Existing comment:
Establishing a Park:
In 1912, the Smithsonian Institution offered a space for a statue of Robert Emmet in the rotunda of the US National Museum, and a group of Irish-Americans commissioned Jerome Connor to create the sculpture. President Woodrow Wilson and members of Congress attended its dedication in 1917. The Smithsonian American Art Museum loaned the sculpture to the National Park Service in 1966 to serve as the centerpiece for this park to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising. President Lyndon Baines Johnson sent this message for the 1966 dedication:
"... The sheer patriotism and the gallant courage of Robert Emmet have inspired Americans no less than Irishmen... We Americans are proud to accord a place of honor here in the Nation's Capital to Robert Emmet, whose struggles and sacrifices bespeak the yearnings of mankind throughout the ages."
In 2016 the park was refurbished and re-dedicated to commemorate the 100th Anniversaries of the Emmet statue, the Easter Rising, and the National Park Service. |