10 That Changed America

THIS MONUMENT PROPELLED US INTO THE MODERN AGE, AND THIS MONUMENT BROKE ALL OF THE RULES.

ALL OF THESE MADE THE LIST OF 10 MONUMENTS THAT CHANGED AMERICA.

I'M GEOFFREY BAER, AND I'LL BE YOUR GUIDE.

AS WE DISCOVER THE HIDDEN MEANING BEHIND THE STATUE OF LIBERTY AND THE REAL REASON THEY BUILT MOUNT RUSHMORE.

DAVID: THEY'VE HAVE TO SEE IT AS THEY TOUR AMERICA.

IT'S A BUCKET LIST ITEM.

GEOFFREY: WE'LL EXPLORE THE BASEMENT OF ONE MONUMENT AND THE ATTIC OF ANOTHER.

SO WHY ARE THERE STAIRS INSIDE THE MONUMENT?

BECAUSE THERE WERE NO ELEVATORS, GEOFFREY, IN 1825.

GEOFFREY: AND WE CONSIDER A TYPE OF MONUMENT, THAT'S TOUCHED OFF A HEATED DEBATE.

FIND OUT WHICH MONUMENTS MADE THE LIST OF 10 MONUMENTS THAT CHANGED AMERICA.

GEOFFREY: NOW, LET'S VISIT 10 MONUMENTS THAT CHANGED AMERICA ANNOUNCER: 10 THAT CHANGED AMERICA IS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY: THE GRAINGER FOUNDATION AND THE PRITZKER MILITARY MUSEUM AND LIBRARY: DEDICATED TO PRESERVING STORIES OF SERVICE, AND PROVIDING RESOURCES ON MILITARY HISTORY THAT EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE ARMED FORCES IN A DEMOCRACY.

MAJOR FUNDING IS ALSO PROVIDED BY THE WALTER E. HELLER FOUNDATION AND OTHERS.

A COMPLETE LIST IS AVAILABLE FROM PBS.

AND BY VIEWERS LIKE YOU.

THANK YOU.

IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.

STARTING WITH A MONUMENT THAT MIGHT LOOK FAMILIAR, AT FIRST.

NO, IT'S NOT THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.

BILL: WELL, THEY COPIED US.

GEOFFREY: IT WAS ONE OF AMERICA'S FIRST MAJOR MONUMENTS BUILT TO COMMEMORATE THE FIRST BIG BATTLE IN OUR WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, WHICH WAS FOUGHT RIGHT HERE.

IT WAS, IN FACT, A REMARKABLE BATTLE.

GEOFFREY: TODAY WE KNOW IT AS THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL, BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY FOUGHT HERE ON BREEDS HILL, THANKS TO AN ACCIDENT OF HISTORY.

NOW THE AMERICAN COMMANDER, GENERAL ARTEMAS WARD, INSTRUCTED HIS SOLDIERS TO FORTIFY BUNKER HILL.

BUT AS THEY LOOKED AT THE SITUATION, THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT BREED'S HILL WAS ACTUALLY A BETTER LOCATION AND SO THEY CAME OVER HERE TO BREED'S HILL.

WHY DO WE STILL CALL IT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL?

WELL, WE CALL IT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL, BECAUSE WE CALL IT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.

THERE IS NO LOGICAL REASON WHATSOEVER.

GEOFFREY: THE BRITISH ADVANCED ON THE HILL.

AS THE AMERICANS' AMMUNITION DWINDLED THEIR COMMANDER SUPPOSEDLY TOLD HIS MEN.

BILL: DON'T FIRE UNTIL YOU SEE THE WHITES OF THEIR EYES.

WE'RE NOT CERTAIN THAT HE SAID THAT, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN SOMETHING MORE MONOSYLLABIC.

GEOFFREY: EVENTUALLY THE AMERICANS WERE FORCED TO RETREAT, BUT THEY INFLICTED HEAVY LOSSES ON THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL ARMY.

ON ONE SIDE IT TOLD THE AMERICANS, WE CAN STAND AGAINST THE RED COATS ON THE OTHER SIDE, THE BRITISH NOW UNDERSTOOD THAT THEY HAD A REAL WAR ON THEIR HANDS.

GEOFFREY: WITHIN TWO DECADES THE BATTLEFIELD WAS MARKED WITH A WOODEN PILLAR HONORING THE AMERICANS' MOST NOTABLE CASUALTY, DR. JOSEPH WARREN.

BUT SOON THERE WAS A PUBLIC PUSH FOR A MORE ENDURING TRIBUTE AND NOT JUST TO A SINGLE HERO.

BY THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY VETERANS WERE DYING.

AND AS PEOPLE BEGAN TO REFLECT ON THAT, THEY BEGAN TO BECOME EVER MORE ROMANTIC AND WANT TO REMEMBER THE GREAT HEROES.

GEOFFREY: WAR MONUMENTS OF THE ERA OFTEN RECOGNIZED INDIVIDUAL "GREAT MEN," PERHAPS WITH A STATUE OF A HIGH-RANKING OFFICER.

BUT THE ARCHITECT ROBERT MILLS SUGGESTED SOMETHING ELSE: IT WOULD BE A SOARING STONE OBELISK.

USED BY THE EGYPTIANS TO MARK THE GRAVES OF FALLEN HEROES, OBELISKS WERE MAKING A COMEBACK IN AMERICA.

BILL: IF YOU GO AMONGST CEMETERIES OF THE LATE EIGHTEENTH, EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY, YOU'RE LIKELY TO FIND LOTS OF OBELISKS OVER GRAVES.

GEOFFREY: BUT INSTEAD OF MEMORIALIZING ONE MAN'S SACRIFICE THIS OVERSIZED OBELISK WOULD HONOR THE HEROISM OF ALL WHO FOUGHT.

AND REALLY TO HONOR THE SPIRIT, THE COURAGE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARIES.

THE CORNERSTONE LAYING CEREMONY AND THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE DREW A CROWD OF 100,000.

AMONG THE DIGNITARIES WAS ONE OF THE GREAT HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION, THE FRENCH GENERAL LAFAYETTE.

OH, IT WAS LIKE HAVING BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN HERE!

GEOFFREY: HAULING THE 6700 TONS OF GRANITE FROM THE QUARRY REQUIRED NEW TECHNOLOGY.

THE FIRST RAILROAD IN AMERICA?

YES, BUT NOT A STEAMER THOUGH.

IT'S A RAILROAD POWERED BY HORSES.

GEOFFREY: WHEN COMPLETED, THE MONUMENT WAS A NATIONAL SENSATION.

INSIDE, A CIRCULAR STAIRCASE, 294 STEPS HIGH... ONLY 284 MORE TO GO.

GEOFFREY: ...LET TOURISTS TAKE IN A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE HISTORIC SITE.

SO WHY ARE THERE STAIRS INSIDE THE MONUMENT?

BECAUSE THERE WERE NO ELEVATORS, GEOFFREY, IN 1825.

THIS IS A MONUMENT ON A BATTLEFIELD AND SO WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO SEE THE BATTLEFIELD?

FROM A HIGH ELEVATION.

GEOFFREY: IN TIME ANOTHER OBELISK WOULD BE BUILT TO HONOR GEORGE WASHINGTON.

BUT THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT PAID TRIBUTE TO THE SACRIFICES OF HEROES WHO CAN'T BE FOUND IN HISTORY BOOKS.

[GUNFIRE] IT WAS A DEMOCRATIC MONUMENT FOR A NEW, DEMOCRATIC NATION.

JUDITH: LET'S NOT FORGET THE NEWLY-MINTED AMERICANS WAS A RAGTAG BAND.

THEY WON THE WAR AGAINST ALL ODDS.

SO IT MAKES SENSE THAT IT WASN'T JUST THE OFFICERS AND THE GENERALS WHO ARE HONORED, BUT IT WAS THE WHOLE GROUP.

THE GROUP EFFORT WAS HONORED.

GEOFFREY: WE MIGHT THINK OF IT AS A BEACON TO IMMIGRANTS LANDING ON AMERICA'S SHORES.

BUT THE STATUE OF LIBERTY WAS ORIGINALLY CONCEIVED BY A FRENCHMAN TO SEND A MESSAGE TO HIS OWN PEOPLE.

BARRY: THE IDEA WAS THAT BY BRINGING ATTENTION TO THE UNITED STATES' DEMOCRATIC ACHIEVEMENT, IT HIGHLIGHTED SOMETHING THAT DIDN'T EXIST IN FRANCE.

GEOFFREY: DOUARD LABOULAYE WAS A FRENCH COLLEGE PROFESSOR...

HE WAS A PROFESSOR THAT SPECIALIZED IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

GEOFFREY: ...WHO WAS FED UP WITH THE AUTHORITARIAN RULE OF EMPEROR NAPOLEON THE THIRD.

NAPOLEON WAS ELECTED THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC HE'S ELECTED?

YES AND THEN AFTER HE WAS PRESIDENT FOR THREE YEARS, HE DECIDED TO GET RID OF THE REPUBLIC AND CROWN HIMSELF EMPEROR.

GEOFFREY: LABOULAYE HOPED TO PROMOTE LIBERTY IN FRANCE BY SENDING A BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO AMERICA.

IN CELEBRATION OF OUR CENTENNIAL, FRANCE WOULD SEND A LIKENESS OF THE ROMAN GODDESS LIBERTY.

BARRY: THE GODDESS OF LIBERTY WAS ALREADY BEEN BUILT IN MANY OTHER STATUES, AND ARTWORK OF ALL KINDS INCLUDING THE GREAT SEAL OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC THAT LABOULAYE LOVED.

GEOFFREY: LABOULAYE'S GIFT WOULD SIMULTANEOUSLY CELEBRATE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, AND OFFER A VEILED CRITIQUE OF A LEADER WHO HAD CROWNED HIMSELF.

IT'S LIKE THIS SORT OF BIG PUBLIC RELATIONS STUNT ALMOST.

SO THIS WAS HIS INTENTION, IN A QUIET WAY, WHICH COULDN'T BE CRITICIZED BY THE GOVERNMENT, HE WOULDN'T BE ARRESTED BY THE POLICE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.

GEOFFREY: AT A DINNER PARTY LABOULAYE PITCHED HIS IDEA TO THE SCULPTOR FREDERIC AUGUSTE BARTHOLDI.

HE HAS THIS DREAM OF BUILDING SOMETHING BIG.

YEAH, HIS DREAM WAS A COLOSSAL STATUARY IN THE EGYPTIAN OR GREEK TRADITION.

GEOFFREY: BARTHOLDI ASSEMBLED THE 151-FOOT HIGH COPPER FIGURE IN A COURTYARD IN PARIS.

HER OFFICIAL NAME WAS LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD.

BARRY: THE STATUE CAUSED QUITE A SENSATION IN PARIS.

I IMAGINE.

MANY PARISIANS DID NOT WANT TO SEE HER LEAVE THE COUNTRY.

GEOFFREY: INSTEAD LADY LIBERTY WAS DISASSEMBLED, PACKED IN 210 WOODEN CRATES, AND SHIPPED ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO BE REASSEMBLED ON BEDLOE'S ISLAND IN NEW YORK HARBOR.

BARTHOLDI UNVEILED THE STATUE BEFORE A CROWD OF ONE MILLION ON OCTOBER 28, 1886.

THE BOATS WOULD HAVE BEEN ALL AROUND HERE, RIGHT?

AND WAS THERE LIKE A DRAPE THAT CAME DOWN AND-- BARRY: THE STATUES FACE WAS COVERED WITH A WONDERFUL FRENCH FLAG AND IT FELL DOWN, ENORMOUS CELEBRATION.

AMERICANS WERE AMAZED AT THIS HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT.

GEOFFREY: LIBERTY WAS NOT ONLY AN ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT, SHE WAS A TRIUMPH OF ENGINEERING.

SHE'S HELD UP BY A WROUGHT-IRON TOWER, DESIGNED BY A FRENCH BRIDGE BUILDER WHO WOULD LATER BECOME FAMOUS FOR ANOTHER TOWER.

JUDITH: GUSTAVE EIFFEL.

HE WAS A MAGICIAN OF IRON.

MOST PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE THAT UNDER HER FLOWING SKIRTS IS ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE STRUCTURES IN NEW YORK CITY.

GEOFFREY: BARTHOLDI COVERED EIFFEL'S FRAME WITH A STATUE RICH IN SYMBOLISM.

SHE HOLDS THE TABLET OF LAW, BEARING THE DATE OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN ROMAN NUMERALS.

AT HER FEET LIE THE BROKEN CHAINS OF TYRANNY.

HER TORCH BURNS WITH THE PASSION OF ENLIGHTENMENT.

JUDITH: LIBERTY IS FEMALE, SHE IS MATERNAL, SHE IS NURTURING, BUT SHE HAS TREMENDOUS STRENGTH FOR THAT POWERFUL ARM HOLDING UP THE BEACON OF LIGHT.

SO SHE IS THIS WONDERFUL MIX OF COMPASSION, WITH SHEER POWER.

GEOFFREY: ALL OF THIS CAREFULLY-CRAFTED SYMBOLISM WOULD ASSUME NEW MEANING IN 1892 WHEN NEIGHBORING ELLIS ISLAND OPENED ITS DOORS.

WE ARE NOW AT THE PEAK OF THE WAVES OF IMMIGRANTS, AND SHE BECOMES THIS GIANTESS OF COMPASSION THAT IS WELCOMING THEM TO THEIR NEW HOME.

GEOFFREY: AMERICA EMBRACED THIS NEW SYMBOLISM FOR LADY LIBERTY, ADDING TO HER BASE A TINY PLAQUE WITH A SONNET BY THE POET AND ACTIVIST EMMA LAZARUS.

BARRY: SHE'D BEEN GOING TO CASTLE GARDEN AND THEN HELPING JEWISH REFUGEES.

AND SHE SAW THE PLIGHT AND THE TROUBLES THAT PEOPLE ENCOUNTERED AND THIS DISTRESSED HER TERRIBLY, SO SHE SAW THE STATUE AS A MOTHER OF EXILES, OF HOPE AND DREAMS FOR IMMIGRANTS.

GEOFFREY: IN EVERY AGE LADY LIBERTY HAS SPOKEN TO THE HUMAN STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM IN NEW WAYS.

THIS ANCIENT ROMAN GODDESS LIBERTY WAS GENUINELY WORSHIPPED TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO BY FREED SLAVES IN ROME, IN ITALY.

AND REGENERATED INTO OUR GREAT STATUE OF LIBERTY SHOWS THE POWER OF ANCIENT SYMBOLISM, EVEN FOR PEOPLE OF OUR TIME.

GEOFFREY: YOU PROBABLY DON'T HAVE TO TRAVEL FAR TO VISIT THIS CIVIL WAR MONUMENT.

IN FACT, IT MIGHT BE RIGHT DOWN YOUR STREET BECAUSE IT'S NOT ONE STATUE, IT'S A TYPE OF MONUMENT YOU'LL FIND IN MANY AMERICAN TOWNS.

THERE WAS A KIND OF COMPETITION BETWEEN SMALL TOWNS WHERE ONE TOWN WOULD SAY, HEY, OUR NEIGHBORS HAVE ALREADY ERECTED A CIVIL WAR MONUMENT, WE'VE GOT TO GET IN ON THIS, OTHERWISE WE LOOK UNPATRIOTIC.

GEOFFREY: THE CIVIL WAR HAD TOUCHED EVERY AMERICAN TOWN.

AS MANY AS HALF OF THE NATION'S YOUNG MEN LEFT FOR BATTLE AND MORE THAN 600,000 OF THEM NEVER RETURNED.

AS AMERICA TRIED TO COME TO GRIPS WITH THE CARNAGE, IT BEGAN A MONUMENT-BUILDING BOOM.

IT WAS SUCH A DEEP WOUND THAT THE MEMORIALS WERE A WAY TO TRY TO HEAL.

GEOFFREY: SURE THERE WERE PLENTY OF GENERALS ON HORSES, BUT A NEW TYPE OF MONUMENT BEGAN TO EMERGE IN BOTH THE NORTH AND SOUTH.

THEY'RE KNOWN AS STANDING SOLDIERS: NEARLY-IDENTICAL SCULPTURES OF A LONE SOLDIER, ERECTED IN TRIBUTE TO ALL THE HOMETOWN HEROES.

IT WAS CRUCIALLY IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY IN MANY SMALL TOWNS, TO HAVE SOMEBODY THAT SYMBOLIZED EVERYBODY FROM YOUR COMMUNITY THAT MAY HAVE PARTICIPATED AND MANY WHO DIDN'T COME BACK.

GEOFFREY: MORE THAN 2,000 WERE BUILT AND THE SIMILARITIES AMONG THEM WERE NO ACCIDENT.

THE STANDING SOLDIERS WERE MASS-PRODUCED AND SOLD IN CATALOGUES BY A HANDFUL OF COMPANIES.

GEOFFREY: SO, THE NORTHERN STATES AND THE SOUTHERN STATES COULD BOTH ORDER THESE MONUMENTS OUT OF THE SAME CATALOGUE RIGHT?

YES, ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS CHANGE VERY SUBTLE DETAILS OF THE UNIFORM.

GEOFFREY: LIKE THE HATS: SLOUCH HATS ON CONFEDERATE STATUES AND KEPI HATS FOR THE UNION AND ON THE BELT BUCKLE "US" INDICATED A UNION SOLDIER WHILE "CS" SIGNIFIED A CONFEDERATE.

KIRK: THERE ARE FUNNY EXAMPLES WHERE A CONFEDERATE TOWN COMMISSIONED A MONUMENT AND THEY SAID, "WAIT A MINUTE, THAT'S A UNION SOLDIER, SO THEY SENT IT BACK!"

GEOFFREY: BUT DESPITE THE VARIATIONS, THE STATUES SHARED FAR MORE SIMILARITIES.

KIRK: SO THE FORMULA IS STANDING ERECT.

ONE FOOT BEHIND, SO THAT YOUR WEIGHT IS RESTING ON THE BACK LEG AND THEY'RE USUALLY GRIPPING, SOME KIND OF WEAPON OR TOOL, IN THIS CASE IT'S THE RAMMER OR THE SPONGE THAT WAS USED TO CLEAN THE CANNON AND RELOAD IT.

GEOFFREY: AND TO EMPHASIZE THEIR EVERY MAN QUALITY, THE FACES WERE NONDESCRIPT.

I MEAN HE LOOKS LIKE A KID.

I MEAN THEY REALLY-- KIRK: YES, HE IS YOUNG AND THEY'RE USUALLY VERY YOUNG.

SO HE-- YEAH, HE LOOKS LIKE HE COULD BE STILL A TEENAGER AND MANY OF THEM WERE.

GEOFFREY: THESE STATUES CONTINUED TO BE BUILT LONG AFTER THE WAR, ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH WHERE THEY TOOK ON NEW MEANING.

ERIKA: A LOT OF THE CIVIL WAR MEMORIALS IN THE SOUTH WERE ERECTED IN THE FIRST PART OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, WHICH JUST HAPPENS TO BE THE PERIOD OF JIM CROW STARTING UP.

SO THEY'RE VERY MUCH ABOUT ASSERTIONS OF WHITE SUPERIORITY AND BLACK SERVITUDE AT A MOMENT OF CHANGED RACIAL RELATIONS IN AMERICA.

LONNIE: FOR MANY PEOPLE MANY OF THESE MONUMENTS WERE REALLY SAYING, "YOU ARE NOT GOING TO FORCE US TO CHANGE.

"THAT WE WILL ALWAYS CELEBRATE WHAT WE BELIEVE ARE THE RIGHTS AND IDEALS OF A WHITE SOUTHERNER."

[CROWD CHEERS] GEOFFREY: TODAY THESE CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS REMAIN AS CONTROVERSIAL AS EVER AS SOME COMMUNITIES HAVE FOUGHT TO PRESERVE THEM... OTHERS HAVE REMOVED THESE SYMBOLS OF A DIVIDED NATION.

KIRK: THE FACT THAT THIS IS A PROBLEM NOW, IT HAS TO BE DEALT WITH.

WHEREAS IN THE PAST IT WASN'T A PROBLEM BECAUSE THE OTHER SIDE, AFRICAN-AMERICANS, HAD NO SAY IN THE PROCESS.

THEY WERE COMPLETELY SHUT OUT.

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT REALLY JUST ONE PARTICULAR POPULATION THAT WAS COMMEMORATING ITSELF AND ITS OWN POWER AND WE HAVE A LARGER COMMUNITY THAN THAT THAT WE'RE ACCOUNTABLE TO.

I FELT VERY STRONGLY, AS SOMEBODY WHO IS A HISTORIAN, WHO STRUGGLED EARLY IN MY CAREER BECAUSE SO MUCH OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY WAS ERASED, THAT I WOULD NEVER WANT TO SEE ANY HISTORY ERASED.

WHAT I WOULD WANT TO SEE, IS I'D WANT TO SEE HISTORY CONTEXTUALIZED.

I LOVE THE NOTION OF TAKING STATUES, IF YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE THEM DOWN, AND PUT THEM TOGETHER AND EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE, NOT WHAT YOU THINK THEY MEAN, WHAT THEY ACTUALLY SYMBOLIZE.

GEOFFREY: IN AN ERA OF RACIST STEREOTYPES THIS MONUMENT WAS REVOLUTIONARY NOT JUST FOR WHOM IT HONORED, BUT HOW.

WHEN THIS SCULPTURE WAS UNVEILED, IT WAS A FIRST.

AND IT SAID TO THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY, "YOU ARE RECOGNIZED AS MEN AND YOU'RE UNITED STATES SOLDIERS."

GEOFFREY: IN THE FIRST YEARS OF THE CIVIL WAR AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE BARRED FROM FIGHTING IN THE UNION ARMY, BUT THAT CHANGED ON JANUARY 1, 1863.

A PARAGRAPH IN THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION THREW OPEN THE DOORS TO BLACK SOLDIERS.

FOR MANY PEOPLE, FIGHTING WAS REALLY A WAY TO STRIKE A BLOW AGAINST SLAVERY AND ALSO TO PROVE YOUR WORTH BY FIGHTING IN THE MILITARY.

GEOFFREY: IN MASSACHUSETTS, MORE THAN A THOUSAND MEN RUSHED TO SIGN UP WITH THE 54TH REGIMENT.

AMONG THEM, WAS THE GREAT-GRANDFATHER OF MICHAEL COBLYN.

HE'S REALLY GOT QUITE A SENSE OF CONVICTION.

ABSOLUTELY.

YOU KNOW, HE WANTS TO BE PART OF THIS.

HE WAS 16 YEARS OLD AND HE UNDERSTANDS THAT IT'S NOT ABOUT ANY KIND OF INDIVIDUAL GLORY; IT'S REALLY ABOUT HIS COMMUNITY, HIS PEOPLE, AND HIS RACE.

GEOFFREY: THE BLACK REGIMENT WAS LED RELUCTANTLY BY A WHITE COLONEL NAMED ROBERT GOULD SHAW.

THOUGH BORN INTO A PROMINENT FAMILY OF ABOLITIONISTS, SHAW QUESTIONED WHETHER AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE COMPETENT TO SERVE.

NOT EVERY OFFICER WANTED TO LEAD A BLACK REGIMENT.

MANY FELT THAT THE BLACK SOLDIERS WERE INFERIOR, MANY FELT THAT IT WASN'T THE GREAT STEPPING STONE TO YOUR OWN CAREER.

GEOFFREY: SHAW HAD SPENT LITTLE TIME WITH AFRICAN-AMERICANS, BUT AS HE GOT TO KNOW HIS SOLDIERS HIS RACISM TRANSFORMED INTO RESPECT.

GEOFFREY: WHAT DO YOU THINK HE LEARNED?

MICHAEL: THAT THESE ARE MEN, RIGHT?

THESE ARE MEN OF EQUAL FEELINGS, EQUAL SENSE OF PATRIOTISM, AND HE'S WILLING TO DIE WITH THOSE MEN.

GEOFFREY: AND SURE ENOUGH, ROBERT GOULD SHAW WOULD DIE ALONGSIDE MORE THAN 50 OF HIS MEN AT FORT WAGNER.

MICHAEL: HE VOLUNTEERS THAT REGIMENT TO GO.

AND HE HAD A PREMONITION THAT HE WAS NOT GOING TO SURVIVE.

HE'S BURIED IN A MASS GRAVE AND HIS PARENTS ARE INVITED TO SEND THE BODY BACK, AND THEY SAY, "HE COULD NOT BE BURIED IN A BETTER PLACE THAN WITH HIS MEN."

GEOFFREY: YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER ACTUALLY SURVIVED.

MICHAEL: HE SURVIVED.

AND FOUGHT AT MORE OF THESE BATTLES?

AND FOUGHT ADDITIONAL BATTLES.

GEOFFREY: THE JOB OF IMMORTALIZING THE 54TH WOULD FALL TO A SUPERSTAR OF AMERICAN ART.

AUGUSTUS SAINT-GAUDENS IS THE PREEMINENT AMERICAN SCULPTOR OF THE 19TH CENTURY.

GEOFFREY: BUT LIKE ROBERT GOULD SHAW, ST. GAUDENS HELD HIS SHARE OF RACIAL PREJUDICE.

THE ARTIST RECRUITED AFRICAN-AMERICAN MEN FROM THE STREETS OUTSIDE HIS NEW YORK STUDIO TO SERVE AS MODELS FOR THE MONUMENT.

HE WROTE ABOUT THESE MODELS IN VERY DISPARAGING KIND OF TRADITIONALLY STEREOTYPICAL WAYS, SIMPLE MINDED, SUPERSTITIOUS.

GEOFFREY: ST. GAUDENS DECIDED TO PUT THE WHITE COLONEL FRONT AND CENTER.

HIS INSPIRATION WAS A PAINTING OF ANOTHER MILITARY LEADER.

KIRK: HE HAD THIS FAMOUS FRENCH PAINTING OF NAPOLEON WITH HIS TROOPS, SO THAT WAS HIS INSPIRATION, WAS THE IDEA OF THE GREAT MAN AT THE FRONT OF THE MARCH.

GEOFFREY: BUT AS SAINT-GAUDENS SCULPTED THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN FIGURES HIS VISION EVOLVED.

WHEREAS, NAPOLEON'S MEN RECEDE INTO THE BACKGROUND, SAINT-GAUDENS GIVES THE BLACK TROOPS A STARRING ROLE.

KIRK: THE ARTIST IN HIM WAS KIND OF IN BATTLE AGAINST THE PERSON THAT HE WAS AND THE ARTIST IN HIM WAS REALLY INTERESTED IN THE ACTUAL FACES OF THE MEN.

IF YOU LOOK AT THE MONUMENT CAREFULLY YOU'LL SEE THAT EACH FACE IS DIFFERENT.

GEOFFREY: IT WAS UNPRECEDENTED: A REALISTIC TABLEAU OF A DIVERSE GROUP OF BLACK MEN IN AN ERA WHEN MOST REPRESENTATIONS OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE CARICATURES.

LONNIE: USUALLY THE DEPICTION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IS STEREOTYPICAL, IF THEY'RE EVEN VISIBLE, AND SUDDENLY TO HAVE, WHAT I WOULD ARGUE, IS THE FIRST MONUMENT IN AMERICA THAT WAS A TRUE REPRESENTATION OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE BECAME EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS AROUND THE COUNTRY.

MICHAEL: THIS IS SPECIAL TO OUR FAMILY, IN A LOT OF WAYS, I THINK WE'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF IT AS VERY PERSONAL, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF FAMILIES THAT THIS REPRESENTS.

GEOFFREY: OUR NEXT MONUMENT IS TO THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR, BUT YOU HAVE TO LOOK PRETTY HARD TO FIND ANY MENTION OF SLAVERY.

GEOFFREY: THAT'S BECAUSE THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL WAS BUILT TO CELEBRATE NATIONAL UNITY IN THE 1920'S, A TIME WHEN WE WERE BITTERLY DIVIDED OVER RACE.

THIS IS A TIME IN AMERICA WHERE THE KU KLUX KLAN IS REBUILDING, THERE'S STRONG SENSE OF ANTI-BLACK, ANTI-IMMIGRANT.

SO TO ACTUALLY CRAFT SOMETHING THAT SAYS, "LET US REMEMBER AND EMBRACE THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN EXPERIENCE," WAS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

GEOFFREY: THE MEMORIAL WAS BORN OUT OF THE MCMILLAN PLAN, AN AMBITIOUS PROPOSAL THAT EXPANDED THE NATIONAL MALL OVER A MUDFLAT.

ALL THAT LAND THAT WE'RE STANDING ON WAS BASICALLY MARSHLAND, IT WAS FILLED IN AND WHAT IT BECAME IS A KIND OF A CANVAS TO PROJECT THIS WHOLE SYMBOLIC LANDSCAPE.

GEOFFREY: LINCOLN'S LOCATION WAS NO ACCIDENT.

HIS MEMORIAL WAS RIGHT ACROSS THE RIVER FROM VIRGINIA AND THE MANSION OF THE CONFEDERATE GENERAL, ROBERT E. LEE.

A NEW MEMORIAL BRIDGE WOULD CONNECT LEE'S HOUSE TO LINCOLN'S MEMORIAL.

IT WAS REALLY PART OF THE SYMBOLIC WAY TO SAY THE NORTH AND SOUTH ARE FINALLY BACK TOGETHER.

GEOFFREY: AN ARTISTIC DREAM TEAM WOULD DESIGN THE MEMORIAL, SCULPTOR DANIEL CHESTER FRENCH AND ARCHITECT HENRY BACON.

FOR THE BUILDING, BACON EMULATED A GREEK TEMPLE.

THE GREEKS, AFTER ALL, WERE SAID TO HAVE INVENTED DEMOCRACY.

AND INSIDE THEIR TEMPLES THEY WOULD PUT A STATUE OF A GOD.

AND SO THE PARTHENON IS RECREATED ON THE NATIONAL MALL.

AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN, CLOSEST THING WE HAVE TO AN AMERICAN GOD.

GEOFFREY: THIS ANCIENT-LOOKING TEMPLE IS ACTUALLY QUITE HIGH-TECH.

IT SEEMS TO SIT ON AN EARTHEN MOUND, BUT IT ACTUALLY HAS A STEEL AND CONCRETE FOUNDATION AND IT'S HELD IN PLACE BY PIERS THAT DESCEND 65 FEET.

THOMAS: REMEMBER THAT THIS WAS ALL RECLAIMED LAND ON TIDAL MARSHES AND TO SUPPORT THIS GIANT MARBLE TEMPLE AND A HUGE STATUE, IT'S SUPPORTED BY DEEP CAISSON TYPE FOUNDATIONS THAT GO ALL THE WAY DOWN TO BEDROCK.

GEOFFREY: ABOVE, THE 38,000-TON MONUMENT COMBINES STONE FROM SIX STATES, ON BOTH SIDES OF THE MASON-DIXON LINE.

THOMAS: I THINK EVERY ASPECT OF THE DESIGN IS ABOUT REINFORCING THIS IDEA OF THE RESTORATION OF THE UNION.

GEOFFREY: THE MARBLE STATUE INSIDE IS NOT WHAT ITS SCULPTOR INITIALLY IMAGINED.

THOMAS: AND THERE YOU ARE.

GEOFFREY: THERE HE IS!

GEOFFREY: DANIEL CHESTER FRENCH PLANNED TO BUILD A BRONZE FIGURE, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN ONLY 10 FEET TALL.

BUT THEN, HE PUT A MOCKUP IN THE MASSIVE TEMPLE.

WHY DIDN'T THEY GO WITH THAT?

BECAUSE I THINK IF YOU LOOK AT IT, IT'S ACTUALLY THE SCALE.

GEOFFREY: SO FRENCH DECIDED TO GO BIG, 19-FEET TALL, ATOP AN 11-FOOT PEDESTAL.

BUT DESPITE THE GODLIKE MAGNITUDE, FRENCH CAPTURES THE PRESIDENT'S HUMANITY.

KIRK: WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE STATUE FROM AFAR, HE LOOKS THOUGHTFUL, BUT WHEN YOU GET UP CLOSE AND SEE THOSE HANDS, YOU SEE THE TENSION, THE TERRIBLE WEIGHT OF WHAT HE WAS DOING, WHICH WAS TO SEND ALL THESE MEN TO THEIR DEATHS.

GEOFFREY: ON EITHER SIDE OF LINCOLN ARE TEXTS FROM TWO OF HIS MOST FAMOUS SPEECHES: THE SECOND INAUGURAL AND THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS.

BUT THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION IS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND AND THERE'S BARELY ANY REFERENCE TO SLAVERY.

LONNIE: THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL IS REALLY AMERICA'S DEFINITION OF WHAT THEY THOUGHT THE CIVIL WAR WAS, WHICH WAS A WAR TO BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER WHO PUT THAT ASIDE TO BRING THE UNION BACK TOGETHER.

AND BY EXPLORING RACE, YOU PROBLEMATIZE IT, YOU ADD NUANCE AND COMPLEXITY, AND MOST MEMORIALS ARE NOT ABOUT NUANCE AND COMPLEXITY.

GEOFFREY: AT THE DEDICATION, IN 1922, SEATING WAS SEGREGATED AND SPEECHES GLOSSED OVER THE CAUSE OF THE CIVIL WAR, BUT THE MEMORIAL'S PLACE IN AMERICAN LIFE TRANSFORMED ALMOST OVERNIGHT ON EASTER SUNDAY, 1939.

MY COUNTRY... WHEN MARIAN ANDERSON WAS BARRED FROM PERFORMING AT CONSTITUTION HALL BECAUSE OF HER RACE, THE ROOSEVELT ADMINISTRATION ARRANGED FOR HER TO SING HERE AND THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL SOON BECAME A STAGE FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

I HAVE A DREAM... LONNIE: AND THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL BECOMES A SITE OF PROTEST, OR A SITE OF PROMISE, DEPENDING ON YOUR POLITICS, RIGHT?

IT BECOMES THE PLACE THAT SAYS TO AMERICA, WE'RE ASKING YOU TO FULFILL THE PROMISE OF LINCOLN.

GEOFFREY: THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL IS NOT SO MUCH A TRIBUTE TO ONE MAN, IT'S A MONUMENT TO THE VALUES WE ASCRIBE TO HIM, WHICH HAVE A WAY OF CHANGING OVER TIME.

EVEN TODAY, THAT'S ACTUALLY THE POWER OF THIS MEMORIAL, IS THAT IT CONTINUES TO EVOLVE AS WE DO AND MOVE FORWARD THROUGH OUR HISTORY.

GEOFFREY: IT DOESN'T COMMEMORATE AN IMPORTANT EVENT OR MARK A HISTORIC BATTLEFIELD.

MOUNT RUSHMORE WAS BUILT FOR ONE REASON, TO DRAW TOURISTS.

AND SO, THIS IS LIKE THE WORLD'S BIGGEST ROADSIDE ATTRACTION?

DAVID: YEAH, THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT.

WE'LL STOP HERE, THE NEXT STOP IS, I WANNA GO SEE THE BIGGEST BALL OF TWINE.

[GEOFFREY LAUGHS] GEOFFREY: THIS WAS THE VISION OF DOANE ROBINSON, SOUTH DAKOTA'S STATE HISTORIAN.

HE SAW THAT WITH THE RISE OF THE AUTOMOBILE A NEW KIND OF TOURISM WAS TAKING OFF.

THE ROAD TRIP WAS BECOMING AN AMERICAN PASTIME, BUT ROBINSON KNEW IT WOULD TAKE SOMETHING MONUMENTAL TO GET TOURISTS TO DRIVE ALL THE WAY TO SOUTH DAKOTA.

PEOPLE WILL COME AND THEY'LL FIND SOMETHING SPECTACULAR BEYOND THE SCENERY.

THEY'LL COME AND SPEND MORE TIME, SPEND MORE MONEY.

GEOFFREY: FLIPPING THROUGH THE NEWSPAPER, ROBINSON FOUND HIS ANSWER.

ON STONE MOUNTAIN OUTSIDE ATLANTA, AN ARTIST NAMED GUTZON BORGLUM WAS CARVING A MASSIVE MEMORIAL TO HEROES OF THE CONFEDERACY.

THE CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL SEEMED TO BE BORGLUM'S TICKET TO FAME SO HE GOT FRIENDLY WITH SOME OF ITS BACKERS.

DAVID: DID HE ATTEND KLAN MEETINGS?

I THINK GUTZON BORGLUM WOULD ATTEND ANY MEETING THAT HE THINKS THERE'S A CHANCE OF GETTING MONEY TO DO WHAT HE WANTS TO DO.

GEOFFREY: AS STONE MOUNTAIN GOT BOGGED DOWN WITH FINANCIAL SQUABBLES, BORGLUM JUMPED AT THE CHANCE TO DO SOMETHING EVEN BIGGER IN SOUTH DAKOTA.

DAVID: THE CALL CAME FROM DOAN ROBINSON AND BORGLUM GETS EXCITED AND SAID, "YES, I WANNA DO THIS."

GEOFFREY: DOAN ROBINSON TOOK BORGLUM TO SEE THESE GRANITE NEEDLES.

GEOFFREY: DOAN ROBINSON'S IDEA WAS TO CARVE IMAGES INTO THE NEEDLES, BUT NOT PRESIDENTS NECESSARILY.

NO, HE SAW WESTERN HEROES: GEORGE CUSTER, BUFFALO BILL CODY.

GEOFFREY: BUT BORGLUM ENVISIONED A MONUMENT TO AMERICA ITSELF FEATURING PRESIDENTS WHO REPRESENTED THE FOUNDATION, PRESERVATION, AND EXPANSION OF THE UNITED STATES.

SO WHY TEDDY ROOSEVELT?

BORGLUM JUST LIKED HIM.

DAVID: BORGLUM LIKED HIM BECAUSE HE SAW THIS ROBUST, KINDRED SPIRIT OF THE WEST.

GEOFFREY: THOUGH BORGLUM DID CONSIDER PUTTING THE PRESIDENTS ON THOSE SPIRES, HE EVENTUALLY SETTLED ON NEARBY MOUNT RUSHMORE, A FIVE HUNDRED FOOT SHEET OF FINE-GRAINED GRANITE.

BUT WHERE BORGLUM SAW A PERFECT CANVAS, NATIVE AMERICANS SAW HALLOWED GROUND.

PEOPLE SAY THAT IT'S BEEN DESECRATED BY CARVING WHITE LEADERS ON THE MOUNTAIN BECAUSE ALL THE BLACK HILLS IS CONSIDERED SACRED LAND.

GEOFFREY: DESPITE OBJECTIONS, WORKERS BEGAN BLASTING OUT THE SIX-STORY TALL SCULPTURE.

DYNAMITE PROVED A REMARKABLY PRECISE CARVING TOOL, GETTING TO WITHIN 3 INCHES OF THE FINAL FORMS.

JACKHAMMERS FINISHED THE JOB.

ORIGINALLY JEFFERSON WAS SUPPOSED TO BE TO THE LEFT OF WASHINGTON, BUT AFTER STARTING WORK, CREWS FOUND THERE WASN'T ENOUGH SOLID STONE THERE.

DAVID: BORGLUM JUST BLASTS THE JEFFERSON HEAD OFF, ABOUT $10,000 DOWN THE ROCK PILE AND SO THEN THEY START JEFFERSON ON THE OTHER SIDE.

GEOFFREY: THE SHIFT PUSHED LINCOLN TO THE RIGHT OF ROOSEVELT, ON ROCK WHERE BORGLUM HAD WANTED TO ETCH A SHORT HISTORY OF THE NATION.

BORGLUM ALSO HAD TO DITCH HIS IDEA FOR A HALL OF RECORDS HOLDING DOCUMENTS FROM AMERICAN HISTORY, THE ONLY EVIDENCE OF IT TODAY IS A HIDDEN ROOM BEHIND LINCOLN'S HEAD.

AND THEN, THERE WAS BORGLUM'S MOST PAINFUL CONCESSION YET.

IT LOOKS LIKE BORGLUM ORIGINALLY INTENDED TO CARVE THEM ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE WAIST?

DAVID: YES, JUST AS THIS MODEL SHOWS, BUT BY THE TIME 1941 ROLLED AROUND, JUST THE HEADS WERE EXPOSED AND SOME OF THE COLLARS AND THEY WERE OUT OF MONEY AND OUT OF TIME.

GEOFFREY: ON HIS WAY TO LOBBY CONGRESS FOR MORE MONEY, BORGLUM DIED SUDDENLY AND HIS SON DECLARED THE UNFINISHED MONUMENT COMPLETE.

THE 400,000 VISITORS WHO DESCENDED ON MOUNT RUSHMORE THAT FIRST YEAR, WERE NONE THE WISER, THOUGH NOT EVERYONE WAS SATISFIED.

IS CRAZY HORSE, IN SOME WAY, A RESPONSE TO MOUNT RUSHMORE?

I THINK SO.

GEOFFREY: ALREADY 70 YEARS IN THE MAKING, THE MEMORIAL, TO THE NATIVE AMERICAN LEADER CRAZY HORSE WILL SOAR 500 FEET TALLER THAN THE HEADS ON NEARBY MOUNT RUSHMORE.

LULA RED CLOUD: SOME OF THE LEADERS GOT TOGETHER-- THEY WANTED AN INDIAN PERSON HONORED TO BALANCE OUT HONORING OF THE WHITE MAN HERE.

WHY NOT HONOR THE AMERICAN INDIAN TOO.

GEOFFREY: CRAZY HORSE AND MOUNT RUSHMORE MAY PUT DIFFERENT FACES ON AMERICAN HISTORY, YET BOTH FULFILL DOAN ROBINSON'S DREAM.

SOUTH DAKOTA IS HOME TO NOT ONE, BUT TWO MONUMENTAL WORKS OF ART THAT ARE PLACES OF PILGRIMAGE FOR AMERICAN TOURISTS.

WHY DO YOU THINK THREE MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR COME HERE?

WELL, IT'S ICONIC, THEY HAVE TO SEE IT AS THEY TOUR AMERICA.

THEY MUST STOP HERE.

ON THE OTHER HAND, HOPEFULLY WHEN THEY'RE HERE THEY GET THAT OTHER MEANING OUT OF IT THAT IS ABOUT THE IDEALS OF AMERICA, AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, THE GOOD THINGS THAT WE HAVE BEEN AS A REPUBLIC.

GEOFFREY: TODAY IT'S AN ICONIC WORK OF ART, A MEMORIAL, AND A GATEWAY TO THE WEST.

BUT THIS MONUMENT STARTED AS AN EXCUSE TO TEAR DOWN A NEIGHBORHOOD.

SO A LOT OF ITS RIGHT UNDER US RIGHT NOW?

A LOT OF ITS STILL HERE.

WE'RE STANDING ON THE RUBBLE...

RIGHT.

...OF THAT DISTRICT?

RIGHT.

GEOFFREY: TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE GATEWAY ARCH LANDED ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVERFRONT, YOU FIRST HAVE TO SIFT THROUGH THAT RUBBLE.

IF WE HAD BEEN RIGHT HERE IN THE 1930S, WHAT WAS HERE?

WELL, WE WOULD HAVE SEEN THE OLD HEART OF THE CITY OF SAINT LOUIS, THE RIVERFRONT WAREHOUSE DISTRICT.

GEOFFREY: IN THE DEPTHS OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION, A LOCAL LAWYER NAMED LUTHER ELY SMITH SUGGESTED DEMOLISHING IT ALL.

THE BUILDINGS WERE AGING AND THE RESIDENTS WERE LARGELY AFRICAN-AMERICAN.

CITY LEADERS HOPED ST. LOUIS COULD CREATE JOBS AND BOOST REAL ESTATE VALUES BY BUILDING SOME SORT OF MEMORIAL HERE.

LIKE MAYBE TO THOMAS JEFFERSON AND WESTERN EXPANSION.

THIS WAS, AFTER ALL, THE GATEWAY TO THE WEST.

AND JEFFERSON, HE'D GO OVER WELL WITH THE WHITE HOUSE.

EVERYONE KNEW THAT JEFFERSON WAS FDR'S FAVORITE PRESIDENT.

GEOFFREY: ROOSEVELT FUNDED THE PROJECT AND NAMED THE WATERFRONT DISTRICT AMERICA'S FIRST NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE.

THEN, EVERY BUILDING WAS BULLDOZED.

BOB: WHAT WE HAD WAS A NATIONAL TREASURE, THE BUILDINGS THAT WERE HERE, BUT WE REPLACED IT WITH AN INTERNATIONAL ICON.

GEOFFREY: BUT HOW DID A MEMORIAL TO JEFFERSON AND THE WEST COME TO LOOK LIKE THIS?

IT STARTED WITH A HOTLY- CONTESTED DESIGN COMPETITION.

THAT COMPETITION WAS REALLY AMAZING.

I MEAN THE FIRST PRIZE WAS $40,000.

GEOFFREY: A FAMOUS NAME IN ARCHITECTURE WON, SORT OF.

ELIEL SAARINEN WAS A WELL-KNOWN ARCHITECT FROM FINLAND WHO LED AN ART SCHOOL NEAR DETROIT.

HE RECEIVED A CONGRATULATORY TELEGRAM IN SEPTEMBER OF 1947.

REED: THEY HAVE A BIG CELEBRATION, THE FAMILY OPENS BOTTLES OF CHAMPAGNE, EVERYBODY IS VERY EXCITED THAT ELIEL HAS WON.

GEOFFREY: BUT THE TELEGRAM HAD BEEN SENT TO THE WRONG SAARINEN.

THE WINNER OF THE COMPETITION WAS ELIEL'S 37-YEAR-OLD SON EERO.

OOPS.

AND THE FATHER, GENTLEMAN THAT HE WAS, GRABBED ANOTHER BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE AND OPENED IT AND THEY ALL TOASTED EERO.

GEOFFREY: WHILE THE YOUNG ARCHITECT'S FUTURISTIC DESIGN WAS SURPRISING, HIS CHOICE OF AN ARCH MADE PERFECT SENSE.

IT WAS NOT ONLY A SYMBOLIC GATEWAY TO THE WEST, BUT A NOD TO THOMAS JEFFERSON HIMSELF.

OF COURSE, THOMAS JEFFERSON IS THE FATHER OF AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE AND DRAWS VERY, VERY HEAVILY ON GREEK AND ROMAN PRECEDENTS.

GEOFFREY: BUT SAARINEN GAVE THIS ANCIENT FORM A TIMELESS TWIST.

REED: IT'S A VERY SIMPLE GESTURE THAT EVERYONE CAN SEE AND UNDERSTAND IMMEDIATELY.

IT DOESN'T ASK YOU TO REMEMBER ANY PARTICULAR PERIOD OF TIME OR ANOTHER.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO KNOW GREEK OR ROMAN OR CHINESE OR ANY OTHER KIND OF ARCHITECTURE, YOU JUST HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS ARCH AND UNDERSTAND IT AS SOMETHING THAT FORMS A GATE THROUGH WHICH YOU CAN PASS.

GEOFFREY: THE LEGS WERE BUILT ONE STEEL SEGMENT AT A TIME, 142 IN ALL.

THEY WOULD HAVE TO MEET PERFECTLY IN THE MIDDLE, BUT IN THE MEANTIME, EACH LEG WAS ENGINEERED TO STAND ON ITS OWN!

THE LEGS WERE OFFICIALLY JOINED ON OCTOBER 28, 1965.

THAT LAST TRIANGULAR PIECE JUST SETS RIGHT IN THERE.

YEAH, THERE WAS ONLY A TWO FOOT GAP.

SO THEY HAD TO TAKE JACKS AND JACK THE TWO LEGS APART TO FIT THAT LAST PIECE IN PLACE.

[MUSIC] GEOFFREY: OH, MY GOD, THIS IS NOT FOR THE CLAUSTROPHOBIC.

BOB: RIGHT.

GEOFFREY: AND JUST AS AT BUNKER HILL, TOURISTS COULD HEAD TO THE TOP TO TAKE IN VIEWS.

I CAN FEEL MY EARS POPPING.

YEAH, WELL, WE JUST CAME UP 630 FEET.

GEOFFREY: WHY DID SAARINEN WANT PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO COME UP TO THE TOP OF THE ARCH?

THEY REALLY WANTED PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO LOOK OUT OVER THE CITY, BE ABLE TO SEE THE BEGINNINGS OF WESTWARD EXPANSION WHILE LOOKING OUT TOWARD THE WEST.

GEOFFREY: I CAN SEE IT!

I CAN SEE THE WEST!

YEAH!

GEOFFREY: WHERE THERE WAS ONCE A HISTORIC NEIGHBORHOOD, EERO SAARINEN HAD HONORED THE PAST WITH A NEW KIND OF MONUMENT FOR THE MODERN AGE.

IT'S THE FIRST TIME SOMEONE STEPS OUTSIDE THE TRADITION OF NEOCLASSICAL EXPRESSION OF MEMORIALIZING AND IT SHOCKS PEOPLE.

IT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, WITHOUT DOUBT.

GEOFFREY: THIS MONUMENT WAS THE DREAM OF ONE VIETNAM VETERAN WHO WAS GRIEVING FOR HIS FALLEN FRIENDS.

JAN: I WAS VERY AFFECTED BY TWELVE GUYS WHO WERE KILLED IN JANUARY OF 1970.

I WAS WITH THEM AND-- THEY DIDN'T REALLY DIE FOR NOTHING, IN ONE SENSE, BECAUSE THE TRAGEDY OF THAT, I THINK, HELPED CREATE THIS MEMORIAL.

GEOFFREY: JAN SCRUGGS HAD JUST GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL WHEN HE ENLISTED IN THE ARMY AND SHIPPED OFF TO VIETNAM.

DURING HIS ONE YEAR TOUR OF DUTY, HALF OF HIS COMPANY WAS KILLED OR WOUNDED, INCLUDING JAN HIMSELF.

JAN: I'M NINETEEN YEARS OLD, TWELVE MILES FROM SOME RUBBER PLANTATION, AND I PUT MY HAND LIKE THIS AND MY HAND COMES JUST FILLED WITH BLOOD.

SO I WIGGLED MY TOES BECAUSE IF YOU WIGGLE YOUR TOES IT MEANS YOU'RE NOT PARALYZED.

SO AT LEAST I'M NOT PARALYZED.

GEOFFREY: JAN SUFFERED PSYCHOLOGICAL WOUNDS AS WELL, BUT HE DIDN'T FULLY COME TO GRIPS WITH HIS TRAUMA UNTIL YEARS LATER, WHEN HE WATCHED "THE DEER HUNTER".

[EXPLOSION] THE MOVIE BROUGHT BACK BURIED MEMORIES.

WHEN I SAW THE MOVIE, ALL THAT CAME BACK TO 1970 WHERE ALL MY TEN, TWELVE BUDDIES WERE ALL KILLED.

GEOFFREY: THE NEXT MORNING HE AWOKE WITH A BOLD IDEA.

JAN: SO I CALLED MY BOSS UP AND I SAID, "LOOK, I'M GOING TO BUILD A NATIONAL MEMORIAL IN THE CENTER OF WASHINGTON D.C." HE SAID, "WELL, WE ALL NEED A MENTAL HEALTH DAY FROM TIME TO TIME.

GEOFFREY: JAN HOPED TO BUILD SOMETHING THAT WOULD HEAL BOTH HIS FELLOW VETS AND THE NATION.

THE BROADER BENEFIT THAT I HOPED WOULD HAPPEN WAS THAT THIS WOULD SORT OF SERVE AS A SYMBOL OF UNITY AND RECONCILIATION.

GEOFFREY: HE STARTED A MEMORIAL FUND WITH $28,000 OF HIS OWN MONEY.

WITHIN THREE YEARS, HE'D RAISED MORE THAN $8 MILLION AND CONGRESS DESIGNATED A PRIME LOCATION ON THE NATIONAL MALL.

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING THE MONUMENT WOULD BE?

I THINK WHEN I STARTED THIS, I KIND OF THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AN OBELISK.

GEOFFREY: JAN LEFT THE ACTUAL DESIGN UP TO CONTESTANTS IN A INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION.

HE ONLY HAD ONE STIPULATION.

YOU WERE VERY CLEAR, YOU WANTED ALL THE NAMES, RIGHT?

EVERY TEAM OF DESIGNERS HAD TO HAVE A DIFFERENT WAY TO SHOW THE NAMES.

GEOFFREY: AFTER A BLIND REVIEW OF NEARLY 1,500 ENTRIES, THE JURY'S UNANIMOUS CHOICE WAS A SUBMISSION KNOWN ONLY AS NUMBER 1026.

ITS ARTIST TURNED OUT TO BE A TOTAL UNKNOWN.

REED: MAYA LIN WAS AN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT AT YALE.

SHE WAS STUDYING ARCHITECTURE, BUT SHE'S NOT AN ARCHITECT AND SHE'S NOT EVEN OUT OF COLLEGE.

SHE'S A KID.

GEOFFREY: MAYA LIN'S DESIGN BROKE WITH TWO CENTURIES OF TRADITION.

AMERICAN WAR MONUMENTS HAD TYPICALLY BEEN WHITE, SOARING, AND TRIUMPHAL.

REED: IT'S DARK, IT'S BLACK, IT IS COMPLETELY ABSTRACT, IT'S A PIECE OF ABSTRACT ART.

SHE PUTS IT INTO THE LAND.

IT DOESN'T TELL YOU HOW TO GRIEVE, IT DOESN'T TELL YOU HOW TO CELEBRATE, ALL OF THAT IS OPEN TO INTERPRETATION.

GEOFFREY: LIN'S DESIGN WAS IMMEDIATELY CONDEMNED BY VETERAN'S GROUPS AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

LURKING BEHIND MUCH OF IT WAS RACE.

MAYA LIN IS ASIAN AND THE MEMORIAL IS TO AMERICAN SOLDIERS WHO FELL IN ASIA.

AND SO, THIS WAS MORE THAN MOST PEOPLE COULD WRAP THEIR MINDS AROUND.

GEOFFREY: TO APPEASE CRITICS, A MORE TRADITIONAL STATUE WAS ADDED ALONG WITH A FLAGPOLE.

AND THE MEMORIAL WAS DEDICATED ON NOVEMBER 13, 1982.

GEOFFREY: WHAT WAS THAT DAY LIKE FOR YOU?

TEARS, JOY, HUGS, VETERANS MEETING EACH OTHER, HOW DO YOU TOP THAT?

I MAXED OUT AT AGE 32.

GEOFFREY: THE MEMORIAL DRAWS VISITORS DOWN FROM STREET LEVEL TOWARD A QUIET, CONTEMPLATIVE PLACE, AS THE WALL RISES ABOVE THEM.

REED: AND IT ALLOWS YOU TO PUT YOURSELF RIGHT UP AGAINST IT.

A BIG MEMORIAL ON A PEDESTAL, YOU CAN'T EVER BE A PART OF IT.

YOU'RE ONLY LOOKING UP AT IT, YOU'RE NOT EVER IN IT, IN THIS ONE YOU'RE IN THE MEMORIAL.

GEOFFREY: THE 58,000 NAMES ARE NOT LISTED ALPHABETICALLY, BUT IN THE ORDER THEY DIED OR DISAPPEARED.

JAN: SO WHEN I GO TO MY EVENT WHERE MY BUDDIES WERE ALL KILLED, THEY'RE ALL RIGHT THERE.

GEOFFREY: THE POLISHED BLACK GRANITE INVITES DEEPER REFLECTION.

JAN: ALL OF A SUDDEN I'M LOOKING AT MY FRIEND, WHO WAS KILLED IN THIS WAR AND I SEE MY OWN FACE.

GEOFFREY: AND YOU SUDDENLY SEE YOURSELF.

GEOFFREY: VISITORS TOUCH THE NAMES, MAKE RUBBINGS, AND EVEN LEAVE OFFERINGS.

JAN: AND WHAT DOES THIS SAY?

DEAR BROTHER DEAR, THIS IS THE 36TH YEAR I HAVE BROUGHT WHEAT FROM THE FARM TO THE WALL.

GEOFFREY: PERHAPS MORE THAN ANY OTHER AMERICAN MONUMENT, THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL CHANGED HOW WE COMMEMORATE OUR HISTORY.

MEMORIALS WERE NOW PLACES WERE VISITORS PARTICIPATED IN A HEALING EXPERIENCE.

AND THEY COULD HONOR THE DEAD RATHER THAN THE CAUSE THEY DIED FOR.

JAN: I THINK, ONE THING IT HAS DONE IS IT HAS SHOWN THAT THE PEOPLE WHO SERVED THE NATION AND WHO FIGHT THE NATION'S WARS, DESERVE RESPECT.

SO WE SEPARATED THE WAR FROM THE WARRIORS, SO SOME GOOD THINGS HAVE FLOWED FROM THIS.

GEOFFREY: IT BROKE EVERY RULE OF MONUMENT-BUILDING.

IT STARTED IN MY BACKYARD A FEW BLOCKS FROM HERE AND EVERYBODY TOLD ME IT WAS THE STUPIDEST IDEA THEY'D EVER HEARD OF.

GEOFFREY: IT'S NOT MADE OF METAL OR STONE.

IT'S NOT DESIGNED BY A SINGLE ARTIST.

AND IT'S NOT EVEN LOCATED IN ONE PLACE.

IT TURNED OUT TO BE THE MOST AMAZING THING.

GEOFFREY: THE IDEA FOR THE AIDS QUILT CAME TO CLEVE JONES IN A SUDDEN FLASH.

IN THE 1980'S HIS SAN FRANCISCO NEIGHBORHOOD WAS GROUND ZERO FOR THE EPIDEMIC.

BY THE FALL OF 1985, ALMOST EVERYONE I KNEW WAS DEAD, DYING, OR CARING FOR SOMEONE WHO WAS DYING.

GEOFFREY: AND YET THE WORLD SEEMED INDIFFERENT TO WHAT MOST STILL CONSIDERED A GAY DISEASE.

THOSE FIRST THOUSAND TO DIE, ALMOST EVERY ONE OF THEM HAD LIVED AND DIED WITHIN SIX BLOCKS OF WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW AND THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE.

YOU LOOK AROUND, THERE'S BEAUTIFULLY RESTORED VICTORIANS, THERE'S RESTAURANTS, BARS, CAFES, AND THERE'S NO INDICATION THAT YOU'RE AT THE EPICENTER OF THIS INCREDIBLE TRAGEDY.

GEOFFREY: THEN, ONE NIGHT AT A CANDLELIGHT MARCH FOR THE MURDERED GAY POLITICIAN HARVEY MILK, THE IDEA HIT HIM.

CLEVE: I HAD STACKS OF POSTER BOARD AND MARKERS AND I ASKED EVERYBODY PLEASE WRITE THE NAMES OF YOUR FRIENDS AND YOUR LOVERS WHO HAVE BEEN KILLED BY THIS.

AND THEN, I HAD EVERYBODY GO TO THE OLD FEDERAL BUILDING AT UN PLAZA AND WE COVERED THAT GREY STONE FAADE WITH THIS ODD PATCHWORK OF NAMES.

AND I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, IT LOOKS LIKE SOME KIND OF STRANGE QUILT.

[SNAPS] AND IT CAME TO YOU SORT OF IN FLASH?

YOU SAW THE QUILT-- I KNOW IT SOUNDS PREPOSTEROUS, BUT I JUST HAD THIS VISION IN MY MIND OF THE NATIONAL MALL AND I SAW IT COVERED WITH FABRIC.

GEOFFREY: CLEVE IMAGINED THAT EACH PANEL OF THE QUILT WOULD COMMEMORATE SOMEONE WHO HAD DIED OF AIDS, THE VISION POSSESSED HIM FOR MORE THAN A YEAR.

CLEVE: I COULDN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT IT.

I WAS BECOMING BORING.

PEOPLE WERE LIKE, "OH, NO, HE'S GOING TO TALK ABOUT THIS AGAIN."

GEOFFREY: A STRING OF CRISES COMPELLED HIM TO GET TO WORK, A BRUTAL HATE CRIME LEFT HIM BEATEN AND STABBED, AND CLEVE DISCOVERED THAT HE HIMSELF WAS HIV POSITIVE.

A LOT OF PEOPLE I KNEW GAVE UP AND THEY DIED.

FIGHTING BACK WAS PART OF MY STRATEGY FOR STAYING ALIVE.

MY FRIEND JOSEPH AND I JUST ONE DAY STARTED MAKING THE QUILTS AND THEY WERE NOT ATTRACTIVE.

I'M NOT AN ARTIST, I CAN'T SEW, BUT WE MADE A LIST OF FORTY PEOPLE WE KNEW WELL ENOUGH TO MAKE TRIBUTES FOR AND WE CREATED THOSE AND THEN FINALLY PEOPLE COULD SEE IT.

GEOFFREY: CLEVE SET UP A WORKSHOP IN THIS STOREFRONT WHERE LOVED ONES COULD CONTRIBUTE PANELS.

HE HOPED THAT A QUILT, THIS EMBLEM OF HOME AND FAMILY, WOULD INVITE A BROAD CROSS-SECTION OF THE COUNTRY TO FACE THE CRISIS.

I KEPT THINKING, THE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO GRIEVE THE MOST WHEN I DIE OF THIS HORRIBLE DISEASE ARE MY GRANDMOTHERS, BUT THERE WAS NO REAL PLACE FOR THEM IN THE MOVEMENT.

THEY'RE NOT GOING TO PUT ON A BOMBER JACKET AND SIT DOWN IN WALL STREET, BUT THEY LOVED ME AND THEY WANTED TO BE PART OF THE FIGHT.

AND SO THE QUILT WAS TRYING TO CREATE A PLACE WITHIN THE MOVEMENT FOR MORE PEOPLE.

[HELICOPTER SOUNDS] GEOFFREY: ON OCTOBER 11, 1987, ONLY 8 MONTHS AFTER HE STARTED SEWING, CLEVE JONES SAW HIS VISION COME TO LIFE.

CLEVE: CHRIS OLDS, R. KIRK SEATON, AND MY FRIEND, MARVIN FELDMAN.

THAT WAS 1,920 PANELS THAT DAY AND I KNEW A GREAT MANY OF THOSE PEOPLE, MANY OF MY CLOSEST FRIENDS, ROOMMATES, COLLEAGUES.

GEOFFREY: EACH PANEL WAS ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF A COFFIN.

IT TRANSFORMED THE NATIONAL MALL INTO A VAST GRAVEYARD.

CLEVE: I WANTED TO CONVEY THE ENORMITY OF THE CRISIS AND STATISTICS ONLY CONVEY SO MUCH.

I SAW IT AS A WEAPON, TO FOCUS ON THE NEED FOR MORE RESOURCES, MORE FUNDING FOR RESEARCH AND CARE.

GEOFFREY: A FEW MONTHS LATER, CLEVE TOOK THE QUILT ON THE ROAD.

CLEVE: WE BOUGHT A TRUCK NAMED STELLA AND HIRED THE MEANEST TRUCK DRIVER WE COULD FIND, HER NAME WAS DEBORAH.

[LAUGHS] GEOFFREY: EVERYWHERE YOU TRAVELLED, MORE PANELS GOT ADDED.

CLEVE: YEAH.

PEOPLE WOULD HOLD QUILTING BEES IN THEIR COMMUNITIES, CHURCHES AND SYNAGOGUES, COMMUNITY CENTERS, LIVING ROOM FLOORS.

GEOFFREY: BUT EVEN AS THE QUILT WAS STARTING A LONG-OVERDUE CONVERSATION ABOUT AIDS, THE DISEASE WAS TAKING ITS TOLL ON CLEVE.

I WAS WASTING AWAY.

I WAS DOWN TO A 120 POUNDS.

I COULDN'T WALK UNASSISTED.

I WAS LOSING MY VISION.

I WAS LOSING MY HAIR.

I WAS DYING.

GEOFFREY: THERE WERE PROMISING NEW DRUGS, BUT BUREAUCRATIC HURDLES AND HIGH COSTS PUT THEM LARGELY OUT OF REACH.

THOUGH THERE WAS AT LEAST ONE SIGN OF PROGRESS: WHEN THE QUILT RETURNED TO THE NATIONAL MALL IN 1996, IT WAS VISITED BY A SITTING PRESIDENT.

CLEVE: AND I SAID TO THE PRESIDENT, YOU'VE GOT TO DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO MAKE THESE MEDICINES AVAILABLE AND ACCELERATE THE RESEARCH.

SO IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF HOPE.

GEOFFREY: AIDS ACTIVISTS FOUGHT TO MAKE TREATMENT MORE WIDELY AVAILABLE, SAVING THE LIVES OF MANY, INCLUDING CLEVE.

[CHANTING] CLEVE: I WAS ABLE TO GET ACCESS TO DRUGS THAT HAD NOT YET BEEN APPROVED AND THOSE MEDICATIONS SAVED MY LIFE AND BROUGHT ME BACK FROM THE BRINK.

AND THEN LATER VERSIONS OF THE DRUGS KEPT ME GOING AND KEPT ME STRONG.

AND I'M 62 AND I'M ALIVE AND I'M HEALTHY AND I'M STRONG AND I WORK FULL-TIME AND I'M IN LOVE AND I'M HAPPY AND I'M FIGHTING BACK.

[LAUGHING] GEOFFREY: THE QUILT CONTINUES TO GROW.

MORE THAN 50,000 PANELS ARE STORED IN A WAREHOUSE OUTSIDE ATLANTA AND SHIPPED ACROSS THE COUNTRY FOR PUBLIC DISPLAYS.

IT REMAINS A MODEL FOR A NEW KIND OF GRASSROOTS MONUMENT.

THERE NEEDED TO BE AN OUTLET, A WAY TO EXPRESS OUR GRIEF, A WAY TO CONNECT OUR INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES, OUR FAMILIES EXPERIENCES, OUR NEIGHBORHOODS EXPERIENCES, IN A WAY THAT HAD BEAUTY AND POWER AND IT WORKED.

GEOFFREY: IT WAS THE DEADLIEST TERRORIST ATTACK ON AMERICAN SOIL UNTIL NINE-ELEVEN AND IT FOREVER CHANGED HOW WE COMMEMORATE THESE UNTHINKABLE ACTS.

AMY: I HAD JUST GOTTEN BACK TO MY DESK AND THAT'S WHEN IT HAPPENED.

GEOFFREY: AT 9:01 ON APRIL 19, 1995, AMY DOWNS WAS STARTING HER WORK DAY AT THE MURRAH FEDERAL BUILDING IN OKLAHOMA CITY.

IT WAS JUST SO LOUD AND POWERFUL AND JUST THIS RUSHING SENSATION.

EVERYTHING WENT BLACK AND I CAN HEAR SCREAMING RIGHT IN MY EAR, "JESUS HELP ME, JESUS HELP ME."

AND THEN, ME REALIZING THAT WAS ME, THAT WAS MY VOICE.

I WAS SO TERRIFIED I DIDN'T EVEN RECOGNIZE THE SOUND OF MY OWN VOICE.

YOU LATER FOUND OUT YOU'D FALLEN THREE FLOORS?

YES AND WAS STILL, IN MY CHAIR, UPSIDE DOWN.

GEOFFREY: A DOMESTIC TERRORIST HAD LEVELED THE 9-STORY BUILDING WITH A TRUCK BOMB.

I WAS BASICALLY BURIED ALIVE FOR SIX AND A HALF HOURS.

IT TOOK THEM A LONG TIME TO GET ME OUT.

GEOFFREY: 168 WERE DEAD AND MORE THAN 800 INJURED.

THERE WERE 18 OF MY 33 CO-WORKERS WHO WERE KILLED THAT DAY.

THIS WAS MY GROUP, MY FRIENDS.

GEOFFREY: WITHIN HOURS OF THE ATTACK, A SPONTANEOUS MEMORIAL BEGAN.

THEY FENCED OFF THE SITE AND PEOPLE STARTED LEAVING THINGS ON THE SITE, MUCH AS PEOPLE HAD BEEN LEAVING THINGS AT THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL.

THE FENCE WAS JUST COVERED.

GEOFFREY: BUT SOON, PLANS WERE UNDERWAY FOR SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY: A MEMORIAL WHOSE DESIGN WOULD NOT JUST BE DICTATED BY ARCHITECTS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.

SURVIVORS AND FAMILY MEMBERS, WOULD VOTE TO DETERMINE THE WINNER OF A DESIGN COMPETITION.

THEY ASKED US FOR OUR INPUT.

THEY WANTED US PART OF THE PROCESS, WHICH, LOOKING BACK NOW, WHAT A HUGE RISK IS THAT?

I MEAN, HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO GET A BIG GROUP OF PEOPLE TOGETHER AND ASK EVERYBODY, "WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?"

[LAUGHING] GEOFFREY: THE WINNING DESIGN WOULD COME FROM THE HUSBAND AND WIFE TEAM OF HANS AND TORREY BUTZER.

FOR INSPIRATION, TORREY READ BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL 168 WHO DIED.

I THINK IT HELPED ME BETTER UNDERSTAND THEM AS INDIVIDUALS.

GEOFFREY: AND THAT'S WHEN THE IDEA CAME, TO CREATE EMPTY CHAIRS, ONE FOR EACH PERSON LOST.

WE JUST THOUGHT, THIS IS SUCH A SIMPLE WAY TO SPEAK TO SO MANY PEOPLE BECAUSE IT'S FAMILIAR.

GEOFFREY: OTHER PARTS OF THE DESIGN GREW OUT OF DIFFICULT, FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS WITH THE COMMUNITY.

HANS: IT CHANGED HOW I UNDERSTOOD THIS PROJECT.

NO LONGER IS IT JUST THIS KIND OF MORE CEREBRAL EXPERIENTIAL PROCESS AS AN ARCHITECT, BUT RATHER YOU FEEL THAT WEIGHT IN A DIFFERENT WAY.

WHEN YOU SEE CRYING PARENTS AND THEY'RE LOOKING TO YOU TO MAKE IT LESS PAINFUL.

[MUSIC] GEOFFREY: VISITORS ENTER THE MEMORIAL THROUGH THE GATES OF TIME, MARKING THE MINUTES JUST BEFORE AND AFTER THE BOMBING.

HANS: 9:01, IT'S THE MINUTE BEFORE, BUT IT ALSO SYMBOLIZES OUR PAST, THE INNOCENCE THAT WE AS AMERICANS WERE ENTERING INTO THIS MOMENT.

SO OPPOSITE 9: 01 IS 9:03, RIGHT?

9:03 SYMBOLIZES OUR FUTURE THIS LINGERING QUESTION OF WHAT DO WE DO NOW?

GEOFFREY: AT THE REQUEST OF SURVIVORS AND FAMILIES, HANS AND TORREY INCORPORATED A TREE THAT WEATHERED THE BLAST AND PRESERVED A WALL FROM THE MURRAH BUILDING.

IT'S INSCRIBED WITH THE NAMES OF SURVIVORS.

TORREY: IT SEEMED LIKE THIS MADE SO MUCH SENSE, TO REALLY HONOR THE SURVIVORS ON THE SURVIVING WALLS.

GEOFFREY: YOU CAN REALLY SEE THE DAMAGE.

HANS: RIGHT, THAT IS THE POWER OF THE SITE.

YOU HAVE THESE-- THIS EVIDENCE OF VIOLENCE.

GEOFFREY: AND HANS AND TORREY WERE ASKED TO SAVE ANOTHER ARTIFACT, ONE THAT HAD BECOME ALMOST SACRED.

ERIKA: A SEGMENT OF THE FENCE WAS ACTUALLY KEPT IN THE FINAL DESIGN.

I THINK IT'S AN INDICATION OF RESPECT FOR THE INITIAL RESPONSE THAT PEOPLE HAVE TO TRAGEDY AND TRAUMA.

GEOFFREY: AND THEN THERE ARE THE CHAIRS, ARRANGED IN NINE ROWS, ON THE VERY SPOT WHERE THE NINE STORY BUILDING STOOD.

SMALLER CHAIRS COMMEMORATE 19 CHILDREN WHO WERE LOST.

EACH OF THE 168 CHAIRS IS ETCHED WITH ONE VICTIM'S NAME.

SO ALL OF THESE CHAIRS REPRESENT MY CO-WORKERS.

THESE WERE YOUR CO-WORKERS?

AMY: HMM-MM.

GEOFFREY: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU?

WELL THE CHAIR REPRESENTS AN EMPTY PLACE SETTING, TO ME, AT A TABLE.

THEY'RE MISSING.

GEOFFREY: WHILE THE OKLAHOMA CITY MEMORIAL OFFERED PLENTY OF LESSONS ABOUT HOW TO HONOR WHAT TERRORISM HAS TAKEN AWAY, IT SUGGESTED SOMETHING EVEN MORE IMPORTANT, HOW TO LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE LEFT BEHIND.

WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH HERE?

AMY: WE CALL IT SACRED GROUND, EVERY TIME WE'RE HERE WE FEEL LIKE WE'RE ON SACRED GROUND.

THIS PLACE IS BEAUTIFUL AND IT'S PEACEFUL.

I MEAN IT DOES REPRESENT SOMETHING VERY DARK AND TRAGIC THAT HAPPENS, BUT IT ALSO REPRESENTS THE HUMAN SPIRIT OF RESILIENCE THAT WAS SHOWN AFTERWARDS.

GEOFFREY: WHETHER MARKING SACRED GROUND, HONORING SACRIFICES, HEALING DEEP WOUNDS, OR JUST DRAWING TOURISTS OUR REASONS FOR BUILDING MONUMENTS MIGHT SEEM TO BE ALL OVER THE MAP.

AND YET BEHIND EVERY MONUMENT IS A BASIC HUMAN IMPULSE TO CONNECT US WITH SOMETHING LARGER THAN OURSELVES.

I THINK PEOPLE BUILD A NEED TO VISIT MEMORIALS BECAUSE AT A FUNDAMENTAL LEVEL WE ARE SOCIAL BEINGS.

AND MEMORIALS, IN A WAY, TAUGHT TO BEING PART OF SOMETHING LARGER, SOMETHING THAT ALLOWS US TO SHARE.

IT GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME, PILING ROCKS ON TOP OF DEAD BODIES THAT BECOMES TOMBSTONES, THAT BECOME MEMORIALS.

THIS IS A SHARED HUMAN EXPERIENCE THAT GOES TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME.

AND I BELIEVE, WILL BE WITH US FOREVER.

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