- State:
- WASHINGTON-DC
- Site Type:
- Civic Facilities, Monuments and Memorials
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Started:
- 1935
- Completed:
- 1936
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Site Survival:
- Extant
Description
The Second Division Memorial is located in President’s Park, between 17th Street Northwest and Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. It commemorates those who died while serving in the 2nd Infantry Division of the U. S. Army during World War I. The artist was James Earl Fraser.
While the sculpture itself does not appear to have been a New Deal project, it was erected with New Deal labor and/or funds and was dedicated on July 18, 1936, by president Franklin D. Roosevelt. The labor was most likely provided by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during its extensive parks improvement effort in 1935-36.
Two new wings were added in 1962 for the battle honors of World War II and the Korean War.
Source notes
National Archives, Record Group 69, Records of the Work Projects Administration, “Newspaper clippings file, 1935-1942.”
“New Deal Projects Aid Many Park Developments in Capital,” Washington Daily News, July 23, 1936.
https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Division_Memorial
Site originally submitted by Brent McKee - wpatoday.org on June 7, 2013.
Additional contributions by Richard A Walker.
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