Monument Dbq

Monuments are used to memorialize and honor moments of the past. Some monuments do this better than other monuments. In creating a monument there are three main factors a group or agency should consider to make the monument as effective as possible. A monuments location, size and backstory are the three most important factors to consider.

Location; where the monument is plays a big role in how effective a monument is in memorializing or honoring a person or moment. For instance Mount Rushmore, to the untrained eye it is a few important men of the past on the side of a mountain, but it is actually quite more. “I have to admit: Mount Rushmore bothers me. It was bad enough that white men drove the Sioux from the hills they still hold

sacred; did they have to carve faces all over them too?”(Source C). Source C is saying that the location of mount Rushmore is disrespectful to the Sioux because that mountain is sacred to them, and the same people who drove them off put their faces on that hill. Another example of this is the Holocaust museum. “The controversy grew from Jewish and non- Jewish Communities, primarily due to the fact that a museum dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust would be built in the United States, who did little to stop the Holocaust from occurring”(Source D). Here Source D gives us another example of how the location of the monument can affect how effective it is at memorializing the past. In this case it was not effective due to America's role in the Holocaust and the the fact that the Mall for the museum has no significant relevance to anyone who was affected by the Holocaust. The last example of the importance of a monuments location is the Christopher Columbus statue at Riverside Park(Source B). Riverside Park is a beautiful setting where Christopher Columbus stands tall and proud on his stone pedestal, giving him an aura. If this same statue was in some bad neighborhood next to a deserted building it wouldn't have the same effect Riverside park had on memorializing Christopher Columbus. These are the reasons why to consider location when a group or agency is creating a monument.

Another factor that is important to consider if a group or agency were to create a monument is its size.

For this factor i am going to use the example of the Holocaust museum at the mall in Washington, whose size greatly impacted its construction and role in the mall. “ The commission of Fine Arts refused the first design, stating the design was too ‘massive’. The members of the commission felt the massive building would overcome The Mall and take away the main purpose of the museum, which was meant to be a place of remembrance and not overpower The Mall or its visitors.” (Source E). Source E exemplifies why size is an important consideration when creating a monument, a monument is meant to memorialize an event or person, to commemorate respectfully, and effectively, to make you feel welcome. When you over or under-size a monument you either make it stand out to much or belittle the value of what the monuments story is. Another example of why size matters is the monument of Crazy horse in South Dakota, it has been under construction since 1948 and is not yet close to being finished because it is so big. By the time it is finished will its value have diminished? Will the people who finish know who crazy horse was and why they are finishing the

monument?

The last factors to consider when a group or agency is creating a monument are purpose and backstory.

The main purpose to any monument should be to remember, to honor, to memorialize and to pay homage to an event, or person. An example of some monuments with a nefarious purpose are the confederate monuments. Specifically the confederate monuments in New Orleans. Many of the monuments were erected with the sole purpose being to intimidate and assert dominance over African-Americans in the region. “After the civil war, these statues were a part of that terrorism as much as a burning cross on someone's lawn; they were erected purposefully to send a strong message to all who walked in their shadows about who was still in charge in this city.” This quote is from New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu who did an entire speech on why the confederate monuments should be removed. Landrieu here is stating that because the purpose of those monuments was to do harm, they should be removed. However on the other side of the spectrum we have monuments that have a textbook purpose and effectively memorialize a figure, regardless good or bad. The Native American war leader Crazy Horse is a good example of this. His statue is in the badlands of South Dakota and is very near and similar to Mount Rushmore- it is carved from stone. The statue itself is of Crazy Horse pointing over “his beloved Black Hills”(Source C). Him pointing over these hills helps commemorate, and remember what he did even if

it was not always good. The last example is going to be exemplifying the importance of understanding the backstory, or history of a monument before creating one. This example is the Christopher Columbus statue in Central Park New York. this statue was recently vandalized with the perpetrators painting his hands red and spray painting “Hate will not be tolerated” and “somethingscoming” on the base of his statue. When first erected in 1892 there was not these problems but now that we are more aware of what he did people are beginning to strongly protest the monuments. Monuments that may signify controversial or inaccurate representations of past figures should be taken down and put in museums instead of being glorified. If you are going to memorialize something we shouldn't commend false versions, the monument should convey who the person or event was. For example Auschwitz which today is a museum of the concentration camp and is barely changed from when it was in use, however the statues of Robert E. Lee and Christopher Columbus portray them as knights in shining armor. When creating a monument it is imperative to consider purpose and backstory in order to make the monument as effective as possible.

Fundamentally creating a monument is quite simple, yet there are many ways to butcher one. The integral and crucial factors to consider when creating a monument are location, size, backstory and purpose. When each are applied accordingly you give yourself the best chance to effectively memorialize and honor an event or person.