Soldiers And Sailors National Military Museum And Memorial
Coordinates: 40°26′42″N 79°57′23″W / 40.445116°N 79.956442°W / 40.445116; -79.956442
| Soldiers and Sailors Military Museum and Memorial | |
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
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U.S. Historic district Contributing property |
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| City of Pittsburgh Historic Structure | |
| Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark | |
| Front view of the memorial and its lawn from Fifth Avenue | |
| Location: | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Built: | 1908-1910 |
| Architect: | Henry Hornbostel |
| Architectural style: | Beaux-Arts |
| Governing body: | Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum Trust Inc. |
| Part of: | Schenley Farms Historic District (#83002213) |
| NRHP Reference#: | 74001746 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | December 30, 1974 |
| Designated CP: | July 22, 1983 |
| Designated CPHS: | February 11, 1991 |
| Designated PHLF: | 1970 |
Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum (or often simply Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall) is a National Register of Historic Places landmark in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the largest memorial in the United States dedicated solely to honoring all branches of military veterans and service personnel.
It was conceived by the Grand Army of the Republic in the 1890s as a way for Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to honor the dwindling ranks of its American Civil War veterans. The Memorial today represents all branches of the service and honors both career and citizen soldiers who have served the United States throughout its history.
Architect Henry Hornbostel designed the memorial in 1907. Dedicated in 1910, the building is in the Beaux-Arts style and is heroic in scale. It is located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh at 4141 Fifth Avenue (although the walkway leading to its main entrance is signed as "Matthew Ridgway Blvd." in honor of the World War II and Korean War hero who called Pittsburgh home) and adjacent to the University of Pittsburgh campus and its Cathedral of Learning. The building is set back from Fifth Avenue, featuring expansive and well-kept lawns dotted with large cannons and other war implements. Side streets flanking the building are Bigelow Boulevard and University Place; directly behind is O'Hara Street.
The Memorial houses rare and one-of-a-kind exhibits that span the eras from the Civil War to the present day conflicts. Since 1963 it has operated the "Hall of Valor" to honor individual veterans from the region who went above and beyond the call of duty. Today the hall has over 600 honorees among them are Medal of Honor, The Kearny Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross winners.
The building houses an auditorium seating 2,500, a banquet hall, and meeting rooms, in addition to its museum. The expansive lawn of the memorial sits on top of an underground parking garage operated under a long-term lease by the University of Pittsburgh.
It has served as host for many city, civic, university, and business events including the April 25, 1978 Gulf Oil Corporation shareholders meeting.
Read more about Soldiers And Sailors National Military Museum And Memorial: Fictional Portrayals, References
Famous quotes containing the words soldiers and, soldiers, sailors, national, military, museum and/or memorial:
“Two soldiers and a villain are enough to blow up the rights of the citizens.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“As soldiers we have few saving graces. Perhaps our willingness to die for what we believe in is all that matters.”
—Leo V. Gordon, U.S. screenwriter, and Arthur Hiller. Col. Harker (Nigel Green)
“Frequently also some fair-weather finery ripped off a vessel by a storm near the coast was nailed up against an outhouse. I saw fastened to a shed near the lighthouse a long new sign with the words “ANGLO SAXON” on it in large gilt letters, as if it were a useless part which the ship could afford to lose, or which the sailors had discharged at the same time with the pilot. But it interested somewhat as if it had been a part of the Argo, clipped off in passing through the Symplegades.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Disney World has acquired by now something of the air of a national shrine. American parents who don’t take their children there sense obscurely that they have failed in some fundamental way, like Muslims who never made it to Mecca.”
—Simon Hoggart (b. 1946)
“In early times every sort of advantage tends to become a military advantage; such is the best way, then, to keep it alive. But the Jewish advantage never did so; beginning in religion, contrary to a thousand analogies, it remained religious. For that we care for them; from that have issued endless consequences.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“The back meets the front.”
—Hawaiian saying no. 2650, ‘lelo No’Eau, collected, translated, and annotated by Mary Kawena Pukui, Bishop Museum Press, Hawaii (1983)
“I hope there will be no effort to put up a shaft or any monument of that sort in memory of me or of the other women who have given themselves to our work. The best kind of a memorial would be a school where girls could be taught everything useful that would help them to earn an honorable livelihood; where they could learn to do anything they were capable of, just as boys can. I would like to have lived to see such a school as that in every great city of the United States.”
—Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)