Memorials Inventory Project (MIP) Final Report, January 2006

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MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS

The initial estimate of 300 NCA memorials was quickly surpassed. In November 2002, 348 memorials had been identified. That number grew to 421 in February 2003, and as of March 2004, 802 memorials had been reported. By fall 2004, 921 memorial objects were identified. With the majority of memorials assigned to volunteers by August 2004, the project’s completion date was set for December 31, 2004. As a consequence, late additions to the inventory list (made after August 2004) were not assigned to volunteers. These memorials will be documented by NCA staff at a later date; however, the names and dates of installation are included in the summary totals of this report.

One exceptional set of memorials not included in the MIP are a group of Benjamin Latrobe-designed cenotaphs (right) located at Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Of the 806 NCA-managed plots in this cemetery, the 169 cenotaphs reflect a unique design, character and historic value. However, recent and forthcoming studies negated the need for a MIP-level survey. Of the 169 cenotaphs, 113 were determined to be true cenotaphs (no remains) while the remaining 56 function as grave markers. Ultimately the Congressional Cemetery cenotaphs will be categorized as a unique type of grave monument, and as such they have not been included in the MIP total count.

An unprecedented rise in the number of memorials installed since 1980 was due, in part, to the introduction of memorial walkways as a design feature of new national cemeteries. Memorial walkways are scenic footpaths meant as places of contemplation and reflection. Most are lined with low, modest-sized standard memorials donated by veterans’ organizations. A common form of this type of memorial is an 18” x 24,” natural stone block inscribed directly or with a cast-metal tablet affixed to it. Another reason for the recent growth of this type of memorial is likely due to the delegation of approval for them to the cemetery director; this is a contrast to cemetery management under the Army, which was more hierarchical.

Massachusetts National Cemetery, established in 1976 and opened in 1980, is believed to have installed the first memorial walkway. Its first memorial, to World War I veterans, was placed in 1983. Between September 1973 and January 2006, NCA has constructed 20 national cemeteries. Of these properties, 15 have memorial walkways, and this feature is under development at other national cemeteries. Construction of a memorial walkway at Ft. Richardson National Cemetery in Alaska, began in fall 2005, and memorials are already being planned for new cemeteries yet to open.

In comparison to the high number of walkway-oriented memorials, few large or relatively sculptural memorials are installed nowadays. Such memorials have been erected in recent years at Riverside, Quantico, and Indiantown Gap national cemeteries, but only after years of major fund-raising efforts. Escalating material and labor costs associated with the design, fabrication, and installation of over-sized or artistic works, in addition to the lack of available land for large-scale memorials, have influenced the decline in these types of memorials in recent years.

One noteworthy aspect of NCA’s MIP was the value of its findings to other institutions, such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum and SOS!. NCA recorded its major “sculpture monuments” in a manner so that the data could be shared with the Smithsonian’s Inventory of American Sculpture, which resides in the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS). A total of 80 NCA monuments and memorials met the SIRIS criteria for sculpture monuments—being three-dimensional artwork or the creation of an artist or sculptor. The survey data and digital images of these memorials were forwarded to the Smithsonian in January 2006. The Web site can be accessed at: http://www.siris.si.edu/. NCA will continue to share information with the Smithsonian and SOS! on new sculpture monuments as they are installed in the national cemeteries.

In January 2005, analysis of the MIP project findings began. NCA nomenclature defines a monument or memorial as a commemorative object placed at a location that is not a gravesite. Accordingly, other structures—including carillons, cannon and artillery pieces, signage, plaques, and certain large private headstones—inventoried in the project were re-classified as objects or structures for future agency accountability and reporting. After the removal of these non-monument objects from the MIP count, the final, validated number of memorials located in VA national cemeteries was 834.

The project was a timely undertaking, as it preceded “Preserve America,” Executive Order, No. 13287 (2003), and the Veterans Health Programs Improvement Act of 2004 (PL 108-422, Section 412), both of which mandate annual reporting and accountability mechanisms about historic properties. The former requires all Federal agencies to report to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, an independent Federal agency. The latter requires VA to report this information to Congress.

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