Since its dedication in 1926, the Elks National Memorial and Headquarters has stood both as a Chicago landmark and as a work of art. Its architecture, sculptures, and murals were all designed together to express sacrifice, peace, and civic responsibility through allegories and symbolism. The Memorial was designed by New York architect Egerton Swartwout, whose classical vision shaped the building. Sculptural works throughout the Memorial were created by leading American artists of the era, including Adolph Weinman, James Fraser, and Laura Gardin Fraser. The allegorical murals were painted by Edwin Blashfield and Eugene Savage, whose works form the visual narrative of the Memorial's interior spaces.

Many of the descriptions included here draw directly from the artists' own writings, offering insight into how these works were originally conceived and understood. Together, the art of the Elks National Memorial invites reflection and remains central to the Memorial's purpose as a living place of remembrance.

Artists and Architects

Egerton Swartwout

Egerton Swartwout was an American architect and leading figure in monumental civic architecture during the early twentieth century. Shortly after graduating from Yale University, he began working with McKim, Mead, and White, and later founded Tracy and Swartwout.

With Tracy and Swartwout, he designed prominent public buildings across the United States, including state capitols, courthouses, and memorials. His work emphasized symmetry, classical form, and the use of architecture to convey permanence and dignity. Swartwout designed the Elks National Memorial along with supervising architect George S. Smith in the Beaux-Arts style. Its rotunda, scale, and classical language were intentionally chosen to express endurance, peace, and the shared responsibility of remembrance.

Adolph Weinman

Adolph Alexander Weinman (1870-1952) was a German-born American sculptor. Trained at the Art Students League of New York, Weinman is widely known for his contributions to American civic art, including architectural sculpture, monuments, and coins such as the Mercury Dime (1916-1945) and Walking Liberty Half Dollar (1916-1947). His work often explored ideals of democracy, unity, and national identity.

At the Elks National Memorial, Weinman created the bronze sculptures located outside of the Memorial, Fraternity and Patriotism. These figures embody the Memorial's themes of brotherhood, service, and devotion to country, reinforcing its purpose as a place of reflection and civic remembrance.

Fraternity

Patriotism

The Glory of Peace

The Terror of War

Edwin Blashfield

Edwin Howland Blashfield (1848-1936) was one of the leading figures in the American Renaissance movement. Educated in Paris and influenced by European classicalism, Blashfield specialized in large-scale allegorical murals intended for civic and institutional spaces.

His work appears in state capitols, libraries, and public buildings across the United States. At the Elks National Memorial, Blashfield's murals contribute to the building's symbolism, using classical imagery to express themes of civic duty, moral responsibility, and collective memory.

Fraternity

Charity

Justice

Eugene Savage

Eugene Francis Savage (1883-1978) was an American painter and educator best known for his allegorical murals and later for his work depicting Hawaiian life and landscapes. Born in Indiana and trained at Yale University and the American Academy in Rome, Savage worked within classical traditions that emphasized symbolism, moral narratives, and harmony between art and architecture.

At the Elks National Memorial, Savage is responsible for the murals in the Rotunda and Grand Reception Hall. His work reflects early twentieth-century ideals that used allegory to express spiritual values rather than historical scenes. For the Rotunda murals, Savage drew inspiration from the Beatitudes, framing sacrifice, endurance, and peace as moral virtues rather than military achievements.

Rotunda Paintings

Quotes from Eugene Savage

They Shall Be Filled

In the first panel to the left of the window on the western axis, the participants of the great experience, "They that hunger and thirst after righteousness" are seen climbing a rock, the height of which suggests the portent of the coming conflict - in the smoke and passing arrows, and dedicate their participation in the cause of Justice, Charity, Fidelity and Brotherly Love. The woman, followed by two men, holds a chalice toward the flaming tablets of the Law, indicating their desire to sacrifice and accept all trial. They have escaped the coils of the serpent of evil, under whose influence those below have fallen in their desire to seek advantage from the opportunity offered by the general conflict.

They Shall Obtain Mercy

The first American impulse at the outbreak of the war was in answering the appeal of the suffering and protecting the ruthless disregard of the innocent. In this painting they bring aid and comfort to the refugees and ruined houses. Columbia, her sword still sheathed, opposes brutality with an appeal and threat of moral suasion. The bayonets and arrows of conquest are seen through the flowers of conflict; an accompanying vulture settles in the doorway, waiting.

Symbol Bearers - Fidelity

Two winged figures, one carrying a sanctuary and the other one pointing to the Star, symbol of Fidelity, inspire them with faith in their purpose.

They That Are Persecuted

Pursuant to their purpose they undertake the fullest participation in war and suffer persecution of all that is entailed therein, represented in this painting of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse plunging across a world in ruins. The swordsman on the red horse has stricken down a soldier, war. Plague, with the scales on the black horse, holds aloft the even balance of his universal sway. Conquest, on the white horse, shoots his arrows of desire, envy, and contempt, into the fields afar. Death, on the gray horse, alone reigns supreme.

They Shall Be Called The Children of God

In the painting on the right of the window on the northern axis, Peace and all her blessings, over a bridge shattered by war and hastily restored for her progress. With one hand she leads and restrains the snarling lion of force and sustains the child of hope upon his back. She follows under the baldachino held for her by the children of creative effort. She turns and holds a full cornucopia, encouraging them to come forward without fear of the backward glances of the beast. Below the bridge, the vapors of the last conflict sink into the valley of death and destruction from which two soldiers have climbed into the arms of those awaiting them. The sun is rising over a new dawn of peace.

Symbol Bearers - Justice

Two winged figures - one carrying the symbol of Justice on the Bible, and the other the balances and two-edged sword - dominate this phase of the series, the establishment of peace and the terms thereof, tempered by the broadest Justice.

Theirs Is The Kingdom of Heaven

Retiring from the field of honor and resuming the labors interrupted by conflict, American soldiers are overtaken by Mars driving a quadriga holding for them the wreath and crown of Victory, and offering the spoils and plunder of victorious war. Captives chained to the chariot wheels, gold, treasure, and royal crowns are at the feet of the soldiers, who renounce it all, preferring to remain "Poor in Spirit" for the sake of Justice.

They Shall Be Comforted

In the painting to the right of the window on the eastern axis, the terrible price of victory is brought home to those that must give it. "The Paths of Glory Lead to the Grave" and they that trod them stand in their bereavement comforted by an angel who looks sorrowfully back on the field of conflict, and holding a flaming torch, the symbol of the enduring spirit of "They That Mourn."

Symbol Bearers - Charity

Two winged figures move to the right holding the flag, the symbol of Charity, and scatter flowers of remembrance for the departed.

They Shall Inherit the Earth

They that have thus far followed upon the path of righteousness through danger and conflict in the spirit of "Charity for All and Malice Toward None" are rewarded with their inheritance. A mother of toil stands in the center holding a terrestrial globe. Her children at her feet watch their child being led into the promised land, while the defeat and death of arrogance is portrayed above, stretched on a bier and carried to his doom on the backs of slaves, to the blare of trumpets in the hands of his defeated followers.

They Shall See God

In the panel to the right of the window on the southern axis, they that have passed the trials depicted in the other paintings arrive at the state of secure and peaceful creative effort, free from both desire and aggression.

Symbol Bearers - Brotherly Love

Two winged figures, moving forward between the panels beginning and ending the series, carrying the protecting antlers and the loving cup, guide and inspire the thought and action in the panels on either side, the beginning and the end of all high purpose.

Grand Reception Hall

The Grand Reception Hall, located on the second floor of the Elks National Memorial, is a space of grandeur and solemnity that serves as a central gathering place for ceremonies and events. Its design and decoration are intended to evoke a sense of reverence and reflection, making it a fitting setting for commemorating the sacrifices of Elks members and honoring their legacy.

Paths of Peace

The Armistice

The Grand Reception Hall

James Earle Fraser

James Earle Fraser (1876-1953) was one of the leading American sculptors of his era. Born alongside frontier and Native American life in Winona, Minnesota, he is best known for works such as The End of the Trail and the Buffalo Nickel (1913-1938). His sculptures often explored themes of national identity, endurance, and the human cost of progress, and depicted a style that balanced realism with monumentality.

At the Elks National Memorial, Fraser's sculptural work contributes to the building's broader narrative of sacrifice and service. His figures are intended not as portraits of individuals, but as timeless representations of the Elks shared civic values.

The Elks Cardinal Virtues: Charity, Fidelity, Justice, and Brotherly Love.

Brotherly Love

Charity

Fidelity

Justice

Laura Gardin Fraser

Chicago born Laura Gardin Fraser (1889-1966) was an accomplished American sculptor whose work spanned monumental sculpture, architectural reliefs, and medallion art. Laura was a pioneer as she was among the earliest American women sculptors to be nationally recognized. Trained at the Art Students League of New York, where she met and trained under her future husband, James Earle Fraser, she became widely respected for her ability to blend classical form with modern clarity.

Laura and James frequently collaborated with her husband, and her contributions to the Elks National Memorial form part of a broader sculptural program that emphasizes dignity, restraint, and symbolic meaning over literal representation.

Earth

Air