Tours, through this famous burial place of President Kennedy, General Wainwright and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, are conducted daily.
On June 4, 1914, the President of the U.S., Woodrow Wilson spoke at the dedication of a new Confederate memorial at section 16. The Confederate soldiers were re-interred there in 1900. This monument was trusted into safe keeping to the U.S. War Department by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1914. It has been a tradition of American presidents to place a wreathe and some have spoken there on Memorial Day.
Dr. Edward Smith, a Professor of History at American University, has described this monument as probably the first to honor the Black Confederate soldiers.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy commissioned a Jewish-Confederate Veteran, Sir Moses J. Ezekiel, to do the work on this monument. Some people say that he might have been the first Jewish-American to do this type of sculpture. It is written that the UDC was pleased with his work which depicts the multi-cultural makeup of the late Confederate States of America.
Moses J. Ezekiel was born on October 28, 1844, in Richmond, Va. He was one of fourteen children born to Jacob and Catherine de Castro Ezekiel. He was born in a house on "Old Market Street" that is said to have been in the poorer side of town. His grandparents came to America from Holland in 1808, and were of Jewish-Spanish Heritage.
Ezekiel talked his parents into letting him attend Virginia Military Institute and he did enroll on September 17, 1862. Some people say, he was the first Jewish-American to enter there at this the school of the great General Stonewall Jackson.
After three years at VMI, Ezekiel saw military service during the War Between the States. The Cadets, of Virginia Military Institute, were called to support Confederate General John C. Breckenridge at the Battle of New Market, Virginia. Ezekiel joined his fellow cadets in the charge upon the Union lines.
Ezekiel, after the war, went on to finish his education at VMI. It was during this time that he had the fortune to meet General Robert E. Lee who was president of Washington College. Lee gave him the following words of encouragement in his quest to be an artist;
"I hope you will be an artist, as it seems to me that you are cut out for one. But, whatever you do, try to prove to the world that, even if we did not succeed in our struggle, we are worthy of success and do earn a reputation to whatever profession you undertake."
Ezekiel would travel to Italy to
study and work as an artist and would become known worldwide. He was
honored by King Emmanuel who knighted him and gave him the distinction
of "Sir Moses Jacob Ezekiel."
It was Ezekiel's wish to return to his native Virginia but World War I
kept him for doing so. He spent his final days in Italy where he died
in 1917. His remains were not brought back to the states until 1921.Among his many great works are: "Christ Bound for the Cross", "The Martyr", and "David Singing his Song of Glory."
His funeral service was held at the amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery. Cadets, of the Virginia Military Institute, stood by his casket that was draped with a flag of the United States. Ezekiel was buried at the base of the Confederate monument. Also buried around the monument are 450 Confederate soldiers, wives and civilians.
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