Titanic Monument

The story

The Titanic Memorial is a granite statue in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood of Washington, D.C., that honors the men who gave their lives so that women and children might be saved during the sinking of the Titanic. Ten days after the sinking, on April 25, 1912, a group of women formed a committee to raise money for a memorial to honor the sacrifice, with a limit of $1 per person. After sending thousands of cards to other women throughout the U.S., the funds the committee had raised alongside funding from the federal government were enough to complete the project. The competition-winning design by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who later opened the Whitney Museum of American Art, became her first major commission. After planning and seeking approval from different agencies, the memorial was installed in 1930 and dedicated in May 1931. Among those at the dedication were President Herbert Hoover, First Lady Lou Henry Hoover, former first lady Helen Herron Taft, and other government officials. To make room for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the memorial was placed in storage for two years. It was reinstalled at its current location at Southwest Waterfront Park. It is sited near 4th and P Street SW near Fort Lesley J. McNair and across the Washington Channel from East Potomac Park. The centerpiece of the memorial depicts a partly clad male figure with arms outstretched standing on a square base. The base is flanked by a square exedra, created by architect Henry Bacon, which encloses a small, raised platform. The memorial was added to the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites and the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. The statue is one of a small number of prominent outdoor sculptures in Washington designed by women.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Dates from 1931.

Wikidata Q374580, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.

What the record says

Material

granite

Inscription

Front: "TO THE BRAVE MEN WHO PERISHED IN THE WRECK OF THE TITANIC APRIL 15 1912 / THEY GAVE THEIR LIVES THAT WOMEN AND CHILDREN MIGHT BE SAVED / ERECTED BY THE WOMEN OF AMERICA" Back: "TO THE YOUNG AND THE OLD / THE RICH AND THE POOR / THE IGNORANT AND TH

What to expect

Step-free access

Yes

How to reach it

Named places within 25 miles

Summits around it

The highest named summits within 25 miles of Titanic Monument. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.

When to go

Light through the year

Local time (America/New_York).

Climate normals

Months averaging 50–80 °F: Apr–Jun, Aug–Oct.

1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Washington Reagan Natl AP, 2 mi away.

Where this comes from

• National Register of Historic Places — Titanic Memorial, reference 07001060, listed 10/12/07.

OpenStreetMap element node/472673838