Geocache Description
This virtual cache will introduce you to the George Mason Memorial, a national memorial which commemorates the neglected contributions of an important United States Founding Father. This memorial is located in East Potomac Park, near the FDR and Jefferson Memorials.
Notice: The National Park Service recently completed a year-long restoration project of the George Mason Memorial. For more details about this project, please visit the Trust for the National Mall website. This virtual cache is hidden with the full permission of the National Park Service and to the full knowledge of their staff. Please be respectful of the George Mason Memorial and its grounds as you search.
George Mason Memorial History
“That all men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural Rights… among which are the Enjoyment of Life and Liberty, with the Means of acquiring and possessing Property, and pursueing and obtaining Happiness and Safety.”
—George Mason. Virginia Declaration of Rights, May, 1776.
The Forgotten Founder
The memorial commemorates the contributions of George Mason (1725-1792), an often Forgotten Founding Father who authored the landmark Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was a declaration of rights of the citizen adopted June 12, 1776, by the constitutional convention of the colony of Virginia. This document was the first in America to call for first to call for such basic American liberties as freedom of the press, religious tolerance and the right to a trial by jury. Virginia's Declaration of Rights was drawn heavily upon by Thomas Jefferson for the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence one month later. This uniquely influential document was also used by Marquis de Lafayette in drafting the French Declaration of the Rights of Man in 1789.
He served as a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and took an active role in drafting the United States Constitution. Mason, an Anti-Federalist, did not sign the United States Constitution because it did not abolish the slave trade and because he did not think the document had necessary provisions to sufficiently guarantee individual human rights and protect citizens from the power of the Federal government. One of three dissenters, Mason's refusal to support the new Constitution made him unpopular and which cost his friendship with George Washington. Mason’s stand nonetheless had its effect. At the first session of the First Congress in 1789, James Madison took up the cause and introduced a Bill of Rights that paralleled Mason's Declaration of Rights. These first 10 amendments were ratified two years later on December 15, 1791, a year before Mason death.
The Design
The George Mason Memorial features a 72-foot long stone wall with a bronze, larger-than-life sculpture of Mason as he relaxes on a granite bench. His legs are crossed as he looks thoughtfully into the distance and holds a book in his right hand. There is a small stack of books on one side and his tri-corner hat and walking stick on the other. The statue is situated under a trellis, in a landscaped grove of trees and flower beds set among concentric circles around a circular pool with a fountain. There are three walls, four feet tall, underneath the trellis which is inscribed with some of Mason's most insightful writings. The memorial was designed by sculptor Wendy M. Ross and landscape architect Faye B. Harwell.
With no reliable images of Mason to work from, Ross’s depiction is based on reading accounts of Mason’s family and friends, a meeting with Mason’s descendants, and a single posthumous painting of Mason at Gunston Hall, 18th-century Georgian mansion near the Potomac River in Mason Neck, Virginia. The memorial’s landscaping features are reflective of Mason’s love of gardens and recall the site’s own history as a formal garden. The site had originally been a Victorian garden in the late 19th century and redesigned by the National Park Service (NPS) as the “Pansy Garden” in 1929. It is the only one that remains of four national gardens originally established by the McMillan Commission in 1902. The other three formal gardens were demolished to make way for the 14th Street Bridge in 1962.
The memorial in his honor was authorized by Congress in August of 1990, with groundbreaking just over a decade later in October of 2000. The Memorial was funded through the efforts by the Board of Regents of Gunston Hall, Mason's home in Fairfax, Virginia, which now operates as a museum. It was completed and dedicated on April 9, 2002, and is managed by the National Park Service.
Further Reading
Much of the information in this virtual cache was sourced from these websites:
1. Gunston Hall has a wealth of in-depth information about George Mason and his home at Gunston Hall, an 18th-century Georgian mansion near the Potomac River in Mason Neck, Virginia. It's well worth the visit.
2. Ross Sculptures Studio shares some additional details about Wendy M. Ross and the wonderful George Mason sculpture that she created. There are also some excellent photos of her other works around the area as well.
3. ArchNewsNow.com has a nice write-up with several photos about Rhodeside and Harwell’s design for the memorial.
To claim this virtual cache as a find:
Go to the marker at the posted coordinates and answer the following…
- Name the artist and the title of the painting that you see in the lower right corner of this marker.
- Go to the sculpture. Name the author and the title of the book that George Mason is holding in his hand.
- At the rear of the sculpture, tell me what it says next to the copyright symbol?
- Note the inscriptions on the wall to the right of the sculpture. Name the source of the second set of quotes on this wall.
- Take a photo of yourself and/or your GPSr with the George Mason sculpture or the memorial in the background.
- Please post a Found it log with your photo attached and then e-mail or message me the answers to Question #1-4.
Please do not post your answer in your log or post any spoiler photos. Logs that do not comply with the requirements above may be deleted!
Thanks to the National Park Service!
Since the Memorial's dedication and opening in 2002, The National Park Service has been doing a wonderful job preserving and maintaining the George Mason Memorial. With the addition of this Virtual Geocache, I hope to follow their mission by bringing people here for enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations of Americans and others throughout the world.
For more information, please visit George Mason Memorial page at the National Park Service web site.
Special thanks to the National Park Service, Jenn from Geocaching HQ, TeamAlexAbby, and Deepdish23 for their help on getting this cache published.
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.
Congratulations to RMNedrow and Tiffanypardus on the FTF!!
