John Russell Pope was an American architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building, the Jefferson Memorial and the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, all in Washington, D.C.

The Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. It was built between 1939 and 1943 in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, a central intellectual force behind the American Revolution, a founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, and the nation's third president.