In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a polished stone wall that bore only the names of war dead, opened to both controversy—and a flood of objects (see fig. 5.6). Maverick from inception, its development had followed no traditional narrative: Yale architecture student Maya Lin, a novice, won a competition for its design; private dollars built it; and its face lined an earthen ridge dug well away from the line of historical memorials elsewhere on the Capitol...