Gezicht op het Ladd and Whitney Memorial, herdenkingszuil van de Amerikaanse burgeroorlog te Lowell before 1892

This photograph captures the Ladd and Whitney Memorial, a Civil War memorial in Lowell, Massachusetts. The dominant symbol is the obelisk, a form that stretches back to ancient Egypt, where it represented the sun god Ra and royal power. Consider how this shape, originally pagan, was later adopted in Rome and then much later, by American society, as a symbol of civic virtue and remembrance. The obelisk, with its upward thrust, embodies a yearning for transcendence, a reaching towards the heavens. It marks a sacred space, a place where collective memory is enshrined. Notice how the figures in the photograph seem drawn to it. It's as if the monument exudes a psychological pull, silently beckoning us to remember and reflect. In our own time, the obelisk persists, a testament to the enduring human need to memorialize and grapple with our shared past. The Ladd and Whitney Memorial reminds us that symbols evolve, yet their emotional power remains potent across time.