Field Trip Friday: How New Monuments Happen

Memory does not arrive fully formed in stone; it’s argued into place. We pull back the curtain on how a new memorial takes shape on the National Mall, from the first spark of a citizens’ group to the day the ribbon is cut. Along the way, we unpack the Commemorative Works Act, why congressional authorization matters, and the surprising truth that private donors—not federal budgets—fund the monuments that define our civic landscape.

Jeremy Goldstein from the Trust for the National Mall joins us to map the long arc of building a memorial: forming a commission, navigating House and Senate approval, and earning the president’s signature before a single shovel hits the ground. Then comes the marathon—raising funds, selecting a site in one of the most symbolically charged places in America, and clearing environmental and historic reviews with the National Park Service and the National Capital Planning Commission. We talk design competitions, public comment, and why a 20–25 year timeline is normal when your canvas is national memory.

We also explore how the Mall decides whose story to tell next. Consensus and community drive momentum, with friends groups, veterans, and historians shaping narratives that serve the whole country. War memorials demand special care; time and distance help communities honor service without simplifying complex conflicts. From the Vietnam Veterans Memorial’s once‑controversial wall to later additions like the Women’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial, we show how memorials evolve to include more voices without erasing the original intent.

Finally, we look at how these spaces adapt for modern visitors. Renovations like the Lincoln Memorial’s undercroft and new exhibits at the Jefferson and Korean War memorials signal a shift toward deeper context and accessibility. And for those far from Washington, digital gateways make the Mall’s stories reachable from a classroom, a living room, or a phone. Subscribe, share, and leave a review—and tell us: which story do you believe deserves a place on the National Mall next?

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Chapters

• 0:00 Setting The Big Question
• 2:31 How A Memorial Gets Authorized
• 4:01 Why Funding Is Private
• 4:51 Site Selection And Reviews
• 6:16 The 20–25 Year Timeline
• 7:26 Choosing Whose Story To Tell
• 9:56 Time And Sensitivity In War Memorials
• 11:46 How Memorials Evolve Over Time
• 13:56 What Makes It “National”
• 15:56 Digital Access And Personal Connection
• 16:56 Closing Reflections On Belonging

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:46

Welcome back to Field Trip Friday. I'm excited for this episode because this is something I've always wondered as a citizen, as somebody who loves civics, as somebody who also wonders why there is not a bigger monument to James Madison, the father of the Constitution, in the National Mall. But we have our tour guide and our friend Jeremy Goldstein with us from the Trust for the National Mall. Jeremy, welcome back. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01: 1:14

I'm very excited to talk about this.

SPEAKER_00: 1:17

So we are looking at new monuments. So we're talking about how, you know, if you want a new memorial, how they're imagined, debated, and built. And we've talked, it's been mentioned in previous episodes that there's going to be, you know, there's a proposed global war on terrorism memorial, there's Native American Veterans Memorial. These memorials don't just pop up one day. There is an entire process. So first question's a big one. What is the process for creating a new national monument?

SPEAKER_01: 1:51

That's a great question. I'll be honest with you before this episode, I knew all the parts of the process, but I didn't know the sequence. So you've helped me here. I had to go through it and take a look at what we have here. So there's um there's a set of requirements under something called the Commemorative Works Act. And that's when any kind of commemorative space wants to be done. There's there's the development first of a group of people to sponsor it. So a friends group starts off like the World War II Memorial has a World War Friends of the World War II memorial, and they're they really pushed through and worked with Congress on this. So a group gets formed, like a commission to examine and understand the requirements of the Commemorative Works Act. And then they work on building a case for congressional authorization because that's required first. You find a member of Congress to sponsor and introduce a bill. The bill has to pass in the House and Senate. So for the World War II, Senator Bob Doole was very involved in it. So there will be some people who kind of attach their name to these pieces. Um we have the Eisenhower Memorial. These are all things that were kind of pushed through by people who made it, made it their charge with this commission. And then finally it ends up on the president's desk and that's signed into law. And it literally is a law that says we're going to have a new monument. And this is something that's legally supported by both houses of Congress and the president as well. Then the sponsor has to go through a campaign of organizing and raising money. And that big piece there is interesting to people. People think that all the monuments on the National Mall are just built with federal money. All funding for this has to be private. So there are there is federal support and help, but all of the funding to make the monument happen is raised from private donors, whether they're individual donors, corporate donors, things like that. They have to, they have to raise those funds as a nonprofit. So the trust exists as a nonprofit to support the entire national mall. But if you have someone who's dedicated to a specific memorial, they have to raise those funds. And those funds are private. And then you work with the National Park Service and the General Services and all of these organizations to find a site. And there are environmental studies, there's historical environmental impact studies, and then a site is selected. You have to have the space on the mall that's at a premium, and it's very hard to kind of determine where that's going to go, but they also have to make sure they're not infringing upon any species, any historic spaces as well, because the mall is an active historic space. Site approval, you know, the National Capital Planning Commission does an approval. There's a historic preservation review by the State Historic Preservation Office of DC and then the federal um organization as well. Then a designer, it's a long process. Then it takes about 20 to 25 years total to do this. I in and it can be more to create a concept, a detailed design. It's reviewed. They choose these designs, um, final designs. And then finally, groundbreaking is approved and supervised by the National Park Service, specifically for the mall. And then finally, a dedication ceremony for the space. And we see that actively happening right now. In 2022, the Desert Steel Desert Desert Shield Desert Storm monument was dedicated and groundbreaking occurred with the hope that this is going to be launched in July of 2026. So there is an active monument being built on the mall right now. That was a long story. Sorry about that.

SPEAKER_00: 5:11

Yeah. No, that's amazing. And I appreciate that you tell us this long story, right? Because it's not just an easy throwaway thing. There is a lot of planning. And I actually didn't even consider like species, right? Environmental impact, making sure that where it's going is the right place. It's not harmful historically or environmentally. Like this is a big thing because in the Hamilton musical, obviously, the last song Eliza Hamilton's talking about raising money for the Washington Monument. And that yes. And, you know, to be honest, I did think it was just federal money. I thought, like, oh, Congress says this and they move on, but it is a huge process. So how does the national mall decide then whose story to tell next?

SPEAKER_01: 6:01

This is a great question. There I and I would say that that prof process reveals the beginning of that concept. And that means the decision really comes from consensus and individuals wanting to push this forward. The approval process sort of refines that. And everything you see on the national mall has gone through that process in some shape or form, depending on the historical context. But really the decision on what narrative is really, you know, supported by this friends group. Or I like to say that really nonprofits like the one that I work for, they really drive that process. And then all of those convening committees, the federal government, the friends group, they come together to construct a narrow narrative of what that's about. My, you know, like there's there's a really interesting example. Now they just picked a site for the women's suffrage monument. And that is going to be next to Constitution Gardens or in the in the you know on the 19th, towards the end of Constitution Gardens. And that that's an interesting site because it's also where the signers memorial is, too. So you have two ends of like civic uh sort of not just engagement, but civic history in the United States that would be put there. That that was signed into law, as I just described in 2020 by President Trump, as they're saying, okay, you can go ahead and do this, you got approval to find a site. So that's in that process. Now, the choice to do that started a very long time ago because there's a significant benchmark of the right to vote for women, the right, you know, expanding the right to vote for everyone in the United States. And that is a significant benchmark. And that process was started a long time ago. And there, you know, there are these building consensus organizations. They get out there, they get funding, they get support. So it really just is it's not a random thing. It's really just like how many people want the story told. Now, in addition to that, for war memorials, I've noticed in reading and researching the stories, is that there has to be considerable distance from the end of that conflict or war that allows sort of a cycle of history to get a retrospective narrative developed. And I don't, I I and I don't quote me on this. I don't know. I'm sort of unsure if there's an official set of years that have to be looked back on, but they do, they are careful about the veterans population, which I think is a very good thing. There's a there's a ton of sensitivity about how you represent a conflict or a war. As we saw play out with the Vietnam Memorial, there was, you know, there were a lot of opinions about what that should look like, what it should say, and whether you know the commemorative space should even be there. There was a big debate about it as well, where a lot of people have a lot of perspectives on these things. So it's an it's a national conversation each time one of these things come together.

SPEAKER_00: 8:49

I'm just I'm so enthralled and interested and keep writing things down because I'm the I always love the question of how long after an event do we have to wait before we judge it, before we do things about it? And there's no right answer, but I appreciate that the national mall wrestles with that question too and takes good care, especially when it relates to our veteran population, because that is civically so important. How do modern memorials kind of broaden our understanding of America?

SPEAKER_01: 9:26

Well, I you know, I'll go back to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. That memorial and that space has evolved even since the first memorial is there because you put the two statues of the, you know, the women's Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Three Soldiers Statue. Those came later. They were added in for multiple reasons, and also, you know, there was funding that was raised for it. And there was a significant need. So as time passes, there's there's still a conversation. You know, each one of these monuments and memorials represents a conversation. The Lincoln is being underneath the Lincoln is called, it's I learned this, it's officially called the Undercroft, and it's a large and a very, very large vault space underneath Lincoln sitting in the chair. And it's it's a large set of pillars that's a like sort of a cave or a cellar underneath the memorial. That's being renovated to create an exhibit space, new new facilities like bathrooms and other things, in addition to um a shop and things like that. That space was designed to support the memorial on fill that came from the Potomac. But that space will be opening in July of 2026. And, you know, no one would have imagined really a visitor or a welcome space in these memorials. It's a big piece of stone dedicated in 20 in 1922 and opened. And so these evolve. We want more engagement, we want exhibit space. You know, the Jefferson has exhibit space underneath it as well. So these evolve. It's like the the the the idea and the Korean as well. They added the names to the Korean memorials for the for all the forces and the commemoration of all the UN forces as well. So the I I don't think they're rewriting anything, but they are finding significant, significant layers to represent in these memorials. And as time goes on, we have different stories. We learn more. We we write we write more about these. We historians do their work and they look at these and they do the retrospective of multiple narratives in one monument or a memorial.

SPEAKER_00: 11:23

So as we're looking at this and we're talking about monuments, what makes a monument, quote unquote, a national monument?

SPEAKER_01: 11:33

Well, I and this is really it's kind of funny. I I when I talk to you and the more I I get to know you on these these uh sessions. Um you're in Arizona. I air I used to live in Arizona. It's a place that's very close to my heart. And the the interesting part about it is like uh okay, I thought myself, how is Arizona connected to the mall? Because we talk about how our you know our individual states are connected to the mall. Well, there are a lot of engravings that have the states on there on the Lincoln and the World War II. A lot of the what a lot of people like to do is they go to their state or territory and the in the World War II and take their picture next to it. I've taken my picture next to Illinois. I've done that too. Where I grew up. And, you know, it's it's kind of there, there's significance that makes it both personal about the state you live in or play where you come from, but also the the national mall is in the District of Columbia, which is not a you know, it's not officially a state, but it's one of those state and territory parts of United States. But the mall, it contains a connection to practically every state and to, you know, and to a lot of international organ, you know, territories and spaces as well. But this is a national monument for all, this is a national monument space for all Americans. And, you know, it's engraved in stone. And and people can can see themselves in those spaces. And in past episodes, I talk about like everybody carries their own perspective and idea and biases and stories to the mall. But I'm hoping, and and I believe it's true, that there is some part of the mall that connects with you where you are at home, and that makes it a national, you know, space. In addition to a plug for our gateway, we wanted to build something that allowed people to access the national mall from a distance, people coming from all parts of the United States and worldwide. And we've built a digital space for people to actually immerse themselves in the national mall from a distance. You know, technology allows that to happen. But even on site, people take those pictures, they they see themselves in the national mall. And that's what that's that national monument field, national memorial field.

SPEAKER_00: 13:33

And I mean, I again, this website, I'm constantly, as we're talking, constantly on it and looking at things because I feel like there's, I mean, I hope that there's forever something for me to explore and to find and you know, to find pieces of of Arizona, because when some of these started to be built, Arizona was a territory. It wasn't a state yet, right? We didn't become a state until 1912. But also, you know, when we go to the Korean War monument, I look for my, you know, my family is Danish. So I, you know, see Denmark on there. There's just all of these pieces that even though I'm in Arizona and I'm a native Iowan, I can find myself there in the kind of national space. And I love that that exists for people. And, you know, we are again, all of our, all of our episodes have a link to the tours. This one will have a link just to the gateway website. It is something that is helpful for me. Again, I am already planning my next, my next turn, but that is the one thing I love about technology, right? Is if if you're not able to get to DC, but you still want to explore it with your family, just for yourself or with your classroom, there are places here and kids can see that. And I I just really appreciate the website. I appreciate you taking us on these tours, Jeremy. We have more, so we're very excited for our field trip Fridays. But thank you for you know taking us through what a new monument means. And I'm again so stoked for our next field trip Friday.

SPEAKER_01: 15:22

So am I. And Liz, I just thought of something when you said I'm sorry to have to extend the time here, but no, please do. You know, there's this interesting connection. Like you just described the multiple ways you connect to the mall. And you, you know, people contain multitudes, and so does the national mall. And and that I think is a really great puzzle piece to explore for everyone who goes and and either visits from dig digitally from afar or on site. There is something that connects you to the national mall, and that that makes it a national space. And and whether, you know, whether it's even something that's going on today on the national mall, that you may be a member of an organization that has a permit to do something, or you find your state, or you find your family connection to to one of the memorials or monuments. So that that just reminds me of that. I really appreciate you bringing that to light.

SPEAKER_00: 16:18

Thank you so much. And audience, we'll see you next Friday.