Grant's Tomb - Decay and Restoration

Decay and Restoration

The initial restoration project began in December 1935, when the WPA's laborers laid down new marble flooring in the crypt. The WPA played a large role in sustaining the monument. Joan Waugh explains that, "In the 1930s the tomb was kept afloat, barely, by funds from the Works Progress Administration." Shortly after the restoration project began, the old New York City Post Office was being demolished and donated two statues of eagles to decorate the front of the Grant Monument. The laborers of the WPA worked on several projects throughout the 1930s, including roof restoration, electric lighting and heating systems, and removing the purple stained glass windows. The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company installed amber glass to replace the purple stained glass. Toward the end of the 1930s a project began to restore the two reliquary rooms, where battle flags were displayed in trophy cases, and murals of the wars Grant had fought in were painted on the walls. In 1938 the Federal Art Project selected artists William Mues and Jeno Juszko to design the busts of William T. Sherman, Phillip H. Sheridan, George H. Thomas, James B. MacPherson, and Edward Ord. The WPA installed five busts in the crypt around the sarcophagi. After the many contributions of the WPA, the Grant Monument Association held a rededication of the tomb on April 27, 1939.

In 1958 the National Park Service (NPS) was granted authority to oversee the monument. According to a report by the NPS itself, a historian admitted that when the NPS first assumed authority over the tomb, they "had no program for the site." This led to great negligence of the site, particularly in the maintenance of the monument. By the 1970s the Tomb was marred by vandalism and graffiti. The NPS undertook a plan to remove the trophy cases in the reliquary rooms. The abuse of the monument continued until renewed restoration efforts began in the early 1990s.

In 1994 Frank Scaturro pushed an effort to restore the tomb and brought his concerns to Congress. A New York Times article articulated Mr. Scaturro's concerns, saying, "'improvements' have detracted from the tomb's solemnity." The tomb was still marred by graffiti, and at the time there were only three maintenance workers and three rangers on daytime duty with a yearly budget of $235,000. The tomb was in great need of renovation. The monument's poor condition caught the attention of two Illinois state lawmakers. State Sen. Judy Baar Topinka and State Rep. Ron Lawfer sponsored a resolution to compel the National Park Service to meet their obligations in maintaining and restoring Grant's tomb. If the NPS did not comply, then Topinka and Lawfer demanded that the tomb be transported to the state of Illinois. Senator Topinka said, "He would be better off anywhere than New York, but my argument is not with New York; it's with the National Park Service." The demands for restoration did not stop at the state level. In 1994 the United States House of Representatives introduced legislation to, "restore, complete, and preserve in perpetuity the Grant's Tomb National Memorial and surrounding areas." The legislation set by the U.S. House of Representatives required that the restoration be completed by April 27, 1997. On April 27, 1997, the restoration effort sanctioned by Congress was completed and the tomb rededicated.