On Feb 10, 2008 11:00 PM,  <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Then to the tragedy of the National Archives.  Until several years ago, this
> was a wonderfully democratic place - Mr. Average Nobody Citizen ascended
> John Russell Pope's magnificent stairway (on Constitution Avenue, down from
> his National Gallery of Art) and just walked through the door - like a free
> man! - into the Pantheon-like interior, to go face-to-face with the
> Declaration, the Bill of Rights ("a well-regulated militia of gun-huggers
> being necessary to the security of a free state"), and other documents - it
> was enough to bring tears to your eyes, at least if you weep while watching
> Mr. Smith Goes To Filibuster Washington.
>
> Now, post-Atta, you scurry in like a rat, around the side into the basement,
> through the metal detector, past the loyalty oath, then the breathalyzer,
> then up past multiple sponsoring opportunities (the "Boeing Learning Center"
> !!!  has it really come to that??   when will we see the "Pepsico Enclosing
> Case of the United States Constitution"??) and pumped-up, crowd-handling
> side exhibits, and then, only then, down corridors and up to the document
> hall.   The exterior stairs are closed, the colossal sliding bronze doors
> are permanently shut, the massive portico with its forest of columns - a
> rainforest of Corinthian limestone - is empty....
>
> A mournful loss.    My children will never know it.

I have been to the National Archives several times, but never on the
south, public side.  I have only been in through the Researchers
Entrance on the north side.  I knew the renovation (in progress a
couple of visits ago) would ruin the place, so I never had the heart
to go around to the other side.

They did some damage on the north side, too, but it's still a
wonderful place.  The columns and entabulatures look to me a lot like
the NYPL, but I haven't compared pictures side by side.

Right near the north entrance of the Archives is the little-noticed
FDR memorial, constructed to the honoree's own specifications.

My favorite monument in DC is the Albert Einstein Memorial, on the
grounds of the National Academy of Sciences, near the Vietnam
memorial.  The surrounding shrubbery hides it from view, so you come
upon him all of a sudden, much larger than life ... wow.  He's sitting
casually on the steps, wearing a rumpled sweater and jeans and
sandals, and has an earnest, preoccupied expression.


          Larry

---
Lawrence Kestenbaum, [log in to unmask]
Washtenaw County Clerk & Register of Deeds, http://ewashtenaw.org
The Political Graveyard, http://politicalgraveyard.com
Weblog: Polygon, the Dancing Bear, http://potifos.com/polygon
P.O. Box 2563, Ann Arbor, MI 48106

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