(Posted November 2005)
 

Picture Profile:
MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS

The monuments of American history span a continent in distance and centuries in time. They range from a massive serpent-shaped mound created by a long-gone Native-American culture to memorials in contemporary Washington, D.C., and New York City.

The silhouette of one of the United States' most revered Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, stands in the shrine dedicated to his memory. "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." (© Robert Llewellyn)   The historic room in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, where delegates drafted the Constitution of the United States in the summer of 1787. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. It prescribes the form and authority of the federal government, and ensures the fundamental freedoms and rights of the citizens of the country through the Bill of Rights. (© Robert Llewellyn)   Aerial view of the Great Serpent Mound in Adams County, Ohio. Carbon tests of the effigy revealed that the creators of this 1,330-foot monument were members of the Native-American Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000-1550). (Mark C. Burnett/Photo Researchers, Inc.)   The Liberty Bell, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an enduring symbol of American freedom. First rung on July 8, 1776, to celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, it cracked in 1836, during the funeral of John Marshall, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. (Interior Department/National Park Service)   George Washington's beloved home, Mount Vernon, by the Potomac River in Virginia, where he died on December 14, 1799, and is buried along with his wife Martha. Among other treasured items owned by the first president on display there, visitors can see one of the keys to the Bastille, a gift to Washington from the Marquis de Lafayette. (Cameron Davidson/FOLIO, Inc.)   An autumnal view of Arlington Cemetery, Virginia, America's largest and best-known national burial grounds. More than 260,000 people are buried at Arlington Cemetery, including veterans from all the nation's wars. (PhotoSpin, Inc.)   The World War II Memorial, opened in 2004, is the most recent addition to the many national monuments in Washington, D.C. It honors the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the United States, the more than 400,000 who died, and all who supported the war effort from home. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The snow-covered Old Granary cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts, is burial ground for, among other leading American patriots, victims of the Boston Massacre, three signers of the Declaration of Independence, and six governors of Massachusetts. Originally founded by religious dissidents from England known as Puritans, Massachusetts was a leader in the struggle for independence against England. It was the setting for the Boston Tea Party and the first battles of the American Revolution -- in Lexington and Concord. (© Robert Llewellyn)
 

The Statue of Liberty, one of the United States' most beloved monuments, stands 151-feet high at the entrance to New York harbor. A gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States, it was intended to be an impressive symbol of human liberty. It was certainly that for the millions of immigrants who came to the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries, seeking freedom and a better life. (© James Casserly)
 

The Castillo de San Marcos, built 1672-1695 to guard St. Augustine, Florida, the first permanent European settlement in the continental United States. (© Miles Ertman/Masterfile)
 

The faces of four of the most admired American presidents were carved by Gutzon Borglum into the southeast face of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, beginning in 1927. From left to right, they are: George Washington, commander of the Revolutionary Army and first president of the young nation; Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence; Theodore Roosevelt, who led the country toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy; and Abraham Lincoln, who led the country through the Civil War and freed the slaves. (AP/WWP)
 

Six-year-old Mary Zheng straightens a flower placed at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., April 30, 2000. The names of more than 58,000 servicemen who died in the war or remain missing are etched on the "wall" part of the memorial, pictured here. This portion of the monument was designed by Maya Lin, then a student at Yale University. (Shawn Thew/AFP/Getty Images)
 

Fireworks celebrating the arrival of the Millennium illuminate two major monuments in Washington, D.C., the Lincoln Memorial on the left and the obelisk-shaped Washington Monument, center. The Lincoln Memorial's north and south side chambers contain carved inscriptions of his Second Inaugural Address and his Gettysburg Address. The tallest structure in the nation's capital, the Washington Monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885. (Mario Tama/AFP/Getty Images)