The Bex Eagle

This series of photos was taken at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 15th Street Northwest,
in Washington DC, on November 26, 2002. Please be patient while the images load.

There is certainly no shortage of eagles in the nation's capitol, but this one is special. Not only for the amazing level of craftsmanship exhibited, but especially for the ideas expressed by the words on the plaque beneath it. It was presented to the capitol by the National Wildlife Federation and the American Communications Network in 1982, the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the bald eagle as America's symbol. The view is toward the northwest with the United States treasury building in the background. The White House is immediately west (left) of the Treasury.

The text reads:
"Free men must re-dedicate themselves to the cause of freedom. They must understand with a new certainty of conviction that the cause of freedom is the cause of the human individual. Human individuality is the basis of every value -- spiritual, moral, intellectual, creative -- in human life.

Freedom is the right to one's soul; the right of each person to approach God in his own way and by his own means. It is a man's right to possess his mind and conscience for himself. To those who put their trust in freedom, the state can have no sovereignty over the mind or soul -- must be the servant of man's reason, not the master."

There is no author attribution.

This view is looking northwest, with the famous old Willard Hotel across Pennsylvania Avenue in the background.

Here's a better view of the Willard. Ulysses S. Grant stayed here just before Abraham Lincoln swore him in as the commander of the Union forces during the Civil War. Washington is a city that is very welcoming to visitors and the Willard is synonymous with world-class hospitality.

Turning further toward the southeast, we're looking down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol.

Looking down 15th Street to the south, we've come full circle and that's the Washington Monument. At the time of its completion in 1884, it was the tallest building in the world and,
at 555 feet in height it remains the world's tallest masonry structure.