Worthy of Washington

Mathew B. Brady (ca. 1823-1896)
Washington Monument As It Stood for 25 Years
Copyprint made from original glass plate
negative, ca. 1860
Prints & Photographs Division (146A.14)
Digital ID# LC-DIG-cwpbh-03248

To Every Voter in Baltimore County, A National Monument is Now in the Course of Erection in the City of Washington.
[Baltimore]: Bull & Tuttle, [1860]
Rare Book & Special Collection Division (146C.2)

In 1833, the Washington National Monument Society embarked on a mission to fulfill a forgotten pledge that Congress had made fifty years earlier to erect a memorial to honor the first U.S. president. This checkered saga was initiated by prominent civic leaders who collected private funds, which enabled the cornerstone to laid in 1848. Deterred by economic crises, political conflict, and party intrigue, construction stopped in the 1850s, leaving for twenty-five years an unfinished 156-foot hulk as a constant reminder of multiple failures. In 1876 Congress finally assumed responsibility for the construction project, which was dedicated in February 1885. Displayed here are an image and broadside, soliticing funds from the citizens of Baltimore, that testify to the monument's state in 1860.