2026年5月31日 / 美国东部时间上午9:27 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
将华盛顿称为“泥潭”既是一种比喻，也是事实。因此，在20世纪10年代初启动林肯纪念堂的建造计划时，建设者们面临着实实在在的沉降难题。他们的解决方案催生了华盛顿特区被隐藏了一个多世纪的最大秘密之一……直到今天才得以揭晓。
林肯纪念堂的地下是一处被称为纪念堂“地下墓室”的空间（该术语通常用于指代中世纪城堡或大教堂的拱形地下室）。在这里，120根巨型混凝土立柱深入地下50英尺，直达基岩层，以支撑上方大理石结构的重量。
地下墓室，为支撑林肯纪念堂上方结构而建造。 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
美国内政部长道格·伯根姆表示，这片总面积达5万平方英尺（几乎是地上纪念堂面积的两倍）的空间此前从未对公众开放。他还指出了洞内的钟乳石：“它们还在滴水。雨水顺着花岗岩的裂缝渗入，流到这里，溶解了钙质，”他说道。
从今年6月起，游客将可以亲自探访这里，一座全新的博物馆将直接建于纪念堂下方。“我认为为林肯纪念堂赋予更多教育意义是个好主意，”慈善家大卫·鲁宾斯坦说道，他助力推动了地下墓室重见天日，并为其改造工程捐赠了6900万美元所需资金的四分之一。
“如果不真正尊重历史、了解历史，我们就不能称之为伟大的国家，”鲁宾斯坦说道。
地下墓室如今内设博物馆，位于林肯纪念堂下方。 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
他希望这座博物馆能让人们更深入地了解亚伯拉罕·林肯——他的人生并不像地上的大理石所展现的那样光鲜。“他的人生充满波折，”鲁宾斯坦说，“他经历了诸多悲剧，他的多个孩子都早早夭折，婚姻生活也十分复杂。但最终，他挺身而出，肩负起时代重任，我认为他成为了我们最伟大的总统。”
部分展品也将围绕纪念堂本身展开。霍华德大学历史学家埃德娜·格林·梅德福将这座纪念堂视为美国不断演变的自由理念的舞台。“我认为它始终关乎自由、希望，而在今天，它关乎包容，”她说。
一座新博物馆在地下墓室5万平方英尺的空间内建成。 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
1939年，因城市室内场馆的白人专属政策而被拒之门外的女低音歌唱家玛丽安·安德森将音乐会搬到此处，她的开场演奏拉开了长达数十年的民权斗争序幕，而林肯纪念堂也时常成为这场斗争的核心舞台。
正如马丁·路德·金1963年在林肯纪念堂台阶上所说：“现在是从种族隔离的荒凉阴暗的深谷攀登种族平等的光明大道的时候，现在是向上帝所有的儿女开放机会之门的时候。”
梅德福表示：“这座纪念堂不仅成为了黑人自由的象征，也成为了各个群体自由的象征。他们觉得这是属于他们的纪念堂，并在用自己的方式诠释自由。”
这座博物馆将展现这段历史，但它开放之际，恰逢其他国家公园景点正在移除与奴隶制和种族主义相关的标识，并重新审视相关展览。本届政府称此举是“为美国历史恢复真相与理智”。
但奴隶制和种族主义是林肯纪念堂和这座新博物馆历史中不可分割的一部分，那么究竟由谁来定义真相？伯根姆部长表示：“当下的文化辩论自有其合适的场合。而讲述和颂扬我们的历史则是另一件事。我们的国家并非没有缺陷，但我们的立国之本是持续进步。我们或许‘过度转向’了某种大规模自我批评的方向，因为从短期政治来看，这或许是权宜之计。使用联邦资金时，重要的是我们要讲述颂扬这个国家的故事。”
内政部长道格·伯根姆向记者费思·萨利展示其中一根地下墓室立柱，上面仍保留着最初建筑工人留下的涂鸦。 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
地下墓室将让游客完整地认识林肯纪念堂——不仅是地上大理石所代表的理想形象，还有其背后的建造过程、承载的重量以及暗藏的瑕疵。这或许是对林肯，以及仍聚集在他脚下的这个国家的恰当写照。
Unveiling the history beneath the Lincoln Memorial
May 31, 2026 / 9:27 AM EDT / CBS News
To call Washington a “swamp” is a metaphor, but also the literal truth. So, when planning began for the Lincoln Memorial in the early 1910s, builders faced a real sinking problem. Their solution led to one of Washington’s best-kept secrets, hidden for over a century … until now.
Underneath the Lincoln Memorial is what’s known as the memorial’s Undercroft (a term usually reserved for the vaulted basement of a medieval castle or cathedral). Here, 120 massive concrete pillars sink 50 feet into the ground, down to the bedrock, to support the weight of the marble above.
The Undercroft, constructed to support the weight of the Lincoln Memorial above. CBS News
The entire space, 50,000 square feet (almost twice the size of the memorial above), has never been seen by the public before, said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. He also pointed out the stalactites: “They’re still dripping. And of course, as the rainwater comes through cracks in the granite, it seeps down here, picks up calcium,” he said.
Visitors will be able to see it for themselves starting this June, in a new museum hanging directly beneath the memorial. “I thought it would be a good idea just to have more of an educational role for the Lincoln Memorial,” said philanthropist David Rubenstein, who helped bring the Undercroft out of the shadows, donating a quarter of the $69 million needed for its transformation.
“You can’t really be a great country if you don’t really honor your history and understand your history,” Rubenstein said.
The Undercroft, now containing a museum, lies beneath the Lincoln Memorial. CBS News
He hopes it expands our understanding of Abraham Lincoln, whose own life wasn’t as grand as the marble above suggests. “He had a very complicated life,” Rubenstein said. “He had a lot of tragedy in his life. A lot of his children died before they were very old. He had a very complicated marriage as well. But in the end, he rose up to the occasion and became, I think, our greatest president.”
Some of the exhibits will also be about the memorial itself. Howard University historian Edna Greene Medford sees the memorial as a stage for America’s changing ideas of freedom. “I think it’s still about freedom, hope, and today it’s about inclusion,” she said.
A new museum was built within the Undercroft’s 50,000-sq. ft. space. CBS News
In 1939, contralto Marian Anderson, barred by Whites-only policies at the city’s indoor venues, moved her concert performance here, delivering the opening notes to a decades-long battle for civil rights where the memorial often took center stage.
As Martin Luther King Jr said on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, “Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time.”
Medford said, “The memorial becomes not just a symbol for freedom for Black people, but it becomes a symbol of freedom for various groups. They feel that this is their memorial. And they are interpreting freedom in their own way.”
The museum touches on this history, but it is opening at a moment when other national park sites are removing signs and reviewing exhibitions related to slavery and racism. The administration calls it “restoring truth and sanity to American history.”
But with slavery and racism such a fundamental part of the story of the Lincoln Memorial and the new museum, who gets to determine the truth? According to Secretary Burgum, “There’s a place to have current cultural debates. And then, there’s a place to just tell and celebrate our history. We’re not a nation without flaws, but we are a nation that was based on continuous improvement. And we may have ‘over-rotated’ towards a point of some kind of massive self-criticism, ’cause maybe it was expedient, politically, in the short term. It’s important, when we’re using federal dollars, that we tell the story that celebrates this country.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum shows correspondent Faith Salie one of the Undercroft’s columns that still bears graffiti by the original construction workers. CBS News
The Undercroft invites visitors to see the Lincoln Memorial in its entirety – not just the ideal in marble above, but the work, the weight, and the imperfections underneath. A fitting view perhaps, for Lincoln, and for a country still gathering at his feet.
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