National War Correspondents Memorial facts for kids
The National War Correspondents Memorial is a special monument in Maryland. It's part of Gathland State Park and is built to remember journalists who died while reporting on wars. You can find it at Crampton's Gap on South Mountain. A man named George Alfred Townsend, who was a Civil War reporter, built this arch in 1896. It was officially opened on October 16, 1896.
Some people believe this arch is the only monument in the world made just for journalists who died in battle.
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What the Memorial Looks Like
The National War Correspondents Memorial is quite unique! It's about 50 feet tall and 40 feet wide. It has a large Moorish arch, which is 16 feet high, made from purple-colored stone. On top of this arch are three smaller Roman arches.
Special Features and Symbols
The monument has a square tower with a jagged top on one side, which makes it look interesting. You can also see carvings of two horses' heads. Under these heads are words like "Speed" and "Heed," which are meant to remind us about how fast news travels and how important it is to pay attention.
The three Roman arches are made of limestone. They are nine feet high and six feet wide. These arches stand for different ways news was shared:
- Description: News written down.
- Depiction: News shown through drawings or art.
- Photography: News captured with cameras.
The tower also has a statue that looks like the Greek god Pan, playing his pipes and holding a Roman sword. On the opposite side, there's a small turret with a golden weather vane shaped like a pen bending a sword. This symbolizes how powerful words (the pen) can be, even over war (the sword).
Messages and Names
All over the monument, you can find quotes about war reporting, some even from the Old Testament. One of the most important parts is the tablets that list the names of 157 correspondents and artists. These people saw and reported on almost all the events of the four years of the American Civil War.
A closer look at the monument shows that the words "Speed" and "Heed" are actually under the heads that represent Electricity and Poetry, not the horses. Also, the "statue of Pan" is really a copy of a famous sculpture called Mercury About to Kill Argos.
The monument also has text that says: SPEED – HEED Sept. 14 – 62 – 96 To the Army Correspondents and Artists 1861–65
Whose hard work cheered homes, taught people across the country, and encouraged others to report on distant wars and explore unknown lands.
Built with donations in 1896.
Who Cared for the Memorial?
Even though George Alfred Townsend owned the land until he died in 1914, the monument itself was looked after by the National Park Service starting in 1904. Before that, the War Department took care of it.
Historians have studied the list of 157 names on the monument. In the late 1990s, a local historian named Timothy J. Reese found that only about 135 of those names were actually war correspondents or artists. He also discovered that some names were spelled wrong, and a few important names were missing.
Recent Additions
For more than 100 years, the arch remained unchanged. But in 2003, four new names were added to the memorial: David Bloom, Michael Kelly, Elizabeth Neuffer, and Daniel Pearl. These journalists also died while reporting.
Images for kids
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Memorial plaque added in 2003
