Democracy's passion play: The Lincoln Memorial, politics and history as myth.
Item
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Title
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Democracy's passion play: The Lincoln Memorial, politics and history as myth.
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Identifier
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AAI3063872
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identifier
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3063872
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Creator
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Randall, Terree N.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Sally Webster
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Date
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2002
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Art History
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Abstract
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This dissertation is a study of how the symbolism, meaning and function of the Lincoln Memorial has been shaped and altered by civil rights protests held at its site from 1922 to 1968 and by the overarching influence of the ideology of American exceptionalism. The focus is on protests held at the Memorial not previously discussed and considers how and why they were marginalized by the dominant culture while other protests were subsumed and became synonymous with the Memorial and the "success" of American democracy. The use of exceptionalist rhetoric as a spoken and written iconography that reaffirmed prevailing cultural beliefs and attitudes is examined, as is its role in creating a national and mnemonic consensus about the meaning of the Memorial.;A detailed account is given of the segregated dedication ceremony in 1922 that initiated the first protest. The role the proposed 1941 March on Washington played in the establishment of a government policy of benign control that disempowered more radical civil rights protests is examined. The negative receptions of the 1946 American Crusade to End Lynching demonstration and the 1951 Willie McGee protest are analyzed within the context of anti-Communism and racism and are contrasted with the positively received NAACP event held at the Memorial in 1947 in which President Truman announced a national civil rights policy.;The dissertation concludes with an examination of the impact on the perception of the Memorial by the 1963 March on Washington and the 1968 Poor People's Campaign. The 1963 March, which perpetuated the exceptionalist ideal is viewed as integral to the meaning of the Memorial, while The Poor Peoples Campaign, which rejected it and the symbolism and rhetoric associated with Abraham Lincoln, has been viewed as a failure. The Campaign's failure also marked the moment of the diminution of the Memorial's potency as a universally accepted symbol of democracy.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
