HomeAnswersWhat is a cenotaph?
What is a cenotaph?
A cenotaph is a monument that honors a person whose remains are buried somewhere else. The word means empty tomb. The American Battle Monuments Commission describes one as a monument in honor of a person buried elsewhere.
The best known American examples stand in Congressional Cemetery in Washington, DC. Congress added a Latrobe-designed sandstone monument whenever a member died in office, whether or not the body was ever buried there, and many members were later moved home for burial, leaving the space beneath empty. The Senate Historical Office says that by the 1870s more than 150 stood in the cemetery but only about half actually covered a body, and they became known as cenotaphs, which means empty tomb. The Architect of the Capitol puts the count at more than 160 with about 60 bodies beneath them, and the National Park Service lists 165. The last was placed in 1972 for House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, whose body was never recovered after a plane crash.
For veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs offers something similar. It provides memorial headstones and markers for eligible service members and veterans whose remains were not recovered or identified, were buried at sea, were donated to science or were scattered after cremation, and these carry IN MEMORY OF as the first line. The American Battle Monuments Commission lists missing service members on its Walls of the Missing and adds a rosette beside a name once that person is recovered, identified and laid to rest.
The sources behind this answer
- The American Battle Monuments Commission describes a cenotaph as a monument in honor of a person buried elsewhere, in a profile of a World War I soldier commemorated by one in his hometown cemetery. American Battle Monuments Commission, Corporal Frederick Osmond Gaskins
- The US Senate says Congress added a monument whenever a member died in office, whether or not remains rested there, and by the 1870s there were more than 150, only about half covering a body, which became known as cenotaphs, meaning empty tomb. US Senate, The First National Burial Ground
- The Senate says members were often temporarily interred at Congressional Cemetery and later moved home, leaving the space beneath the monument empty. US Senate, The First National Burial Ground
- The Senate says one last cenotaph was placed in 1972 for House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, whose body was never recovered after a plane crash. US Senate, The First National Burial Ground
- The Architect of the Capitol says Latrobe's cenotaphs honor members of Congress who died in office, often do not mark a burial place, and about 60 bodies lie beneath more than 160 of them. Architect of the Capitol, Unearthing Capitol Hill's Buried History
- The National Park Service says Congressional Cemetery has 165 cenotaphs for members of Congress, each a sandstone block on a stepped base with a conical top. National Park Service, Congressional Cemetery
- The VA furnishes memorial headstones and markers for eligible service members and veterans whose remains are not recovered or identified, were buried at sea, were donated to science or were scattered after cremation. VA National Cemetery Administration, Headstones, Markers, and Medallions
- VA memorial headstones and markers carry an IN MEMORY OF inscription as the first line and must be placed in a recognized cemetery. VA National Cemetery Administration, Headstones, Markers, and Medallions
- The American Battle Monuments Commission places a rosette beside a name on the Walls of the Missing when that service member is recovered, identified and laid to rest. American Battle Monuments Commission, Rosette added at Normandy American Cemetery
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