George Mason Memorial

This small garden memorial near the Tidal Basin honors George Mason, the Virginia statesman whose Declaration of Rights influenced the United States Bill of Rights. A relaxed bronze figure of Mason sits on a bench with a book and hat beside him, set within a formal planting of roses, pergolas and a fountain. He refused to sign the Constitution because it lacked a bill of rights and permitted slavery, positions the inscriptions recall. The intimate scale and floral setting make it a quiet counterpoint to the monumental memorials nearby.