Reciprocity of Sight: The Rhetorics of Contestation and Commemoration on the National Mall

This dissertation examines the National Mall in Washington, D.C. as a vital site of public commemoration. The dissertation approaches the National Mall landscape as a series of rhetorical problems that embody broader tensions between contestation and commemoration. The dissertation takes up three moments in the history of the National Mall when negotiation about contestation and commemoration manifested as public conversations about the meaning of the National Mall. The first moment is the Senate Park Commission's Plan of 1900 and 1901, also known as the McMillan Plan. The second moment is the planned but cancelled Negro March for Jobs and Freedom in 1941. The third moment is the controversy over the National World War II Memorial completed in 2004. Overall, this dissertation demonstrates that the National Mall is not a static site of contestation and commemoration, but is instead a landscape of ongoing rhetorical negotiation.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Speech Communication

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Jones, Jennifer L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Finnegan, Cara A.

• History, United States

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3250265

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/87528