BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Columbia Heights -- Meridian Hill Park (Malcolm X Park)

DC -- Columbia Heights -- Meridian Hill Park (Malcolm X Park):

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[1] MERID_190111_009.JPG	[2] MERID_190111_012.JPG	[3] MERID_190111_015.JPG	[4] MERID_190111_019.JPG	[5] MERID_190111_021.JPG
[6] MERID_190111_023.JPG	[7] MERID_190111_027.JPG	[8] MERID_190111_032.JPG	[9] MERID_190111_038.JPG	[10] MERID_190111_041.JPG
[11] MERID_190111_045.JPG	[12] MERID_190111_051.JPG	[13] MERID_190111_061.JPG	[14] MERID_190111_064.JPG	[15] MERID_190111_066.JPG
[16] MERID_190111_076.JPG	[17] MERID_190111_081.JPG	[18] MERID_190111_083.JPG	[19] MERID_190111_089.JPG	[20] MERID_190111_090.JPG
[21] MERID_190111_092.JPG	[22] MERID_190111_095.JPG	[23] MERID_190111_104.JPG	[24] MERID_190111_105.JPG	[25] MERID_190111_108.JPG
[26] MERID_190111_109.JPG	[27] MERID_190111_118.JPG	[28] MERID_190111_121.JPG	[29] MERID_190111_124.JPG	[30] MERID_190111_128.JPG
[31] MERID_190111_131.JPG	[32] MERID_190111_134.JPG	[33] MERID_190111_139.JPG	[34] MERID_190111_146.JPG	[35] MERID_190111_152.JPG
[36] MERID_190111_158.JPG	[37] MERID_190111_168.JPG	[38] MERID_190111_171.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. MERID_190111_009.JPG: Help Our Your Park During the Government Shutdown. Any trash you bring in, please carry it out.
2. MERID_190111_012.JPG: MLK Day of Service Volunteers needed to help remove debris, trash and invasive species from the park. Get involved, meet your neighbors, and give back to your community!
3. MERID_190111_015.JPG: Campus to Army Camps and Back Again President Monroe singed a charter in 1821 that established Columbian College on a site north of Florida Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets, Columbian College moved to Foggy Bottom in 1912 and became George Washington University, but the original campus area continued to be called "College Hill." During the Civil War, the Union Army commandeered the farmland on which Meridian Hill Park would eventually be built. The Army built camps there with names like Cameron, Relief, Carver, and Barclay. As the war continued, numerous hospitals, including Columbian and Mount Pleasant, were established in the same area. After the Civil War, Meridian Hill became a middle-class African American neighborhood. Wayland Seminary, which had opened in Foggy Bottom to train young African American men and women as preachers and teachers for the South, moved to a building at Chapin and 15th Streets in 1875. The school operated there until merging with Richmond Theological Seminary in 1899 to form Virginia Union University in Richmond. Booker T. Washington, noted African American political leader,educator, orator, and author, was one of Wayland's distinguished alumni. For more information go to: www.nps.gov/mehi Captain Grover of New York's 76th Regiment wrote home in 1861, "We encamped in the edge of what must be in summer a beautiful grove, on the estate of Commodore Porter, a few rods only from his mansion now occupied as a hospital. But beautiful as was the situation... snow and mud, cold fingers and toes, empty stomachs and soiled cloths concealed every beauty, and compelled us to attend only the work of arranging the camp."
4. MERID_190111_019.JPG: Union troops of the 7th New York State Militia a Camp Cameron on Meridian Hill, 1861.
5. MERID_190111_021.JPG: The Carver Barracks later became Carver Barracks Hospital, above
6. MERID_190111_023.JPG: Carver Barracks, below, surrounded the campus buildings of Columbian College.
7. MERID_190111_041.JPG: An American Meridian Thomas Jefferson Believed the surveyor's of the nation's capital city should set a new American Meridian, a north-south line running through both poles and the American continent. This reference line, longitude 0� 0�, would aid navigation, mapmaking, and the development of property boundaries, all key to settling the capital and new western territories. But most of all, Jefferson wanted to reinforce America's Independence from Britain, where the Prime Meridian was established to serve the Royal Navy's global navigation. Today, while there are many meridian lines running through many continents, the internationally recognized Prime Meridian passes through Greenwich, England, not Washington D.C. For more Information go to: www.nps.gov/mehi
8. MERID_190111_051.JPG: Dante Alighieri (Ximenes) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Dante Alighieri, is a public artwork by Italian artist Ettore Ximenes, located at Meridian Hill Park in Washington, D.C., United States. Dante Alighieri was originally surveyed as part of the Smithsonian Institution's Save Outdoor Sculpture! survey in 1994. The monument is a tribute to Italian poet Dante Alighieri. Description The statue depicts Dante standing wearing a robe and a laurel wreath upon his head. At his proper right side he holds a copy of The Divine Comedy in his hands. The statue rests on a granite base (6 ft. 7 in. x 4 ft. 10 in.). The proper right side of the bronze is signed by Ximenes and the rear of the figure is stamped with the founders mark for Roman Bronze Works. The front of the base features the inscription: DANTE And on the back of the base is inscribed: DANTE ALIGHIERI PRESENTED TO THE CITY OF WASHINGTON IN BEHALF OF THE ITALIANS IN THE UNITED STATES BY COMM CARLO BARSOTTI Acquisition and dedication Dante is a casting of a statue located at Dante Park in New York City. The founder of Dante Park and editor of Il Progresso Italiano-Americano, Carlo Barsotti, donated the replica in 1921 as a tribute to Italian Americans. The total cost of the statue reached upwards of $20,000 and weighs at least 3,000 pounds. The statue was dedicated on December 1 (1921 or 1922) as a "gift of the Italians of the United States." Barsotti, also head of the Dante Memorial Commission of New York, gave a speech, as well as M. Rene Viviani on behalf of the French and Italian ambassador Rolandi Ricci. President Warren G. Harding and his wife also attended the dedication. Dante was covered in Italian and American flags and was unveiled by Clarence Caldwell and Minne Elizabeth Sherrill, the children of the Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds at the time. Other notables who attended the event included the French Ambassador of the time and his wife, the President of the Italian Delegation Carlo Schanzer, the High Commissioner of Italy, Signor Quattrone, and numerous military and Italian community members. Music was played, celebrating Italian and American heritage and contemporary culture of the time. Italian poet and scholar Giovanni Pascoli believed that this was the best figure of Dante ever sculpted after viewing a version of the work in Ximenes' studio. When influenced by art critic Florence Brooks about the sculpture and the public reception of it Ximenes was quoted as saying "That is not for me or you to say but for the public, for posterity. Every work performed by an artist is a page in history." The sculpture was founded by Roman Bronze Works in New York City. Donor Carlo Barsotti was born in Pisa, Italy in 1850. In 1880 he founded the Progresso Italo-Americano newspaper in New York City. King Umberto I of Italy rewarded him the distinction of the title Chevalier in 1888. With numerous awards from the country of Venezuela and the Italian Red Cross, he was quite the Italian figure in late 19th century America. Condition This sculpture was surveyed in 1994 for its condition and was described as "well maintained."
9. MERID_190111_064.JPG: Roman Bronze Works N-Y-
10. MERID_190111_066.JPG: Ximenes
11. MERID_190111_076.JPG: James Buchanan Memorial From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The James Buchanan Memorial is a bronze and granite memorial in the Southeast corner of Meridian Hill Park Northwest, Washington, D.C. It was designed by architect William Gorden Beecher, and sculpted by Maryland artist Hans Schuler. Commissioned in 1916, but not approved by the U.S. Congress until 1918, it was completed and unveiled June 26, 1930. The memorial features a statue of Buchanan bookended by male and female classical figures representing law and diplomacy, engraved with text from a member of Buchanan's cabinet, Jeremiah S. Black: The incorruptible statesman whose walk was upon the mountain ranges of the law. The memorial in the nation's capital complemented an earlier monument, constructed in 1907–08 and dedicated in 1911, on the site of Buchanan's birthplace in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.
12. MERID_190111_089.JPG: James Buchanan of Pennsylvania President of the United States MDCCCLVII MDCCCLXI [1857 1861]
13. MERID_190111_095.JPG: Graffiti "F-ck TRUMP if you mean" -- onasty
14. MERID_190111_124.JPG: Graffiti
15. MERID_190111_128.JPG: The incorruptible statesman whose walk was upon the mountain ranges of the law
Wikipedia Description: Meridian Hill Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Meridian Hill Park, also known unofficially as Malcolm X Park, is located in the Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Columbia Heights. The 12 acres (49,000 m�) of landscaped grounds are maintained by the National Park Service as part of Rock Creek Park, but are not contiguous with the main part of that park. Meridian Hill Park is bordered by 15th, 16th, W, and Euclid Streets NW.

In 1819, John Porter erected a mansion on the grounds and called it "Meridian Hill" because it was on the exact longitude of the original District of Columbia milestone marker, set down on April 15, 1791 at Jones Point, Virginia by Major Andrew Ellicott assisted by Benjamin Banneker. During the 19th century the environs of Meridian Hill became host to Columbia College, precursor to George Washington University. Prior to the Civil War, the mansion grounds became a pleasure park for the area. During the war, Union troops encamped there.

Much of the impetus for creating a public park on this portion of 16th Street came from Mary Foote Henderson, wife of Missouri senator John Brooks Henderson and local resident. She lobbied Congress with several plans for the neighborhood before getting approval for the park. The land was originally part of Columbian College, now George Washington University. In 1910, after the school moved to its current location, the federal government bought the land, and in 1914 the Interior Department hired landscape architect George Burnap to design a grand urban park modeled on parks found in European capitals. His plans, later modified by Horace Peaslee, included an Italian Renaissance-style terraced fountain in the lower half and gardens in a French Baroque style in the upper half. The walls and fountains were built with concrete aggregate, a new building material consisting of concrete mixed with small pebbles. After two decades under construction, the grounds were given park status in 1936 and have been designated a National Historic Landmark.

In the 1970s and 80s, crime became widespread in the surrounding neighborhoods. Meridian Hill Park became a haven for drug dealing and was considered unsafe, especially at night. After the murder of a local teenager near the park in 1990, a group of citizens formed "Friends of Meridian Hill Park". They organized volunteer nighttime patrols and lobbied the National Park Service to make improvements to the park. Their efforts were largely effective and today the park is considered relatively safe.

On Sunday afternoons during the warm weather months, people gather from 3:00–9:00 p.m. in the upper park to dance, participate in a drum circle, and provide food for the homeless. The activity has been held in the park since the 1950s, and attracts professional drummers from time to time.

Malcolm X Park:

Meridian Hill Park was to be renamed in 1969. DC residents overwhelmingly voted for the park to be named after Malcolm X. Constitutionally, Congress must ratify all of D.C.'s laws before they take effect. In 1969, a bill was introduced to rename the site "Malcolm X Park". The U.S. House of Representatives rejected this vote, instead voting to keep the "Meridian Hill Park" name. Although the bill failed, some locals informally refer to it by the proposed name.

Statues and features:

One of the intriguing feature of the park is the thirteen basin cascade fountains that form the center of the lower level formal garden. The fountains are designed with a recirculating water system which, through an elaborate series of pumps, supplies water to two large circular fountains on the upper level, and cascade found on the lower. Each cascade bowl flows to a larger bowl as they descend to the bottom. Water fills one bowl, overflowing into the next, until it reaches the large reflecting pool in the plaza.

Statues:

* "Serenity" by sculptor Jose Clara, dedicated to the memory of Lt. Commander William Henry Scheutze (USN);
* "Jeanne d'Arc," a gift from the "Ladies of France in Exile in New York." It is a bronze copy of a statue by Paul Dubois. The original is at the Reims Cathedral in France. In a city of many equestrian statues, this is the only one to depict a woman.
* "Dante" by Ettore Ximenes;
* A memorial to James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, sculpted by Hans Schuler.
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