McKinley National Memorial

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

This memorial - located in Canton, Ohio - is the final resting place of William McKinley, who was the 25th President of the United States from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. It was dedicated in 1907, and sits on a 75-foot-high hill in Westlawn Cemetery. The circular domed memorial is 96 feet tall and 79 feet wide. Midway up the steps is a bronze statue of McKinley giving his last speech in Buffalo, New York, a work rendered by sculptor Charles Henry Niehaus. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the memorial is open to the public. The McKinley National Memorial Association was initially the overseeing organization; it is now overseen by the Ohio History Connection.

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Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Canton, Ohio, served as a very important part of William McKinley's life. McKinley, a liberal Republican, lived a great portion of his life there, where he worked on establishing himself as a lawyer, and then he served 12 years as a member of Congress and four years as the governor of Ohio before serving as the 25th President of the United States of America. His presidency was marked by the Spanish-American War, which led to the U.S. annexing Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, as well as having a larger say in Cuban affairs. Unrelated to the war, it was during his presidency that the U.S. annexed Hawaii. This marked the beginning of greater U.S. involvement in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

After his assassination in 1901, the McKinley National Memorial Association was chosen and a Board of Trustees were put into place by 26th President of the United States of America Theodore Roosevelt to decide his final resting place. They chose a location where McKinley had once declared should hold a monument to honor local sailors that had died in American wars. By 1903, $500,000 had been raised for the construction of the project, which ended up costing $558,452.91 to build. A design by Harold Van Buren Magonigle was selected, and it was completed and dedicated in 1907.

Sources

McKinley National Memorial, National Park Service. Accessed June 23rd 2020. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/70000516.