Grant's Tomb Dedication Ceremony

Julia Dent Grant at Ulysses S. Grant's Tomb Dedication Ceremony

Grant Monument Association

The monument dedication was held on August 27, 1897, the 75th Anniversary of Ulysses S. Grant's birth, and was attended by one million people, including President William McKinley and Julia Dent Grant.

Dedication of the Monument for Ulysses S. Grant, April 27, 1897

Library of Congress

The weather that day was apparently terrible with winds of 57 miles per hour and freezing temperatures but some 50-55,000 marchers participated anyway, leading a parade to the tomb where 1 million spectators looked on.

Grant's Tomb Dedication Ceremony, 1897

Library of Congress

President McKinley's tribute to Grant spoke of his dedication to preserving the Union.

“Let us not forget the glorious distinction with which the metropolis…has honored his life and memory. With all that riches and sculpture can do to render an edifice worthy a man, upon a site unsurpassed for magnificence, has this monument been reared by New York as a perpetual record of his illustrious deeds, in the certainty that as time passes around it, will assemble with gratitude and reverence and veneration men of all times, races, and nationalities. New York holds in its keeping the precious dust of the silent soldier, but his achievements – that he and his brave comrades wrought for mankind – are in keeping of seventy millions of American citizens, who will guard the sacred heritage forever and forevermore.”