Located on 15th Street between E Street and Constitution Avenue in Northwest Washington, D.C., the Boy Scout Memorial, commissioned by the Boy Scouts of America, consists of a bronze sculpture by artist David DeLue set in front of a circular reflecting pool. Unveiled in 1964, the memorial marks the site of the first Boy Scout Jamboree held in 1937.

There are several odd things about this memorial that make it noteworthy. The sculpture is composed of three figures - a boy scout, and standing slightly behind the scout, an adult man and woman. The boy scout is clad in the requisite uniform, but the adult male figure, which is at least 12 feet tall, is completely nude, with the type of musculature that usually indicates steroid abuse. The man's hand is extended just below his waist level, palm forward, so that he appears to be preparing to give the scout a solid smack on the ass. The woman, clothed in a robe that mostly covers her indecent parts but leaves her baring a lot of midriff and leg, has been sculpted with a facial expression of absolute shock. It is difficult to ascertain whether her mortification stems from the man's impending randiness with the boy, or whether she is surprised because her left hand has spontaneously burst into an 18 inch bronze flame.

The reflecting pool in front of the statue, which has been either empty or filled with pond scum every time I've seen it, is encircled with an inscription that reads, in part, "In grateful tribute to the men and women whose generosity, devotion and leadership have brought scouting to the nation's youth." At least, that's what I think it says. It's hard to read because whoever chiseled the inscription sorely underestimated the amount of space it would require, and as a result, the letters get progressively smaller and more squished together towards the end of the sentence. The hapless inscriber wasn't much good at spelling, either, as the word brought was originally spelled "broght" in the inscription - someone came along afterwards and tried to wedge in the required u by chiseling it above the o.

In a city that seems to have more monuments than people, most of which are tastefully boring and vastly overrated, the Boy Scout Memorial really makes a mark for itself. Sure, there's the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and a bunch of other famous tributes to dead white guys, but the savvy visitor to DC should make some time to see the Boy Scout Memorial, commemorating the heretofore neglected subject of extensive hallucinogen use.

To see a picture of the memorial, along with a bit more historical information and an explanation of what the sculptor really intended it to mean (though he fell miserably short of his goal):
http://www.nps.gov/whho/PPSth/boysctmem