Park Service
Restores ‘God’
at Washington Monument
By Bob Unruh, WorldNetDaily.com
October
30, 2007
The National Park Service told WorldNetDaily (WND) it is rebuilding the display of the
replica of the cap on the Washington Monument so that all four sides will be
visible to the public, including the “Laus Deo” Latin inscription meaning “Praise be to God.”
As WND reported, Pastor Todd DuBord of Lake Almanor Community
Church in California noticed the problem with the current display during a
recent visit to Washington and wrote to the Park Service requesting that the
problem be fixed.
The actual 100-ounce aluminum cap on the
peak of the 555-foot stone monolith includes engravings on its four sides.
Since the inscriptions are not legible from the ground, the Park Service
displays a replica inside the monument but placed the side with “Laus Deo” against a wall so it
couldn’t be seen.
David Barna,
director of communications and public affairs for the Park Service in
Washington, told WND the original placement of the replica was a mistake and
the concealment of the reference to God wasn’t intentional. He said the Park
Service got 28,000 e-mails raising the issue. “It was stupid,” he told WND. “We’re
going to fix it.”
Barna said there
is a room available for the display where a bookstore used to be located.
“We
have this room everybody goes to,” he said. “We’ll have the cap in the middle
of the room, with access on all four sides, as well as interpretative displays
for the quotes. We’re going to fix this.”
A prepared statement about the issue noted, “In recent days, it has
been brought to the National Park Service’s attention that a replica aluminum
capstone representing the top of the Washington Monument that is on display
on the Monument’s 490-foot level has not been fully visible to the public.
As a result, the National Park Service is exploring methods to make the replica
capstone visually accessible from all angles so that all visitors may be able
to see and read both the replica capstone and any related interpretive material
in display cases that would be situated near the replica capstone,” the statement
said.
The Park Service said the replica is
oriented now in the same direction as the original, but in its current display
position “is visible on three sides, with the fourth side currently not visible
to visitors....” “Additionally, the
National Park Service will provide new interpretive information that will
feature all of the capstone inscriptions in full, giving visitors the
opportunity to fully understand the display,” the statement said.
“We appreciate this information being
brought to our attention, and we agree that the public should be able to learn
as much as possible about the monument,” said National Mall & Memorial
Parks Superintendent Peggy O’Dell. “This was clearly an oversight in this
exhibit, and we will take measures so all visitors are able to see this
exhibit.”
The photo above on the left shows the cap
display as seen in 2000 when the inscription could be read even at an angle.
The photo on the right, from this year, shows how the cap replica had been
straightened and moved close to the back wall of the display so that visitors
could not read the inscription, a point raised by DuBord
after his visit.
It was the second report in recent weeks of
officials in Washington removing “God” from the public square. WND reported the
architect of the Capitol banned religious references in certificates that
accompany flags flown over the Capitol. But that ruling later was rescinded.
DuBord, whose past research shows Thomas
Jefferson actually advocated a ‘gate’ between church and state, and uncovered
officials at the U.S. Supreme Court lying about the nation’s Christian heritage,
also uncovered a ‘reinterpretation’ of history at Monticello. DuBord
also lobbied those organizations to restore accuracy in their recounting of
the nation’s Christian heritage.
At the Washington Monument, he said he even
tried to press his head “firmly against the wall above the replica and tried to
catch an angle of light, while squinting to see any writing at all.”
“I could barely make out some etching
looking down from that bird’s eye view, but there was simply no way I would
have known what it said unless I already knew the saying was there – ‘Laus Deo,’” DuBord
said. “Surely, I thought, if the one side of the replica is hidden from public
sight, they have certainly written something about it,” he continued. However, “There
was no description of ‘Laus Deo’
on the front side of the replica stand. There was also no description of ‘Laus Deo’ on the large
information display on the wall in back of the replica. There was nothing
there, absolutely nothing – no way for any visitor to ever know that the words,
‘Laus Deo,’ (‘Praise be to God’), were inscribed on the original cap!”
The pastor said rangers at the monument were
unable to help him with an explanation for the display.
After returning home, DuBord
investigated and found that not only had the cap replica been repositioned,
the description also was edited to remove God. The 2000 description, he said,
was:
The last sentence was edited out for the
2007 display, he said, which includes only: “CAP OF THE MONUMENT Reproduction.
The builders searched for appropriate metal for the cap that would not tarnish
and would act as a lightning rod. They chose one of the rarest metals of the
time – aluminum.”
Photographs of the two versions document
this: The three sides of the replica visible to visitors include this
information: North Face: Joint Commission at Setting of Capstone. Chester A.
Arthur. W.W. Corcoran, Chairman. M.E. Bell. Edward Clark. John Newton. Act of
August 2, 1876. West Face: Corner Stone laid on bed of foundation July 4, 1848. First stone at
height of 152 feet laid August 7, 1990. Capstone set
December 6, 1884. South Face: Chief engineer and architect, Thos. Lincoln
Casey, Colonel, Corps of Engineers, Assistants: George W. David, Captain, 14th
Infantry, Bernard R. Green, Civil Engineer. Master Mechanic, P.H. McLaughlin. It’s
the East Face, facing the Capitol, that contains Laus Deo.
DuBord’s letter to
the Park Service explained that he cares about such historical marks.
“If
the creators of the Monument were so grateful for their Heavenly Father (God)
that they inscribed a praise specifically to Him alone
on one side of the cap, shall we then show disrespect to them and God by
covering it up? If the National Park Service is seeking to preserve such
historic sites with integrity and dignity as their creators intended them to be
understood, then it seems only right that a full disclosure and education of
the capstone’s inscription be known to the public inside the Monument, just as
it is on the NPS website,” he said.
Pastor
DuBord’s research is available on his church website,
at http://www.lacconline.org/home.asp.
