华盛顿揭幕德克萨斯共和国公使馆纪念碑底座：纪念八位外交官近十年谈判入盟
2026年11月5日，美国联邦众议员 Lloyd Doggett、内政部负责鱼类及野生动物与公园事务的助理部长 Kevin Lilly，以及德克萨斯共和国后裔妇女组织（Daughters of the Republic of Texas）Elisabet Ney 分会成员，在首都华盛顿的 630 Indiana Avenue NW，为德克萨斯共和国公使馆纪念碑揭开“孤星”底座，这座纪念碑就此动工。纪念碑纪念1836年至1845年间代表德克萨斯共和国常驻华盛顿、谈判德克萨斯加入美国成为第28个州的八位外交官。
揭幕的底座是一颗白色五角星，用 Mount Airy 花岗岩制成，安放在 Indiana Avenue 600号街区现有的花岗岩花坛中，距离美国海军纪念堂只有几步之遥。纪念碑本体将立于底座之上：五边形基座顶部是该组织的徽章，刻有公使馆的故事、一幅德克萨斯共和国地图和八位外交官的姓名；四周将种植德克萨斯州与中大西洋地区的原生植物，并栽种一棵甜湾木兰，象征孤星之州。纪念碑所在地属于联邦土地，由国家公园管理局（National Park Service）管理。
选址一带与公使馆的历史紧密相连。据该组织的研究，公使馆外交官当年在华盛顿居住和办公的地点共有八处，纪念碑周边集中了其中五处；1837年至1838年间，德克萨斯公使 Memucan Hunt 就住在今天美国海军纪念堂所在的位置。
Doggett 在揭幕仪式上说：“作为土生土长的德克萨斯人，我对我们州的自豪比以往任何时候都更强烈，我很高兴这座新的纪念物铭记了德克萨斯传统中重要的一页。”他说，八位德克萨斯人用了近十年的时间谈判德克萨斯加入美国，这座纪念碑“很可能成为又一个参观亮点，尤其是对到访首都的德克萨斯游客”。他还指出，美国游客在欧洲旅行时，能在伦敦和巴黎看到纪念德克萨斯公使馆的牌匾，华盛顿此前却没有跟上；这项工作由该组织牵头推动，其中 Kitty Hoeck 居功至伟。他说：“因为德克萨斯的历史就是美国的历史。”
这座纪念碑由 Doggett 撰写的《德克萨斯共和国公使馆纪念碑法》（Republic of Texas Legation Memorial Act，H.R. 3349）批准设立：法案于2019年6月提出，获得两党支持通过，并于2020年12月22日签署成法。此后，该组织在2025年取得美国美术委员会与国家首都规划委员会对选址和设计的最终批准，并自行筹齐了全部建造费用——法律禁止动用联邦资金建造这座纪念碑。
1836年至1845年，德克萨斯共和国在华盛顿设有公使馆，先是争取美国的承认，后来推动两国合并。1845年12月29日，德克萨斯正式成为美国第28个州。
Lone Star Base of the Republic of Texas Legation Memorial Unveiled in Washington, Honoring Eight Diplomats
On November 5, 2026, U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Kevin Lilly, and members of the Elisabet Ney Chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas unveiled the Lone Star base of the Republic of Texas Legation Memorial at 630 Indiana Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., marking the start of construction of the memorial. The memorial honors the eight diplomats who represented the Republic of Texas in Washington from 1836 to 1845 and negotiated the admission of Texas into the United States as the 28th state.
The base unveiled today is a five-pointed star of white Mount Airy granite, set in an existing granite planter on the 600 block of Indiana Avenue NW, steps from the U.S. Navy Memorial. The memorial will rise from the base: a five-sided plinth topped by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas medallion and engraved with the story of the Texas Legation, a map of the Republic of Texas and the names of the eight diplomats Texas sent to Washington. Plantings native to Texas and the Mid-Atlantic will surround a single sweetbay magnolia, representing the Lone Star State. The site is federal land under the National Park Service.
The location is steeped in the Legation's history. According to research by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, the site sits among five of the eight places where the Legation's diplomats lived and worked out of boarding houses and hotels in Washington; Texas Minister Memucan Hunt resided in 1837 and 1838 at the site of today's Navy Memorial.
"As a native Texan with more pride in our State after the recent election than ever before, I am pleased that this new monument recognizes an important part of our Texas heritage," said Congressman Doggett. He said eight Texans spent almost a decade conducting negotiations for the admission of Texas into the United States, and that the memorial "will likely become another point of interest especially for Texas visitors to our capital." He noted that Americans traveling in Europe can find plaques in both London and Paris that commemorate the Texas Legation, while Washington had not followed suit, and credited the Daughters of the Republic of Texas with spearheading the work, with Kitty Hoeck leading the way. "Because Texas history is America's history," he said.
The memorial was approved by Congress in legislation authored by Doggett, the Republic of Texas Legation Memorial Act (H.R. 3349), introduced in June 2019, passed with bipartisan support and signed into law on December 22, 2020. The Daughters then won final approval of the site and design from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission in 2025 and raised the full cost privately; the law bars federal funds to build the memorial.
From 1836 to 1845, the Republic of Texas kept a diplomatic legation in Washington, working first for U.S. recognition and then for annexation. Texas became the 28th state on December 29, 1845.
来源：美国众议院
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：美国海军纪念堂广场，位于华盛顿 Pennsylvania Avenue，公使馆纪念碑选址在其数步之外（CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons）。 / Photo: The U.S. Navy Memorial plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, steps from the Legation memorial site (CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons).
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
