composed of multiple bronze figures arranged on a five-tier granite stone base with three basins. The bronze sculptures depict fish, eight children dancing, and a woman on the topmost tier dancing and playing cymbals. The fountain was commissioned in memory of Dr. Richard J. Depew by his wife, Emma Ely, following Dr. Depew's death in 1887. When Mrs. Depew died in 1913, she had bequeathed $ 50,000 from her estate to

858-491: Is in the small town of Équeurdreville-Hainneville (formerly Équeurdreville) in the department of Manche . Here the statue is of a grieving widow with two small children. There seems to be no exact equivalent form of a pacifist memorial within the United Kingdom but evidently sentiments were in many cases identical. Thus, and although it seems that this has never been generally recognized, it can be argued that there

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936-489: Is much in their story that Australians have traditionally admired. They were ever the underdogs, were always outgunned, yet frequently faced death without flinching. If they did not die for Australia as such they fell defending their homelands, their sacred sites, their way of life. What is more the blacks bled on their own soil and not half a world away furthering the strategic objectives of a distant Motherland whose influence must increasingly be seen as of transient importance in

1014-403: Is surmounted by symbolic standing figures designed by Henry Hering : Courage , Memory , Peace , Victory , Liberty , and Patriotism . The sculptures are repeated on each façade. On the south side, standing on a pink granite base in the center of the grand access stairs, is Hering's colossal exultant male nude bronze Pro Patria (1929); it is 24 feet (7.3 m) high, weighs seven tons, and

1092-490: The Appeal to Justice and Justice and Mercy by William B. Van Ingen placed above each judge's bench symbolize the seriousness of their responsibility. Depression-era interior modifications were mostly cosmetic in nature. These included replacement of open metal grillwork doors on the elevators with polished metal doors, and installation of dark green marble-faced walls at elevator entrances. Modern translucent panels replaced

1170-717: The Baltimore City Hall to the west is a geometric paved tree-lined plaza with the War Memorial Building to the east with a large marble decorated civic auditorium and historical and veterans museum below, designed by Laurence Hall Fowler, dedicated 1925. After World War I, some towns in France set up pacifist war memorials. Instead of commemorating the glorious dead, these memorials denounce war with figures of grieving widows and children rather than soldiers. Such memorials provoked anger among veterans and

1248-476: The Korean War and Vietnam War along with excerpts from letters home. The World War II Memorial (1998) is a single cylindrical limestone monument engraved with the names of Hoosier World War II casualties. A free-standing column lists operations and campaigns of the war. Both memorials were designed by architect Patrick Brunner. The Gold Star Families Memorial Monument, situated in the northeast quadrant of

1326-735: The Menin Gate at Ypres and the Thiepval memorial on the Somme, were also constructed. The Liberty Memorial , located in Kansas City, Missouri , is a memorial dedicated to all Americans who served in the Great War. For various reasons connected with their character, the same may be said to apply to certain governmental memorials in the United Kingdom ( The Cenotaph in London, relating to

1404-674: The Public Works Administration in 1936 did little to speed the process of completing the structure. Although its interior was incomplete, it was dedicated on November 11, 1933 ( Veterans Day ) by Governor Paul McNutt and Lt. Gen. Hugh Drum , Deputy Chief of Staff of the United States Army. In 1949, a local newspaper reported that the memorial was already deteriorating, its limestone scaling, paint peeling, leaks forming, and plaster cracking; further reports were published in 1961. Despite proposals to develop

1482-900: The Royal Dublin Fusiliers who fought in the Boer War , erected at 1907 in St. Stephen's Green , Dublin, was called "Traitors' Gate" by the Redmondites and later Irish Republicans , from whose point of view Irish soldiers going off to fight the British Empire 's wars were traitors to Ireland. The sharpness of the controversy gradually faded, and while the term "Traitors' Gate" is still in occasional colloquial use in Dublin daily life, it has mostly lost its pejorative meaning. In Australia, in 1981, historian Henry Reynolds raised

1560-773: The Tarsney Act of 1893. The United States Treasury Department sought designs for the new federal building from private architectural firms through an open competition allowed under the Act. John Hall Rankin and Thomas Kellogg , noted Philadelphia architects, secured the design contract, and the Treasury Department accepted the New York-based John Pierce Company 's low construction bid of $ 1,300,000. (The final cost, however, reached nearly $ 2,000,000.) Begun in 1902 and completed in 1905,

1638-863: The Treasury Relief Art Project , which aimed to restore faith in the country through patriotic and historically themed art, master artist Grant Christian painted murals that depict the history of transportation and delivery of mail in Indianapolis. Christian was paid $ 1.55 per hour while his assistant, Reynolds Selfridge , received half that much. The courtrooms feature handsome marble floors, colored marble and plaster wall finishes, and elaborately ornamented, gilded, and painted plaster beam and panel ceilings with skylights . Bronzed railings, stained-glass windows, and heavy wrought-iron gates provide detail to these rooms, which also still have their original furniture. Allegorical representations of

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1716-610: The US Bicentennial . They were replaced with the flags of countries of the Americas during the 1987 Pan American Games . Architects Walker and Weeks planned the Indiana World War Memorial building as the plaza's centerpiece, sited between the federal building and the public library. Work on the actual memorial to the veterans of World War I began in early 1926. Five of the seven buildings located on

1794-526: The USS Indianapolis CA-35 Memorial (1995), Medal of Honor Memorial (1999), and Indiana 9/11 Memorial (2011). Indiana World War Memorial Plaza is a frequent host to civic events and military services, namely the national observances of Memorial Day , Independence Day , and Veterans Day . It has been the site of numerous festivals, including Indiana Black Expo 's Heritage Music Festival and Indy Pride . The plaza served as

1872-538: The 1920s of Palestine and other areas being the homelands of Arabs in the Near East and followed eighty years later in 2001 by the '9/11' raid on New York and elsewhere in the United States) similar historically and architecturally significant memorials are also designed and constructed (vide National September 11 Memorial ). They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor

1950-490: The American Legion. Cleveland, Ohio -based Walker and Weeks was selected in 1923. Their plan consisted of a central memorial and two auxiliary buildings, an obelisk , a mall, and a cenotaph . Bids for the American Legion building, one of the two auxiliary buildings, were put out in 1925, and construction by the Craig-Curtiss Company began the same year. The buildings were neoclassical in design to complement

2028-696: The Bulge . These include: A plinth-mounted T-35/85 tank commemorates the soldiers of the 5th Guards Tank Army , at Znamianka in Ukraine . Many cemeteries tended by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission have an identical war memorial called the Cross of Sacrifice designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield that varies in height from 18 ft to 32 ft depending on the size of the cemetery. If there are one thousand or more burials,

2106-611: The Canadian forces during the Korean War and two World Wars. War memorials can sometimes be politically controversial. A notable case is that of the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan, where a number of convicted World War II war criminals are interred. Chinese and Korean representatives have often protested against the visits of Japanese politicians to the shrine. The visits have in the past led to severe diplomatic conflicts between

2184-879: The Empire in general, and the Scottish National War Memorial in Edinburgh, also with a reference to the Empire, but with particular connections to the United Kingdom, having been opened by the Prince of Wales in 1927 and with the King and the Queen the first visitors and contributors of a casket of the Scottish names for addition within the Shrine). In Maryland , in the center of the city of Baltimore facing

2262-580: The First World War, a number of obsolete tanks were presented to towns and cities throughout Britain for display and for use as memorials: most were scrapped in the 1920s and 1930s, but one that survives is a Mark IV Female tank at Ashford, Kent . Several Second World War tanks are preserved as memorials to major armoured offensives in the Ardennes , such as the Battle of Sedan and the Battle of

2340-582: The Indiana War Memorial Museum is on the north façade, which opens into a large hall with Tennessee marble floors and Art Deco Egyptian themes. The museum is housed mainly on the lower level of the monument and honors the efforts of Hoosier soldiers in a timeline from the American Revolutionary War to modern conflicts. World War I and World War II are featured most prominently. Aside from firearms, it features

2418-470: The Indiana World War Memorial Plaza lay in a 1919 attempt by the city of Indianapolis to lure the newly formed American Legion from its temporary headquarters in New York City . The American Legion, chartered by Congress following World War I, is an organization of veterans that sponsors youth programs, promotes patriotism and national security and provides a commitment to Americans who have served in

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2496-456: The Legion; the lobbying efforts of the Legion are based in its Washington, D.C. office. Its two wings are joined by a recessed central entrance. The Vietnam and Korean Wars Memorial (1996) consist of two semi-circular limestone and granite monuments divided proportionally to represent the number of casualties from each conflict. Both monuments are engraved with the names of Hoosiers killed in

2574-641: The Queensland Native Mounted Police" was "frequently shot at" and "eventually blown up". With the advent of long war, some memorials are constructed before the conflict is over, leaving space for extra names of the dead. For instance, the Northwood Gratitude and Honor Memorial in Irvine, CA , memorializes an ongoing pair of US wars, and has space to inscribe the names of approximately 8,000 fallen servicemembers, while

2652-471: The Shrine Room Stairway's American Pavonazzo marble walls bear the names of all Hoosiers who fought in World War I. On the east and west sides are paintings by Walter Brough of the leading soldiers of France, America, Great Britain, Belgium, Italy, and Serbia. Surrounding the room are sculptor Frank Jirouch 's plaster frieze depicting events of World War I. At the center of the space, beneath

2730-622: The UK National Memorial Arboretum near Lichfield in England hosts the UK's National Armed Forces Memorial which displays the names of the more than 16,000 people who have already died on active service in the UK armed forces since World War II, with more space available for future fatalities. Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse The building was one of only 35 federal buildings constructed under

2808-583: The area instead of completing it as originally planned, the memorial and surrounding landscaping were finally completed in 1965. The memorial's design is based upon the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . At 210 feet (64 m) tall, it is approximately 75 feet (23 m) taller than the original mausoleum. The blue lights that shine between columns on

2886-590: The armed forces. At an American Legion national convention in Minneapolis in November 1919, cities sent representatives to lobby to become the new headquarters. Indianapolis drew support because of its central location within the United States and the city's shows of patriotism. Although Washington, D.C. received the most votes on the first ballot, Indianapolis gained a majority and won the second with 361 votes of 684 cast. The city and state then had to provide

2964-534: The basement of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument , but water leakage there forced the removal of all artifacts in 2018. The War Memorial space is larger, allowing more artifacts to be displayed, and includes American Civil War items from the Military Museum collection. University Park occupies the southernmost block of the plaza, bounded by Meridian Street (west), Vermont Street (north), Pennsylvania Street (east), and New York Street (south). The park

3042-593: The blocks were demolished in 1926, though several were relocated, and the Second Presbyterian Church and the First Baptist Church were not demolished until 1960. Various architects were invited by an appointed War Memorial Board, led by professional advisor and trustee Thomas Rogers Kimball , to submit designs for a memorial intended to honor all who fought in World War I and also to provide meeting places, archives, and offices for

3120-686: The bodies of SS troops . Unlike the case of the Yasukuni Shrine, there was no element of intentional disregard of international opinion involved, as is often claimed for the politician visits to the Japanese shrine. Soviet World War II memorials included quotes of Joseph Stalin 's texts, frequently replaced after his death. Such memorials were often constructed in city centres and now are sometimes regarded as symbols of Soviet occupation and removed, which in turn may spark protests (see Bronze Soldier of Tallinn ). The Fusiliers' memorial arch to

3198-449: The building. A five-story addition, completed in 1938, enclosed the original U-shaped plan, creating an interior courtyard. The addition is compatible with the original building, featuring classical ornamentation mixed with modern details such as the stylized relief over the entrances. The original impressive scale and richly ornamented interior design elements remain intact. Mosaic tile ceilings, cantilevered marble staircases, and much of

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3276-477: The ceilings. Arched openings of the octagonal vestibules lead to lobbies with elevators and grand staircases, and to the four-part vaulted connecting corridor. The semicircular marble staircases are among the finest examples of cantilevered (supported only from one end) stone stairs in the United States. Among the most impressive interior features of the building are the Depression-era murals. Working under

3354-538: The cenotaph memorializes James Bethel Gresham , a Hoosier who was the first member of the American Expeditionary Force to be killed in action in World War I . A native of Evansville, Indiana , he was a corporal in the 16th Infantry Regiment and was killed at Bathelémont , France , on November 3, 1917. The inscription on the south side reads "A tribute by Indiana to the hallowed memory of

3432-424: The city of Indianapolis for the erection of a fountain in memory of her husband "in some park or public place where all classes of people may enjoy it." The original design was created by Karl Bitter , who was killed in a traffic accident in 1915 before the work could be finished. Following Bitter's overall design, Alexander Stirling Calder created the bronze figures and the fountain. Architect Henry Bacon designed

3510-431: The existing Central Library and U.S. Courthouse and Post Office ; completed before the plaza's development, the buildings anchor the north and south ends of the plaza, respectively. The second auxiliary building was not constructed until 1950. When Congress authorized the payment of World War I veterans' bonuses in 1936, the state of Indiana used the money for the construction of the memorial plaza, rather than paying it to

3588-510: The fountain's setting. War memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. It has been suggested that the world's earliest known war memorial is the White Monument at Tell Banat , Aleppo Governorate , Syria, which dates from the 3rd millennium BC and appears to have involved

3666-431: The fundamentals of the nation. The obelisk rises from a 100-foot-diameter (30 m), two-level fountain made of pink Georgia marble and terrazzo . The fountain has two basins, spray rings, and multicolored lights. The square was originally paved with asphalt, but it was landscaped with grass and trees in 1975. On the east and west sides fly the flags of the fifty states , which were installed in 1976 in commemoration of

3744-448: The glorious dead who served in the World War." The Veterans Memorial Plaza , also called Obelisk Square , is located on the third block, south of American Legion Mall. The 100-foot (30 m) black granite obelisk was built in 1923 and the square was completed in 1930. Near the base of the obelisk are 4-foot (1.2 m)-by-8-foot (2.4 m) panels placed in 1929 representing law, science, religion, and education intended to represent

3822-471: The history of the continent. Reynolds' suggestion proved controversial. Occasional memorials have been erected to commemorate Aboriginal people's resistance to colonisation, or to commemorate white massacres of Indigenous Australians . These memorials have often generated controversy. For example, a 1984 memorial to the Kalkadoon people's "resistance against the paramilitary force of European settlers and

3900-406: The issue of whether war memorials should be erected to Indigenous Australians who had died fighting against British invaders on their lands. How, then, do we deal with the Aboriginal dead? White Australians frequently say that 'all that' should be forgotten. But it will not be. It cannot be. Black memories are too deeply, too recently scarred. And forgetfulness is a strange prescription coming from

3978-659: The long wars with France. War memorials for the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) were the first in Europe to have rank-and-file soldiers commemorated by name. Every soldier that was killed was granted a permanent resting-place as part of the terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871) . To commemorate the millions who died in World War ;I , war memorials became commonplace in communities large and small around

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4056-539: The main level of the monument. An exhibit replicating the radio room of the USS  Indianapolis includes original equipment from World War II was opened on November 7, 2009. The Grand Foyer main level features the 500-seat Pershing Auditorium, built and decorated with materials donated from several states and World War I allies. The memorial also has three meeting rooms on the main level; these rooms were originally named in honor of General George Patton , General Douglas MacArthur , and Admiral Chester Nimitz . In 2009,

4134-409: The mall, was dedicated on May 1, 2021. Cenotaph Square is situated between the two auxiliary buildings, south of the Central Library , and to the north of the sunken garden. The rectangular black granite cenotaph centered in it rests upon a base of red and dark green granite. Four shafts of black granite topped with gold eagles mark the corners of the square. The inscription on the north face of

4212-448: The military in general. The most famous is at Gentioux-Pigerolles in the department of Creuse . Below the column which lists the name of the fallen stands an orphan in bronze pointing to an inscription 'Maudite soit la guerre' (Cursed be war). Feelings ran so high that the memorial was not officially inaugurated until 1990 and soldiers at the nearby army camp were under orders to turn their heads when they walked past. Another such memorial

4290-525: The names of each local soldier who had been killed in addition (so far as the decision by the French and British in 1916 to construct governmentally designed cemeteries was concerned) to their names being recorded on military headstones, often against the will of those directly involved, and without any opportunity of choice in the British Empire (whose war graves were administered by the Imperial War Graves Commission ). Massive British monuments commemorating thousands of dead with no identified war grave , such as

4368-454: The names of locals who died in the World War II in addition. Since that time memorials to the dead in other conflicts such as the Korean War and Vietnam War have also noted individual contributions, at least in the West. In relation to actions which may well in point of fact be historically connected with the world wars even if this happens, for whatever reason, not to be a matter of general discussion (e.g. occupation by Western forces in

4446-423: The nations, and Japanese businesses were attacked in China after a visit by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the shrine was widely reported and criticized in Chinese and Korean media. In a similar case, former German chancellor Helmut Kohl was criticised by writers Günter Grass and Elie Wiesel for visiting the war cemetery at Bitburg (in the company of Ronald Reagan ) which also contained

4524-436: The new federal building was massive. Accommodating 925 federal employees, the U-shaped Beaux-Arts structure occupied an entire block, rose four stories, and housed federal courts, offices, and the main post office. Beaux-Arts classicism, often reflected in federal buildings of this era, was popularized by the majestic buildings of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Monumental design and formal planning of spaces are hallmarks of

4602-585: The original decorative artwork and furnishings are still in place. The major interior spaces of the building are the first-floor lobbies and connecting corridor and the original courtrooms at the southeast and southwest corners of the second floor. The exterior entry doors at the southeast and southwest corners of the first floor open into barrel-vaulted corridors with white marble walls and brown and green marble pilasters and columns. The corridors lead to vaulted octagonal vestibules that feature red marble walls and gray Tuscan columns , as well as Roman-style mosaics on

4680-400: The original stained-glass skylights in the second-floor courtrooms. The first-floor east–west corridor is no longer used as a post office. The postal service windows and mailboxes were removed when these functions were shifted to widely dispersed annexes. Replicas of the service windows were added during the course of restoration, returning the space to its original appearance. In recent years,

4758-400: The park's features are three statues of prominent Hoosiers. The Colfax Memorial (1887) is located east of Depew Memorial Fountain and was designed by Lorado Taft . Benjamin Harrison (1908) was designed by Henry Bacon and Charles Niehaus and is located at the south end of the park facing New York Street. The statue of Abraham Lincoln (1934), located at the park's southeast corner,

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4836-474: The plaza are used by the American Legion . Both buildings were constructed from Indiana limestone in neoclassical style, consistent with the Indianapolis Central Library to the north. Until 2014, the west building fronting Meridian Street served as the Indiana Veteran's Support Center. The larger east building fronting Pennsylvania Street serves as the Legion's national headquarters, housing mail services, archives, and other internal administrative functions of

4914-400: The rooms were renamed in honor of Hoosier veterans: Admiral Raymond A. Spruance , General David M. Shoup , and Major Samuel Woodfill . Above the main level is the Shrine Room, nearly a vertical double cube, 110 ft (34 m) high and 60 ft (18 m) on a side, clad in materials collected from all the allied nations of World War I. Accessed by two staircases from the Grand Foyer,

4992-544: The side of the War Memorial make the monument easily recognizable. It is the most imposing neoclassical structure in Indianapolis due to its scale and size. The cubical structure is clad in unrelieved ashlar Indiana limestone on a high, lightly rusticated base, and is topped with a low pyramidal roof that sheathes its interior dome. It stands on a raised terrace approached by a wide monumental staircase. The structure has four identical faces. On each face, an Ionic screen of six columns, behind which are tall banks of windows, and

5070-425: The site had to be demolished before the construction commenced; the other two, Second Presbyterian Church and First Baptist Church, were not demolished until 1960. General John Pershing laid the cornerstone of the memorial on July 4, 1927, saying he was "consecrating the edifice as a patriotic shrine". Funding problems in 1928 slowed the building of the interior. Even a new contractor in 1931 and $ 195,000 provided by

5148-452: The site of the National Sports Festival IV opening ceremonies in 1982. American Legion Mall covers the two northernmost blocks of the five-block civic center . The mall is bounded by Meridian Street (west), St. Clair Street (north), Pennsylvania Street (east), and North Street (south). Prior to its construction, the south block of the mall was home to the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired . The two auxiliary buildings on

5226-572: The style. The Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse inspired Beaux-Arts designs for other public buildings in Indianapolis, including Indianapolis City Hall (1910), the Indianapolis Public Library (1917), and buildings in the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza (dedicated in 1927). Resting on a gray granite foundation, the Neo-Classic building is a steel-framed, flat-roofed structure clad with Indiana limestone . The south (front) elevation has eleven bays, separated by three-story Ionic engaged columns and flanked by entry pavilions. Each pavilion has

5304-430: The systematic burial of fighters from a state army. The Nizari Ismailis of the Alamut period (the Assassins) had made a secret roll of honor in Alamut Castle containing the names of the assassins and their victims during their uprising . The oldest war memorial in the United Kingdom is Oxford University's All Souls College . It was founded in 1438 with the provision that its fellows should pray for those killed in

5382-418: The two northernmost blocks and is home to the Legion's administrative buildings and a cenotaph . Veterans Memorial Plaza, with its obelisk, forms the third block. The plaza's focal point, the Indiana World War Memorial, is located on the fourth block. Modeled after the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus , it houses a military museum and auditorium. The fifth and southernmost block is University Park, home to statues and

5460-483: The valor and sacrifice of the land, sea and air forces of the United States and all who rendered faithful and loyal service at home and overseas in the World War; to inculcate a true understanding and appreciation of the privileges of American citizenship; to inspire patriotism and respect for the laws to the end that peace may prevail, justice be administered, public order maintained and liberty perpetuated. The memorial hosted 156,241 visitors in 2019. The main entrance of

5538-515: The veterans. One additional building was planned but never built. Indiana World War Memorial Plaza's buildings and greenspaces exemplify City Beautiful movement design principles organized on classical, uniform, and beautiful public architecture. In 1989, the plaza was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was named a National Historic Landmark District in 1994. The historic district boundaries have expanded to include additional off-site memorials dedicated in recent years, including

5616-528: The world. In modern times the main intent of war memorials is not to glorify war, but to honor those who have died. Sometimes, as in the case of the Warsaw Genuflection of Willy Brandt , they may also serve as focal points of increasing understanding between previous enemies. Using modern technology an international project is currently archiving all post-1914 Commonwealth war graves and Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials to create

5694-487: The years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead. There are none of these so lonely and poor of old, But dying has made us rarer gifts than gold. A tank monument or armoured memorial is a tank withdrawn from military service and displayed to commemorate a battle or a military unit. Obsolete tanks may also be displayed as gate guards outside military bases. Immediately following

5772-412: Was designed by Henry Hering . Other sculptures include Syrinx (1973) by Adolph Wolter and Pan (1980) by Roger White. Other features include benches, tree plantings, and street lamps designed with acorn globes and fluted shafts. Two of the lamps are decorated with lions' heads standing on the backs of metal turtles. The Depew Memorial Fountain is a free-standing fountain completed in 1919. It

5850-470: Was originally reserved for a state university in 1827; however, it became the site of a seminary, the city's first high school, and a training ground for Union troops during the American Civil War. In 1876, the site was designated a public park. In 1914, the park was redesigned by landscape architect George Kessler as part of the park and boulevard system plan commissioned by the city. Among

5928-584: Was passed in July 1920 and appropriated $ 2 million for construction and land. The city and state reached an agreement whereby the city would pay for the site and maintenance costs, while the State of Indiana would pay for the memorial's construction. The Plaza was dedicated by the Legion in November 1921 with the laying of a cornerstone from the bridge over the River Marne at Château-Thierry . About 45 buildings on

6006-437: Was the largest cast bronze sculpture in the United States. The north and south entrances are guarded by shield-bearing limestone lions, and on each corner of the terrace sits an urn. The pyramidal roof is stepped and has a lantern on top. Above the tall bronze doors on each side is the inscription "To vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the world." On the north side is the building's main inscription: To commemorate

6084-572: Was throughout the United Kingdom a construction of war memorials with reference to the concept of peace (e.g. West Hartlepool War Memorial in what is now known as Hartlepool (previously West Hartlepool ) with the inscription 'Thine O Lord is the Victory' relating to amongst other architecture the 1871 Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences with a frieze including the same words and concluding 'Glory be to God on high and on earth peace'). In many cases, World War I memorials were later extended to show

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