Author of the Declaration of Independence, statesman and visionary for the founding of a nation. Read More
Founding Father
![Statue being lifted into place](/congress115th/20181203180621im_/https://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/grid_builder/ncr/crop16_9/8B5FFFF2-1DD8-B71B-0B48AEFEAE369C8B.jpg?width=950&quality=90&mode=crop)
History of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Bronze Statue being lifted into place within the Memorial Chamber
![Jefferson Memorial at night](/congress115th/20181203180621im_/https://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/grid_builder/ncr/crop16_9/A8A9235B-1DD8-B71B-0BC0B5BD83666D32.jpg?width=465&quality=90&mode=crop)
A Monumental Design
Thomas Jefferson was a passionate student of architecture, and elements of his influential designs appear in the memorial.
![Jefferson Memorial under construction](/congress115th/20181203180621im_/https://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/grid_builder/ncr/crop16_9/B41CC179-1DD8-B71B-0B23CB19CDF684DA.jpg?width=465&quality=90&mode=crop)
"A Shrine to Freedom"
A timeline and photographs show how 75 years ago plans to memorialize America's third president were realized.
![Portrait of Thomas Jefferson](/congress115th/20181203180621im_/https://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/grid_builder/ncr/crop16_9/B46A16C2-1DD8-B71B-0BCB6D49FB4179F1.jpg?width=465&quality=90&mode=crop)
A Spokesman for Democracy
Thomas Jefferson was a complex, 19th-century man with a wide ranging impact on the very makeup of American itself.
![Jefferson Memorial framed by cherry trees](/congress115th/20181203180621im_/https://www.nps.gov/common/uploads/grid_builder/ncr/crop16_9/B49A7416-1DD8-B71B-0B8C72E16BC3DE40.jpg?width=465&quality=90&mode=crop)
A Pantheon Among the Cherry Blossoms
Situated on the Tidal Basin among the Japanese flowering cherry trees, the Jefferson Memorial is the perfect place to experience peak bloom.
Last updated: March 30, 2018