BicycleSpace Cupcake Ramble

What a ramble this was.  We headed from home on our new favorite cross-town route – up 2nd NE to K – where traffic is light and there is plenty of room in the lanes.  Saw so many other cyclists out enjoying the day.

We met a group of about 12 ay BicycleSpace on 7th, and promptly meandered (wandered, weaved, missed some turns.. but it all worked out) back east through our neighborhood, past Lincoln Park, through a dead-end parking lot at RFK, and finally to Kingman Island.

The island, which seems to be a living classrooms area, was home to some nice scenery and a break from the city.  We same some turtles getting it on, and another in the group had a loud blowout, which led to a helpful tire repair class.

We broke off and headed east towards M, then eventually north on 4th, then through the mall and to Metro Center, where lunch and some shopping chores awaited.

Overall a nice, albeit slower paced than expected ride through the many parts of the city on a beautiful cycling day.  Another 17 miles in the books.  My legs are really looking forward to a longer ride soon though!

Thanks to BicycleSpace and Sol for leading the ride, and bringing along a delicious flourless chocolate brownie-thing.

Monumental D.C. – Emancipation Memorial

Monumental DC – A series where I’ll be documenting the many memorials in DC that we pass by frequently, but rarely seem to stop and pay notice to. Follow on twitter with #monumentalDC

What: Emancipation Memorial

When: Monday October 17, 2011

Where: Lincoln Park

I didn’t anticipate riding much after the Sea Gull Century on the 15th, but I got home with daylight to spare on a monday evening and felt like I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a ride, even if it was short.

I had been meaning to visit the Emancipation Monument, also known as the Freedman’s Memorial at Lincoln Park in Capitol Hill so I rode down at sunset to scope it out.

The statue was designed and sculpted by Thomas Ball, and erected in 1876. It is said that the first contribution to a fund for this monument was by a freed woman named Charlotte Scott of Virginia, who gave her first freely earned $5.  The fundraising was eventually spearheaded by the St. Louis based  Western Sanitary Commission.

The bronze sculpture features Lincoln holding a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation in one hand resting on a pillar adorned with patriotic flourishes.  His other hand is outstretched over a kneeling ex-slave whose own hands are reaching outwards revealing broken shackles.  The slave is said to be modeled after Archer Alexander, the last person captured under the Fugitive Slave Act.  There is much disapproval over the design of the statue, including the pose of the ex-slave and some of the symbolism of the many features.  This disapproval was voiced by none other than Frederick Douglass, who delivered the dedication speech on April 14th, 1876, 11 years to the day after Lincoln was shot) in front of a crowd of nearly 25,000 people, including President Ulysses S. Grant and many other dignitaries.

Emancipation Memorial - Lincoln Park

Interestingly, the statue originally faced west towards the U.S. Capitol until it was rotated east in 1974 in order to face the newly-erected Mary McLeod Bethune monument.  If you are far from DC, but the Boston suburbs are within distance, a trial model of the monument was purchased from Thomas Ball and now rests in the town hall of Methuen, Massachusetts.

Sources: Wikipedia, National Park Service, CityPaper DC

Monumental D.C. – Mary McLeod Bethune Emancipation Memorial

Monumental DC – A series where I’ll be documenting the many memorials in DC that we pass by frequently, but rarely seem to stop and pay notice to. Follow on twitter with #monumentalDC

What: Mary McLeod Bethune Emancipation Memorial

When: Monday October 3, 2011

Where: Lincoln Park, Capital Hill

I rode by this memorial on monday night after picking up my bike from the shop where it got a quick tune-up.  I stopped in Lincoln Park during the fading moments of twilight to take a phone call from my dad, who was having a medical procedure done the next morning (all went well), and parked myself next to the Mary McLeod Bethune memorial. 

The construction of this monument is such that the base (hexagon or octagon, I forget) is partially hollow – and I have watched children run in circles around/below the base – disembodied torso and legs is all you can see.

The memorial honors Mary McLeod Bethune, a leading educator and civil rights leader of her time.  She founded what is now Bethune-Cookman College and the National Council of Negro Women, and served as president of the National Association of Colored Women.  Authorized in 1960 and dedicated in 1974, this is the first monument in a public park in DC to honor a black woman.

The statue features a bronze statue of Ms. Bethune, using a cane given to her by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and handing her “Legacy of Learning” in a scroll form to two young children.  The sculpture reportedly measures 10 ft high x 15.5 ft long  x 9 ft wide and the base measures 6 ft high x 25 ft long x 20 ft wide.

The inscription encircling the base of the monument comes from Mary McLeod Bethune’s Last Will and Testament and reads:

I leave you love. • I leave you hope. • I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. • I leave you a thirst for education. • I leave you a respect for the use of power. • I leave you faith. • I leave you racial dignity. • I leave you also a desire to live harmoniously with your fellow man. • I leave you finally a responsibility to our young people.