David Rubenstein’s “Iconic America” Delves Into The Origins Of Monuments — And The Divides Over Their Meaning
deadline.comWalk around or near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and chances are you will see the name David Rubenstein. The co-founder of The Carlyle Group has funded restorations and expansions of the Lincoln Memorial, The Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument, along with the Kennedy Center, the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Library of Congress. “All told, Rubenstein has shaped the cultural landscape of the nation’s capital perhaps more than any other private citizen in the past century,” NPR reported in 2020.
Rubenstein’s PBS series Iconic America, an eight-part series that has been running since the spring, expands on his philanthropic passions by delving into the origins and history of the meaning of monuments and symbols of the United States, from Fenway Park to the Statue of Liberty to the Hollywood sign.
The latest episode, debuting Tuesday, is perhaps the most controversial: Stone Mountain in Georgia, where the giant images of Confederate figures Jefferson Davis, Robert E.
Lee and Stonewall Jackson are carved into hillside, while the area itself is linked to the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan in 1915. “Should Confederate leaders remain on places like Stone Mountain, or should they be erased?” Rubenstein says in a preview.
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