George Rogers Clark Memorial

George Rogers Clark Memorial

NPS Photo

As celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1926 were being planned in many areas of the country, the people of Indiana also desired to commemorate their own revolutionary history.

Between 1925 and 1929 members of the Vincennes Historical Society and Indiana Historical Society were intent on celebrating the 1779 battle of Fort Sackville and building a memorial to George Rogers Clark and his regiment and to build a bridge across the Wabash river at Vincennes.

 

President Coolidge sitting at his desk in the oval office

Library of Congress

After various proposals had been considered, President Calvin Coolidge signed into law a resolution establishing the George Rogers Clark Sesquicentennial Commission on May 23, 1928.

The 15-member commission was created for the purpose of "designing and constructing at or near the site of Fort Sackville . . . a permanent memorial, commemorating the winning of the Old Northwest and the achievements of George Rogers Clark and his associates." The commission requested funds from the U.S. Congress and the Indiana General Assembly multiple times, eventually securing four separate federal appropriations, a state mill levy, and city and county funds all totaling almost $2.5 million.

 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Dedicating the Clark Memorial June 14, 1936

George Rogers Clark Memorial Archives

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated the memorial June 14, 1936. In 1940, the memorial became a unit of the Indiana Department of Conservation. Government officials from the state of Indiana, the City of Vincennes and Knox County were also in attendance along with thousands of residents and visitors.

 

Lyndon Johnson at the ceremony transferring the memorial to the National Park Service July 23, 1966.

George Rogers Clark Memorial Archives

In 1966 Congress the site was designated by congress as George Rogers Clark National Historical Park and placed under the control of the National Park Service. The measure was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during a ceremony at the memorial on July 23, 1966. Thousands of residents and visitors attended the transfer ceremony.

 

 

The Clark Memorial is more than 80 feet high and is 90 feet across at the base. The walls are two feet thick. The exterior is composed of granite from Vermont, Minnesota, and Alabama.

Towering over the entrance is an eagle with outspread wings. At the top of the memorial's entrance door are the Roman numerals for the years, 1779 and 1933. In 1779, Clark captured Fort Sackville from the British and in 1933, the memorial was completed.

Above the 16 Doric columns is an inscription which reads: "The Conquest of the West - George Rogers Clark and The Frontiersmen of the American Revolution."

 

Inside the rotunda are seven murals, each created on a single piece of Belgium linen 16 feet by 28 feet. They were painted by Ezra Winter during a period of approximately two and a half years. Hermon Atkins MacNeil, designer of the Standing Liberty quarter, sculptured the bronze statue of Clark. Three of Clark's quotations are inscribed in the memorial: "Great things have been effected by a few men well conducted;" "Our cause is just . . . our country will be grateful;" and "If a country is not worth protecting it is not worth claiming." There are Roman numerals at three locations. Left of the steps are the numerals, 1931, the year construction of the memorial began.

 

Clark's birth and death years of 1752 and 1818 encircle his statue's base. The artists name is cast as it was carved on the top of the base.

To learn more about the history of the Memorial, please read the Historic Structures Report/Historical Data written by Edwin C. Bearss (1970).