When Sophia Peabody met Nathaniel Hawthorne at her home in Salem, Massachusetts, he had little to offer but his Byronic good looks. He had published two books, but they brought him neither fame nor fortune, and at age 33, he had run out of ideas and motivation.
Dedicated in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial has become a cultural icon and a gathering place for some of the most significant and symbolic events of the past 100 years. It has become an almost sacred space for civic expression focusing on race relations and human rights.