This bill directs the Secretary of the Interior to remove or permanently conceal the name of Francis G. Newlands from the memorial fountain at Chevy Chase Circle in the District of Columbia.
Specifically, it requires removal of the brass plaque bearing the name and the stone projection bearing the name, as well as removal or concealment of the name carved into the coping stones of the memorial.
The act also establishes a disposition process for the removed items. Descendants of Francis Griffith Newlands have 60 days to claim the items; if unclaimed, the items become Federal property and are accessioned into the National Park Service’s Rock Creek Park museum collection.
At a Glance
What It Does
The Secretary of the Interior must remove the brass plaque with the name, remove the stone projection inscribed with the name, and remove or conceal the name on the coping stones. Removed items are to be offered to the descendants for 60 days; unclaimed items become Federal property and are added to the Rock Creek Park museum collection.
Who It Affects
The Interior Department and National Park Service are charged with executing removals; the descendants of Francis Griffith Newlands have an opportunity to reclaim artifacts; visitors and users of Chevy Chase Circle memorial grounds will experience the site’s altered presentation.
Why It Matters
It sets a concrete mechanism for altering memorials tied to named individuals and specifies how artifacts are handled, signaling how the federal government will address contested commemorations and the custody of removed items.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The Francis G. Newlands Memorial Removal Act instructs the Department of the Interior to remove or permanently conceal the name of Francis G.
Newlands from the memorial fountain at Chevy Chase Circle in Washington, DC. The bill enumerates the exact items to be removed: the brass plaque naming Newlands, the south-end stone projection bearing the name, and the inscription on the coping stones.
The location of the memorial fountain is defined as the site at Chevy Chase Circle, at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Western Avenue NW.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill requires removal of the brass plaque bearing the name "Senator Francis G. Newlands" from the memorial fountain grounds.
The bill requires removal of the stone projection on the memorial fountain’s south end bearing the name "Francis Griffith Newlands" and a related inscription.
The bill requires removal or concealment of the name "Newlands" from the memorial fountain’s coping stones.
Removed items must be offered to the descendants for 60 days; if unclaimed, items become National Park Service property and are accessioned into the Rock Creek Park museum collection.
The memorial fountain is located at Chevy Chase Circle, Connecticut Avenue and Western Avenue NW, in the District of Columbia.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Short Title
Section 1 provides the act’s official citation as the Francis G. Newlands Memorial Removal Act. This establishes a formal reference for all federal records and enforcement actions related to the memorial site.
Removal of plaque and associated fixtures
Section 2(a) requires the Interior to remove the brass plaque bearing the name from the memorial grounds, remove the stone projection at the memorial fountain’s south end with the name, and remove or permanently conceal the name on the coping stones. The statute also directs that removed items be offered to the descendants for a 60-day period; if unclaimed, the items become Federal property and are accessioned into the Rock Creek Park museum collection.
Memorial fountain location and scope
Section 2(b) defines the memorial fountain location as the memorial fountain located at Chevy Chase Circle, Connecticut Avenue and Western Avenue NW, in the District of Columbia. This clarifies the physical scope of the act and ensures that the specified actions apply to the correct site.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Francis Griffith Newlands' descendants — receive an opportunity to reclaim removed artifacts within a 60-day window and thereby maintain a familial connection to the artifacts.
- National Park Service — gains clear ownership control and a defined path to manage and preserve the removed items within federal collections.
- Rock Creek Park Museum program — expands its holdings and interpretive materials through accession of the removed artifacts.
- Historians and curators studying memorials — obtain access to original artifacts for study and contextualization within a federal collection.
Who Bears the Cost
- National Park Service — bears storage, cataloging, conservation, and administrative costs for the artifacts.
- Rock Creek Park Museum — bears costs associated with accession, storage, and potential display or interpretation of the artifacts.
- Interior Department staff — incurs administrative overhead to implement the removal and manage transfers and records.
- Descendants of Francis G. Newlands — may need to engage to claim artifacts within the 60-day window, incurring time and logistical costs if they pursue ownership.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central dilemma is balancing respect for a community’s concerns about a public figure with the imperatives of historical preservation and transparency. Removing or concealing a name from a public memorial may address contemporary concerns, but it also raises questions about erasing history and who gets to decide what is preserved or discarded. The 60-day descendant window introduces a personal-right element within a federal process, while transferring the artifacts to a museum collection reframes the artifacts from a commemorative object to an exhibit with interpretive potential.
The bill resolves a public-heritage question by providing a concrete mechanism to remove naming references tied to a controversial figure from a public memorial and then place the artifacts under federal custody if not claimed. It carefully separates the removal action from broader debates about the figure’s legacy, instead focusing on an operational process: identify the items to be removed, specify the point of removal, create a 60-day claim period for descendants, and establish permanent custody within the National Park Service if unclaimed.
The potential tension arises around whether removal should erase historical memory or simply relocate it into a museum context where it can be studied and contextualized.
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