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A Question of Origins

I recently read with interest Andrew M. Shanken's revealing and timely (given 9/11) examination of memorials during World War II ("Planning Memory: Living Memorials in the United States during World War II," An Bulletin 84 (2002): 130-47). While discussion focuses on the war years (especially World War II) , later in the article Shanken suggests that the idea of what he terms "living memorials" may stem from Reconstruction "or even earlier." It is on this point that I offer some evidence. Just months after Appomattox, a lengthy piece entitled "Something about Monumerits" appeared in the Nation (I, no. 5 [Aug. 3, 1865): 154-56). The unsigned essay has relevance here because of its dismissal of conventional forms of monuments-the obelisk and "portrait statuary"-in favor of buildings.