At the age of twenty, architect sculptor Maya Lin was thrust into the spotlight in 1981 when she submitted the winning design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In a national competition, Maya Lin's design was chosen from 1,420 entries. Many of the entries came from famous professionals, whereas Lin, a Yale student, created her design as a course requirement.

The Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington, D.C. was one of the most bitterly disputed public monuments in American history. Politicians criticized the selection of Maya Lin's unconventional design - a starkly simple slash of polished black granite inscribed with the 57,661 names of Americans who died in Vietnam. Patrick J. Buchanan and Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) led the fight, alleging that a juror on the selection committee was a communist. Hyde also suggested a more traditional memorial: white instead of black, above ground rather than running with the contours of the land, and with a big flag at its apex.

Withstanding bitter attacks, Lin tearfully defended her design at public hearings in Washington. Dismissed by opponents for being young, a woman and Asian American, she held her ground with clarity and grace. The memorial was saved by a growing realization that Maya Lin's design had unique and irreplaceable qualities.

The memorial's 1982 dedication was a profound catharsis, not just for those who fought in Vietnam, but for the entire country. Americans visit the site to grieve, to contemplate the consequences of war, and to heal. At the base of the marble panels are flowers, poems and other tokens left by veterans and families. The monument has become the most visited work of contemporary public art in the country, a place of pilgrimage and healing.

Lin's other works include: the Civil Rights Memorial in Alabama, Peace Chapel at Pennsylvania's Junita College, and Women's Table at Yale University. Her Groundswell, is a permanent installation created with 43 tons of glass.

In the 80s, the Southern Poverty Law Center asked Lin to draw plans for a civil rights memorial. Researchers compiled a list of those who had been killed from May 17,1954 (Brown decision) to April 4, 1968 (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. assassination).

Lin created a design meant to encourage reflection. A circular black granite table chronicles the history of 40 civil rights martyrs in lines radiating like the hands of a clock. Water flows from the center and cascades over the black granite wall engraved with the words "... until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."

Lin hoped the water would have a soothing effect, that "the ability to see and touch the names glistening in the water, and simultaneously to see one's own reflection, would add to the sacredness of the site." Just blocks from the first Confederate White House, it is a stone's throw from the church where Dr. King served as minister when he led the Montgomery bus boycott.