July 3, 1938
United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lit the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield. Originally proposed in 1887, the memorial was intended to be erected by 1913 for a “great peace jubilee.” Funding fell through and it took until the 75th anniversary of the battle for it to be erected, outside the battlefield overlooking Big and Little Round Top. As seen in the aerial photo, 250,000 attended; another 100,000 didn’t make it to the site because of road congestion. On the way to his car Roosevelt spoke with the oldest attending veteran, William Barnes of the US Colored Troops, age 112.
