The Vietnam Wall ControversyHistory on Trial Main Page

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1/3/1989. Joint Resolution of both Houses of Congress (S.J. Res. 207) approving the location of the women's memorial: 'it would be most fitting and appropriate to place the memorial within the two and two-tenth acre site of the Vietnam memorial."
1/3/1989. Joint Resolution of both Houses of Congress approving the location of the women's memorial.
1/29/1989. Now the statue is the issue.
"Women's Vietnam Memorial Faces Uphill Fight," by Dan Carpenter, Indianapolis Star, 01/29/85: C1. "Even though then-President Reagan signed legislation last fall authorizing some type of physical reminder in Washington for American women who served in Vietnam, the 'what' and the "where" of the memorial are matters of thick red tape and spiky politics. . . . . [the CFA] doesn't seem to want The Nurse [Brodin's statue]. . . . 'The statue,' says Charles Atherton, 'is probably not going to fly.' Why? For one thing, he says, the statue, by being limited to the occupation of nursing, 'fails to achieve what it is supposed to do -- depict the role women played in the Vietnam War.' For another thing, he says, the statue does not fit logically or aesthetically with The Wall." [FullText]
2/22/1989. A VVMF official weighs in.
"Memorials Affirm Selflessness and Say Thanks," by John P. Wheeler, III, Los Angeles Times, 02/22/89: 7. "To help young girls feel more personally included, I favor putting a statue of Vietnam service women near the wall. I propose three figures -- a field nurse, a Medevac flight-crew member and a Vietnamese child at the new entryway that will connect the wall to the 56-Signers Memorial on the Mall and two neighbors, the Black Patriots and Korean War Memorials." [FullText]
9/1989. Sexual politics.
"The Sexual Politics of Memory: The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project and 'The Wall,'" Karal Ann Marling and John Wetenhall, Prospects, 14 (1989): 341-72. [FullText]
4/19/1990. Commission of Fine Arts meeting.
Minutes: presentation by and discussion with Diane Carlson Evans on both the location of the new statue and a design competition similar to the one held by the VVMF. [PDF]
4/20/1990. Design competition launched by VWMP.
4/20/1990. Veterans are on the jury this time.
"FDR Memorial on Hold -- Again; Tribute to Vietnam Women Wins Mall Site Approval," by Benjamin Forgey, Washington Post, 04/20/90: C1. "The unanimous approval of a site near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Constitution Gardens for the Vietnam Women's Memorial is a major victory for the proponents of the women's memorial. . . . [Diane Carlson Evans] said that a design will be chosen by a jury of 'design professionals and veterans' in a competition to be inaugurated by early summer." [FullText]
5/4/1990. Letter from J. Carter Brown, Chairman of the Commission of Fine Arts, to Robert Stanton of the National Park Service about site selection.
[PDF]
8/21/1990. No preconceived criteria this time.
"Design Sought for New Vietnam Monument," by Barbara Gamarekian, New York Times, 08/21/90: A25. "There were no preconceived criteria on the design. 'The memorial may be composed of any appropriate combination of artistic design elements -- sculpture, landscape and architecture. . . . We feel the design must complement the wall and statues of the three fighting men, but not compete in grandeur, scale or message with the wall.'" [FullText]
11/11/1990. Competition winners by a hung jury.
"Sculptor Picked for Vietnam Memorial to Women," by Irvin Molotosky, New York Times, 11/12/90: C18. Eileen Barry and co-finalist Robert Lee Desmond. The panel was split between a representational sculpture and an abstract design and got both this way. [FullText]
11/12/1990. Collaborative design.
"2 Designs for Women's Memorial," by Benjamin Forgey, Washington Post, 11/12/90: B1. "One of the designs . . . features a bronze figure of a female soldier holding a helmet on her hip, the other a figureless 3,000 square-foot pad of white marble equipped with nozzles to emit a continuous evanescent mist." The finalists will be asked to submit a collaborative design. [FullText]
6/1991. Sculptor Glenna Goodacre is selected to design the memorial after the collaborative design process fails.
9/19/1991. Commission of Fine Arts meeting on the design by Glenna Goodacre.
Minutes: Since the collaboration of the two competition winners "had not worked out," Glenna Goodacre "was asked to develop her entry," which was discussed and passed at this meeting: a bronze sculpture of three uniformed women and a wounded male soldier. [PDF]
9/19/1991. Press release by Vietnam Women's Memorial Project: "Commission of Fine Arts Approves Vietnam Women's Memorial Project's Memorial Design."
"The Vietnam Women's Memorial is the final chapter of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The women who were once invisible will be seen, their legacy will be remembered, and there will forever be a meaningful tribute to their service." [PDF]
9/20/1991. Advance or decline?
"War Memorials Advance," by Benjamin Forgey, Washington Post, 09/20/91: B1. The women's memorial "is to be situated in a paved plaza shaded by a grove of trees south" of the Wall. [FullText]
"Vietnam Memorial to Women Gets Nod," by Melanie Howard, Washington Times, 09/20/91, B6. "Mr. Brown said he was delighted by the final work. But some [CFA] commission members appeared more circumspect. 'Something is wrong in this country when each group feels it must be singled out and can't take its glory from the whole,' said commission member Robert Peck, who abstained on the vote." [FullText]
10/1/1991. Letter from Brown to Stanton advising of the CFA approval and expressing some reservations about details.
Landscaping considerations. [PDF]
11/8/1991. The thrill of victory.
"Women's Memorial Approved," by Todd Allan Yasui, Washington Post, 11/08/91: B1. Goodacre: "I'm feeling very good. But do you know how scary it is and how wonderful it is to fly in from Santa Fe and see the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial and know that one of your bronzes will be there? I'm just thrilled." [FullText]
11/11/1991. A step closer.
"Women's Memorial Clears Final Bureaucratic Hurdle," by Maria Puente, USA Today, 11/11/91: 12A. "More than 10,000 women served in Vietnam and eight of them died. Now, some of the survivors are a step closer to building a national memorial to their Vietnam sisters." [FullText]
2/18/1992. Letter from Diane Carlson Evans of the VWMP to Stanton of the National Park Service regarding suggested changes in the statue design.
The VWMP agrees with some suggestions for change but not others. Evans provides a "reading" of the sculpture: "The standing woman and the figure caring for the wounded soldier portray the actions and consequences of war. The kneeling woman embodies the totality of the dramatic experiences of war -- the intensity, fatigue, anquish and isolation. Her despair speaks to the pain of war and need for solace. It is her anguish which represents so much of the story of all those who served in Vietnam, and as such, she ties the sculpture together." [PDF]
2/20/1992. Letter from Stanton to the National Capital Planning Commission endorsing the VWMP position on the suggested changes.
[PDF]
4/16/1992. Commission of Fine Arts meeting.
Minutes: "The consensus was that the Commission did not think the design had been improved by the changes; it was suggested, however, that the comments made be given to the artist, and that she be allowed to make the final decision." [PDF]
5/4/1992. Letter from Brown to Stanton about the design modifications.
Reiterates the above conclusion. [PDF]
5/24/1992. A "sister search" program.
"Remembering Women Who Served in Vietnam," Houston Chronicle, 05/24/92: Parade 16. "The project also is compiling records on Vietnam-era women vets through a 'sister search' program." [FullText]
6/5/1992. Letter from the Park Service to Brown.
Accepts design commentary and clears the way for construction. [PDF]
9/24/1992. Commission of Fine Arts meeting.
Minutes: Landscaping and lighting considerations. [PDF]