The Histories of the Nation's Monuments
There are hundreds of monuments across the city of Washington D.C. You can walk around, take the metro, a bike, or even an electric scooter to visit the spaces that now hold a story in stone.
But what is it about monuments? What draws you in? The art carved into stone? How do monuments speak to you?
The stories they tell hold meaning to everyone in a different way. You might even be a person who walks by a monument every day on your way into work.
The monuments that lie at the doorsteps of our Nation’s Capital whisper secrets from around the globe, inspiring people to remember and explore the anecdote of humanity that connects us all.
There was once a time when Nurses did not exist, let’s just say we have come a long way since the break out of the Civil War 158 years ago.
Imagine going to war today without the existence of health care. In 1861 that’s what Americans did and thus sprung the need for nurses in the United States of America.
But before that, 600 nuns got together to save the lives of American soldiers. They were the only ones who knew what they were doing and thus despite their lack in numbers they hit the battlefield.
Pericles said that “what you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”
These women selflessly became invaluable in the Civil War by caring for the wounded.
While Nuns led the way, between 5,000 and 10,000 other women stood up and became nurses among the fields of combat.
Their stories are now ingrained in granite and bronze by the intersection of M St and Rhode Island NW.
Albert Einstein said that “the greatest scientists are artists as well.” Can the term work vice versa? Are the greatest artists not all sciences in their endeavors of trial and error?
The Daguerre Monument that sits nearby the Gallery Place / Chinatown Metro stop, relics in the victory of art and science at work.
The creativity behind this monument led to the reproduction of images through light expose and forever changes our ability to share images with the world.
The camera on your iPhone exists because this artist thought it up from the depths of his mind. What he created was the first heliograph, thus birthing the first ever picture to the world in 1822 and the oldest surviving camera photograph in 1826.
The common phrase “a picture says a thousand words” did not exist without Daguerre who was born to the world in France.
So go check out the monument that led to the pictures which frame the walls of the world throughout every home, restaurant, city, and wherever else you dangle your stories.
What is your definition of nature? Do you feel connected to it in any way?
Well if you don’t Cher Ami will tell you a story about how he felt connected to us. His monument stands one-legged in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
On October 4th, 1918 one pigeon saved 194 men. He was shot, bloody and blinded in one eye before he arrived at the scene of the lost French battalion to deliver a message that led to their rescue from American soldiers during WWI.
This little animal was so intelligent that he knew his assignment, he understood that there were lives to be saved and he completed a military mission despite being severely wounded.
If a small bird can do all that, what else can animals do, and even more so what can humans do in connection with them, or even on their own out there in the great wide world?
Go visit Cheri Ami for inspiration, wonder, and an awe-inspiring reminder of our own nomenclature definitions.
Wait… The Titanic isn’t just some movie with Leonardo DiCaprio? We all know the boat really sank, but sometimes we forget the reality behind this epic tale twisted in love and sorrow.
The Titanic memorial is about 30 minutes south of Dupont Circle via the Metro, to the south edge of SW Waterfront Park by the Washington Channel.
The statue depicts a naked man covered by a blanket with his arms stretched out wide just like the scene in the movie where Rose and Jack feel as if they are flying at the edge of the Titanic.
The monument arose from the mind of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney just two years after the virulent crash in 1914. It stands 15 feet tall, and obviously inspired scenes within the film.
Its artistic nature is a monument to all the men that died saving women and children during the crash, and it was drafted by the Women’s Titanic Memorial Association which restricted its creation solely to female artists.
So from women to men, a thank you exists in an art form. A reminder remains that we never know how life will take us and shake us up upon the seas forever changing the course of our lives and shifting tides.
Breaking Through the Monuments in DC
"Monuments and archaeological pieces serve as testimonies of man's greatness and establish a dialogue between civilizations showing the extent to which human beings are linked."
The city of Washington D.C. has so many monuments to explore. And you might pass by without a thought.
But the monuments will always stand among the paths of our Nation’s Capital, and they are there to be thought-provoking.
To remind you of the great feats humanity has accomplished, the inventions that have brought us into the modern age, to make us question what we define, and to remind us that anything could change in the blink of an eye.
All of these beautiful memorials are just a short commute away from any of our DC apartment buildings. Come in and tour our properties today.
