Series 1. GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE AND ACCOUNTING RECORDS, 1890, 1898-1920
Series 2. PUBLICATIONS
Series 3. NEWS CLIPPINGS
The George Washington Memorial Association was organized in 1898 for the
purpose of establishing in Washington D.C. an educational institution for the
"promotion of science and literature" as described by George Washington in his
messages to Congress and in his will. Early attempts to establish a National
University were unsuccessful and by early 1904 the GWMA entered into an
agreement with Columbian University to build a marble monument to George
Washington in the form of an administration building and cultural center for
its new site at Constitution Avenue and 17th St., NW (now the site of the Pan
American Union). Plans for building on the site fell through (though
Columbian did rename itself GW University), and the association then joined
with the Smithsonian to build a multipurpose structure on the mall that would
serve as a memorial to George Washington. In 1914 a competition was
held and New York architects Evarts Tracy and Edgerton Swartwout were chosen.
By the time the cornerstone was laid in 1921, the building was called the
George Washington Victory Memorial Building to additionally honor WWI
veterans. The structure included a military museum and archives. The concrete
foundation and stairway were completed by 1924, and a fence was constructed
around the site. For more than 10 years the GWMA, with the help of Secretary
Walcott and then Abbot, attempted to raise funds to complete the building but
failed. The foundation and monumental stairway were razed in 1937 for the
construction of the National Gallery of Art. Box 1 of 3
HISTORICAL NOTE
DESCRIPTIVE ENTRY
These records relate to the history and organization of the GWMA, the planning
for a George Washington Memorial Building -- first in conjunction with the
establishment of a National University in Washington; then as an
administration building and cultural center for Columbian University; and
finally, allied with the Smithsonian, as a victory memorial to WWI veterans on
the Mall -- and the fund raising efforts to complete the project. Included are
financial records, brochures and descriptive material, correspondence,
newspaper articles, floor plans, artifacts, and photos.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
SERIES 1.
GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE AND ACCOUNTING RECORDS, 1890, 1898-1920
| Folder | 1 | Correspondence, 1901. Incoming and outgoing correspondence files of Charles Walcott relating to the establishment of a National University in Washington, D.C. Correspondents include Alexander Agassiz, Alexander Graham Bell, Nicholas M. Butler, Charles Dabney, Charles Eliot, and A.C. True. | |
| Folder | 2 | Correspondence, 1899, 1911, 1914. Includes correspondence from contractors and architects offering services for the National University project. Correspondents include Langley, Charles Walcott, and Alexander Graham Bell. Of particular interest is a ca. 1911 Mall site plan attached to a letter to Susan Whitney Dimock from Walcott. | |
| Folder | 3 | Correspondence and miscellaneous documents, 1900-1903, 1910, 1914. Includes material relating to the founding of the George Washington Memorial Institution and the Washington Academy of Sciences, 1901-1903. Includes text of speech delivered by Walcott to the GWMA in 1900, "Washington's Will in Relation to the Work of the George Washington Memorial Association." | |
| Folder | 4 | Correspondence, 1900-1904. Includes memoranda dealing with the agreement between Columbian University and the George Washington Memorial Association. | |
| Folder | 5 | Correspondence and accounting records relating to the solicitation and collection of donations to the George Washington Memorial Building/George Washington Memorial Association Fund, 1919-1920. Includes an accounts ledger listing contributions from the Society of the Sons of the Revolution, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1916, and 1918. |
Box 2 of 3
| Folder | 1 | Miscellaneous correspondence and documents; finance committee meeting minutes, 1920-1924. Includes letter to Walcott from architects Tracy and Swartwout (Nov. 25, 1921) describing building plans, materials, cost estimates, and architects' fees. | |
| Folder | 2 | Receipts and accounting documents regarding sale of savings and thrift stamps, 1919-1922. | |
| Folder | 3 | Ledgers, 1910, 1920-1921. |
Box 2 of 3
| Folder | 4 | Brochures, programs, speech texts, invitations, and publications (many duplicates). Includes GWMA constitution and by-laws; condensed history of the GWMA, 1897; 1905 publication containing elevation and site plan by George Post & Sons, original architects for the project; Washington Academy of Sciences officers and members list (1900); and 1910 GWMA report. |
Box 3 of 3
| Folders | 1A-1B | Booklets, pamphlets, brochures, article reprints, and speech texts relating to the founding of Columbian University and its graduate school, government funding for higher education, and the formation of a National University, 1890-1904. Includes 1902 Report of the Senate Committee to Establish the University of the United States; Report of the Special Committee of the Board of Regents on the Proposal Submitted by the American Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations for the Establishment of a Bureau of Graduate Study under the Smithsonian Institution (1900); Relations of the National Government to Higher Education and Research by Charles Walcott (reprint from Science, 1901); and Guide to Washington and its Scientific and Educational Institutions of the United States by George Brown Goode (1890). | |
| Folder | 2 | Publications, descriptive material, brochures, artifacts, 1914-1919. Includes two commemorative lapel pins emblazoned with the head and signature of George Washington (apparently sent to contributors); Program of Competition for the George Washington Memorial Hall, 1914, containing site plans; floor plans and elevation for George Washington Memorial Hall (originals in map cases, drawer 45, ADDS S14-004 and 005). | |
| Folder | 3 | National Victory Memorial Building brochures, ca. 1917; program of cornerstone-laying ceremonies, November 14, 1921; telegram from Pershing to Dimock, 1919; site plan and elevation, ca. 1914 (originals in drawer 45, ADDS S14-004 and 005). |
Box 3 of 3
| Folder | 4 | News clippings, 1901, 1903, 1904, 1922. |
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Revised: August 1, 2002