The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial was established by Executive Order 7253, signed at the height of the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on December 21, 1935.
The structure was built as a memorial to Thomas Jefferson's role in the westward expansion of the United States, to the pioneers who helped shape its history, and to Dred Scott who sued for his freedom in the Old Courthouse.
Eero Saarinen won a national competition and the $40,000 prize for designing the memorial. Saarinen’s magnificent arch won against designs from a talented field of architects, including his own father.
