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General Grant Memorial
General Grant Memorial, popularly known as "Grant's Tomb," is the largest mausoleum in America. Its monumental size reflects the public admiration for Ulysses S. Grant --- Union general during the Civil War, and 18th President of the United States.
After President Benjamin Harrison laid the cornerstone in 1892, it took six years to build the 150-foot-high memorial, using 8,000 tons of granite. Huge crowds attended the dedication in 1897 to honor the man they credited with winning the Civil War, ending slavery, and reuniting the nation.
"I have given the subject of arming the Negro my hearty support. This, with the emancipation of the Negro, is the heaviest blow yet given the Confederacy... They will make good soldiers and by taking them from the enemy weakens him in the same proportion they strengthen us."
-- Ulysses S. Grant, 1864
West Point cadets march past the General Grant Memorial during its dedication parade (right) on April 27, 1897 -- the 75th anniversary of Grant's birth.
Richard T. Greener, an associate of Grant and the first black graduate of Harvard, supervised the fund-raising campaign that collected $600,000 to build the memorial. The Harlem community has been actively involved with the memorial from its beginning. |