Albert Einstein Memorial

Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Designer	Robert Berks
Type	Bronze sculpture
Completion date	1979
Dedicated to	Albert Einstein

The Albert Einstein Memorial is a monumental bronze statue by sculptor Robert Berks, depicting Albert Einstein seated with manuscript papers in hand. It is located in central Washington, D.C., United States, in a grove of trees at the southwest corner of the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences at 2101 Constitution Avenue N.W., near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Two replicas exist at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The memorial, situated in an elm and holly grove in the southwest corner of the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences, was unveiled at the Academy's annual meeting, April 22, 1979, in honor of the centennial of Einstein's birth. At the dedication ceremony, physicist John Archibald Wheeler described the statue as "a monument to the man who united space and time into space-time...a remembrance of the man who taught us...that the universe does not go on from everlasting to everlasting, but begins with a bang."^[1] The memorial is a popular spot for tourists visiting the national mall to pose for pictures.^[2]

The statue depicts Einstein seated in casual repose on a three-step bench of Mount Airy (North Carolina) white granite. The bronze figure weighs approximately 4 tons and is 12 feet in height. The monument is supported by three caissons, totaling 135 tons, sunk in bedrock to a depth of 23 to 25 feet.,^[3] It was cast at Modern Art Foundry, Astoria Queens, NY.

The sculptor, Robert Berks, known for his portrait busts and statues (John F. Kennedy at the Kennedy Center; Mary McLeod Bethune in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C.), based the work on a bust of Einstein he sculpted from life in 1953 at Einstein's Princeton home. Landscape architect James A. Van Sweden designed the monument landscaping.^[3]

Einstein was elected a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 1922, the year after he won the Nobel Prize in physics, and became a member of the Academy in 1942, two years after he became a naturalized American citizen.^[3]

Berks created two replicas of his 1979 monument. One of the replicas can presently be viewed in the academy garden of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities; another on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia.^[4]

The statue and bench are at one side of a circular dais, 28 feet (8.5 m) in diameter, made from emerald-pearl granite from Larvik, Norway. Embedded in the dais are more than 2,700 metal studs representing the location of astronomical objects, including the sun, moon, planets, 4 asteroids, 5 galaxies, 10 quasars, and many stars at noon on April 22, 1979, when the memorial was dedicated. The studs are different sizes to denote the apparent magnitude of the relevant object, and different studs denote binary stars, spectroscopic binaries, pulsars, globular clusters, open clusters, and quasars. The celestial objects were accurately positioned by astronomers at the U.S. Naval Observatory. Familiar constellations are marked on the map for easy identification.^[1]

To a visitor standing at the center of the dais, Einstein appears to be making direct eye contact, and any spoken words are notably amplified.

Engraved as though written on the papers held in the statue's left hand are three equations, summarizing three of Einstein's most important scientific advances:

• ���−12����=���� (the general theory of relativity)
• ��=ℎ�−� (the photoelectric effect)
• �=��2 (the equivalence of energy and matter)

Along the back of the bench, behind the statue, three famous quotations from the scientist are inscribed. They were selected to reflect Einstein's sense of wonder, scientific integrity, and concern for social justice.^[1] They are :

• "As long as I have any choice in the matter, I shall live only in a country where civil liberty, tolerance, and equality of all citizens before the law prevail."
• "Joy and amazement at the beauty and grandeur of this world of which man can just form a faint notion ..."
• "The right to search for truth implies also a duty; one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true."

The statue was filmed and subsequently used in the opening title sequence of Sesame Street during the show's 20th season.

A copy of the Albert Einstein Memorial made of 100% dark and white chocolate was once on display in the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC.^[5]

In July 2012, the sculpture was yarn bombed by the Polish-born artist Olek, who enclosed the entire statue in a colorful crocheted wrap of pinks, purples, and teal.^[6]

• Visual arts portal
• United States portal

• List of public art in Washington, D.C., Ward 2

Washington National Cathedral
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Washington National Cathedral is officially dedicated as the "Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington"
Show map of Washington, D.C.Show map of the United StatesShow all
Location	Wisconsin Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., United States
Coordinates	38°55′50″N 77°4′15″W
Built	1906; 119 years ago to 1988; 37 years ago
Architect	George Frederick Bodley, Philip Hubert Frohman
Architectural style	Neo-Gothic
NRHP reference No.	74002170
Added to NRHP	May 3, 1974
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap

The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Episcopal Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral or National Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States.^[1][2] The structure is of Neo-Gothic design closely modeled on English Gothic style of the late fourteenth century. It is the second-largest church building in the United States,^[3] and the third-tallest building in Washington, D.C. The cathedral is the seat of both the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church and the bishop of the Diocese of Washington. Over 270,000 people visit the structure annually.^[4]

The Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, under the first seven bishops of Washington, erected the cathedral under a charter passed by the United States Congress on January 6, 1893.^[5] Construction began on September 29, 1907, when the foundation stone was laid in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt and a crowd of more than 20,000, and ended 83 years later when the "final finial" was placed in the presence of President George H. W. Bush on September 29, 1990. Decorative and restorative work, particularly of damage from a nearby earthquake in 2011, is ongoing as of 2024. The Foundation is the legal entity of which all institutions on the Cathedral Close are a part; its corporate staff provides services for the institutions to help enable their missions, conducts work of the Foundation itself that is not done by the other entities, and serves as staff for the board of trustees.

The cathedral stands at Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenues in the northwest quadrant of Washington. It is an associate member of the inter-denominational Washington Theological Consortium.^[6] It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2007, it was ranked third on the List of America's Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects.^[7]

In 1792, Pierre L'Enfant's "Plan of the Federal City" specified a site for a "great church for national purposes". However he defined it as non-sectarian and nondenominational. Alexander Hamilton modified L'Enfant's plan and eliminated the "church" and several other proposed monuments and that plan was never reproduced. The working plan for the new city was subsequently produced by Andrew Ellicott and it varied in many respects from L'Enfant's. although the essence remained. The National Portrait Gallery now occupies that site.

In 1891, a meeting was held to begin plans for an Episcopal cathedral in Washington. On January 6, 1893, the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation of the District of Columbia was granted a charter from Congress to establish the cathedral. The 52nd United States Congress declared in the act to incorporate the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation of the District of Columbia that the "said corporation is hereby empowered to establish and maintain within the District of Columbia a cathedral and institutions of learning for the promotion of religion and education and charity."^[8] The commanding site on Mount Saint Alban was chosen.^[9] Henry Yates Satterlee, first Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Washington, chose George Frederick Bodley, Britain's leading Anglican church architect, as the head architect. Henry Vaughan was selected supervising architect.

Construction started on September 29, 1907, with a ceremonial address by President Theodore Roosevelt and the laying of the cornerstone. In 1912, Bethlehem Chapel opened for services in the unfinished cathedral, which have continued daily ever since. When construction of the cathedral resumed after a brief hiatus for World War I, both Bodley and Vaughan had died. Gen. John J. Pershing led fundraising efforts for the church after World War I. American architect Philip Hubert Frohman took over the design of the cathedral and was thenceforth designated the principal architect. Funding for Washington National Cathedral has come entirely from private sources. Maintenance and upkeep continue to rely entirely upon private support.

• Construction of the Washington National Cathedral
• 
   
 
• 
   
 
• 
   
 
• 
   

From its earliest days, the cathedral has been promoted as more than simply an Episcopal cathedral. Planners hoped it would play a role similar to Westminster Abbey. They wanted it to be a national shrine and a venue for great services. For much of the cathedral's history, this was captured in the phrase "a house of prayer for all people." In more recent times the phrases "national house of prayer" and "spiritual home for the nation" have been used. The cathedral has achieved this status simply by offering itself and being accepted by religious and political leaders as playing this role.^[10]

Its initial charter was similar to those granted to American University, The Catholic University of America, and other not-for-profit entities founded in the District of Columbia c. 1900. Contrary to popular misconception, the government has not designated it as a national house of prayer.

During World War II, monthly services were held there "on behalf of a united people in a time of emergency."^[11] Before and since, the structure has hosted other major events, both religious and secular, that have drawn the attention of the American people, as well as tourists from around the world.