By Amy Bowker

If you think you’ve seen everything there is to see at the Lincoln Memorial, you’re in for a nice surprise. Beneath the monument to our nation’s sixteenth president lies a 15,000-square-foot exhibit space, never before open to the public and now filled with artifacts from the construction of that venerable structure, which opened in 1922.

The exhibit space is part of the Lincoln Memorial Undercroft, an area that covers 43,800 feet and supports the Lincoln Memorial with 122 arched columns.  The museum space is the result of a $69 million project announced in 2016 as the joint venture of the National Park Foundation, the National Park Service, and private donors. 

The intention of this museum is to educate the public on the construction and craftsmanship of the Lincoln Memorial, as well as the historical significance of the site over the past decades. Notably, visitors will find multimedia presentations that pay homage to the memorial’s role in American history and civil rights, including Marian Anderson’s concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939 where she sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” to an estimated crowd of more than 75,000 people.

The Undercroft museum opened to the public for the first time on June 25. Visitors form a line near the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial and are led by a ranger to the undercroft entrance near the base of the memorial. Ticketholders then go through an airport-like security screening as they make their way into this cavernous space. 

The treasures you’ll find in the Undercroft include an exhibit on the construction of the Lincoln statue with a photo of workers standing next to the statue-in-progress, as well as prototypes of Lincoln’s hands, his head, and a miniature replica of the entire statue. It’s fascinating to glimpse behind the scenes information on how the statue was designed and carved. 

The Undercroft museum space features many unique objects linked to the construction of the memorial, with one particular artifact even taking up space on the restroom wall – namely, a rendering of drawings and words scrawled by the workers during the construction of the memorial. 

Visitors to the Undercroft will also find on display a copy of the 13th Amendment that outlawed slavery and was passed by Congress in 1865, and Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation that declared freedom for people enslaved in Confederate states and paved the way for Black men to join the Union Army and Navy. 

The museum space is a design triumph all its own with vaulted ceilings and a theater area where archival films are projected on the walls and columns. A floor-to-ceiling glass wall allows visitors to peek into the depths of the vast undercroft where visible concrete pillars stretch 50 feet high. This new public space also includes an expanded bookstore where visitors can stock up on volumes related to the memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial was designed by architect Henry Bacon and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers beginning in 1914. Sculptor Daniel Chester French is credited with the design of the famous Lincoln statue, which was carved by the six Piccirilli brothers. 

Reservations for timed tickets to the Undercroft are required. The tickets are free, with a $1 service fee, and can be reserved online up to 30 days in advance. Additional tickets are released online at 4 p.m. each day for tours on the following day. Same day free tickets are available in person at the Korean War Veterans Memorial kiosk on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information and to view a list of items that are prohibited in the museum, visit recreation.gov or call 877-444-6777.