Thomas Jefferson Memorial Statue in Washington, DC

The statue of Thomas Jefferson in the Jefferson Memorial, a monument to the U.S.'s third president in Washington, D.C., was created by Rudulph Evans and installed in 1947.

Construction on the Jefferson Memorial began in 1938 under the supervision of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Commission. When the Commission met on April 3, 1939, the Committee on Sculpture reported their recommendations. The Commission's first procedure should be to invite the submission of photographs and records of executed work by anyone who wished to be considered as sculptor for the Jefferson statue.

On July 25, 1939, Chairman Fiske Kimball of the Committee on Sculpture, reported to the Commission that the jury of prominent men selected to judge the application was composed of Henri Marceau, the Chairman, and two sculptors: James Earle Fraser and Heinz Warneke. They had met in Washington and spent three days going over the 101 sets of photographs submitted by the applicants. The six sculptors selected to compete in the second stage of competition were Rudolph Evans, Raoul Josset, Lee Lawrie, Maurice Sterne, Sidney Waugh, and A.A. Weinman.

At the meeting of the Commission on September 13, 1940, Lee Lawrie, Rudulph Evans, and A.A. Weinman were invited to prepare revised models for the statue. The revised models were then reviewed by the Commission on February 21, 1941. Finally the model made by Rudulph Evans was selected.

The statue of Thomas Jefferson is placed in a central position in the Memorial Hall, and stands 19½ feet high on a base 6 feet above the floor. The dates of Jefferson's birth and death (1743-1826) are inscribed in bronze letters on the front of the pedestal. A temporary plaster figure was erected in 1942, and the permanent bronze statue was installed in 1947.

Further Sources

• National Park Service. "Thomas Jefferson Memorial." Provides information on the history and features of the memorial, as well as visitor information.