Lincoln Memorial myths, and what the Park Service says
| The story | Verdict | What the Park Service says |
|---|---|---|
| The hands spell A and L | False | French worked from 1860 casts of Lincoln’s hands and relaxed one of them so the statue would not look tense |
| A misspelled word in the Second Inaugural | Partly true | An engraver cut an E where an F belonged; the error was corrected by filling in part of the carving, and is still faintly visible |
| Robert E. Lee’s face in the hair | False | It is hair |
| The steps match Lincoln’s age | False | The myths page uses 57 steps and notes he was 56 when he was killed |
| Lincoln is buried beneath the memorial | False | He is buried in Springfield, Illinois; the memorial was built to remember him, not to hold his remains |
The hands
The story says the sculptor, Daniel Chester French, shaped the statue’s hands into the letters A and L in American Sign Language. The Park Service says no. French worked from casts taken of Lincoln’s hands in 1860, and relaxed one of them so that the seated figure would not look tense. That is a better story than the myth, and it is the one with a source under it.
The misspelled word
The one that is partly true. An engraver working on the Second Inaugural Address cut an E where an F belonged. The error was corrected by filling in part of the carving, and the repair is still faintly visible if you know to look for it. So: yes, there was a mistake; no, it is not still sitting there uncorrected. Both halves of that matter, because the myth usually arrives as “there is a misspelled word on the wall”, present tense.
The face in the hair
People are told that Robert E. Lee’s profile is carved into the back of Lincoln’s head. The Park Service is unusually blunt about this one. It is hair. Stone carved as hair, at nineteen feet, catches shadow in ways that reward anyone looking for a face, and people find plenty of them.
The steps
The claim is that the number of steps matches Lincoln’s age. It does not. The Park Service’s myths page uses 57 steps for the memorial’s own flights and points out that Lincoln was 56 when he was killed. Separately, the Park Service’s steps page counts 87 from the edge of the Reflecting Pool to the chamber and connects that figure to “four score and seven”. Two Park Service pages, two stretches of stair, one dead myth: the whole thing is unpicked on how many steps there are.
The tomb that is not there
It looks like a mausoleum, it is built like one, and the word memorial does not settle the question, so people arrive expecting a body. There is not one. Lincoln is buried in Springfield, Illinois, and what is underneath the memorial is a museum that opened in 2026 — see where Lincoln is actually buried and the undercroft.
Hearing it from a guide instead
A good guide will tell you the same five stories and knock four of them down. The sunset walking tour is the best-reviewed walk in our catalogue for exactly that kind of telling, on foot, at the end of the day.
Related: what is actually in the chamber, and the numbers that are true.
Frequently asked questions
Do Lincoln’s hands spell A and L in sign language?
No. The Park Service says the sculptor worked from casts taken of Lincoln’s hands in 1860 and relaxed one of them so the statue would not look tense. The rest of the stories, and which one is partly true, are set out above; the step-count myth is unpicked on how many steps there are.
Is there a misspelled word at the Lincoln Memorial?
Partly true, and it is the only one of the five that is. An engraver cut an E where an F belonged in the Second Inaugural Address; the error was corrected by filling in part of the carving and is still faintly visible. Where to look is covered on what to see.
Is Robert E. Lee’s face carved into Lincoln’s hair?
No. The Park Service says it is hair. If you want the things about the building that are genuinely strange, they are in the numbers.