Capital question: Whose cities are these, 038; whose history?

Wait. The Ukrainian famine? A monument to be built on federal land by the Ukrainian government? Whose history is this? That question, raised in the 1990s about another foreign memorial, has since ricocheted around the National Park Service and the National Capital Planning Commission, the agencies most responsible for monitoring the conception, creation and placement of new museums and commemorative works in the federal city.

8220;I think there8217;s a heightened sensitivity to where we place these memorials and museums, and whom we venerate,8221; said the planning commission8217;s chairman, John V Cogbill III. 8220;I don8217;t know how that is going to shake out.8221; Cogbill was sanguine, however, about the potential for future conflict over allocations of available memorial space, saying, 8220;We view ourselves as a world city, so I think in that respect you want to embrace something that is not indigenous to our own culture.8221;

The language of the Commemorative Works Act of 1986, which set out procedures for the creation of memorials on federal land here, is a little less inclusive than Cogbill is. It envisions commemorative works that evoke 8220;the memory of an individual, group, event or other significant element of American history.8221; In the two decades since Congress enacted that law, about 30 memorials have been approved, four of which did not conform to the provision about American history.

Two of the four honour foreign leaders. Mohandas Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence who led the movement that freed India from British rule, strides forward in front of the Indian Embassy on Q Street N.W. Tomas G. Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia, looks out over the World Bank on H Street N.W. The other two honour victims of Communist rule. The first is a bronze replica of the 8220;Goddess of Democracy8221; erected in Tiananmen Square during the Chinese student protests of 1989, is dedicated to the 8220;victims of Communism8221; and will rise not far from Union Station. The latter is to the victims of the Ukrainian famine, a monument whose site and design have yet to be determined.

In 2005, John Parsons, an associate regional director of the National Park Service, advised Congress that the proposed Ukrainian memorial, which was in legislation sponsored by Representative Sander M. Levin, Democrat of Michigan, duplicated the purpose of the Victims of Communism Memorial. 8220;While the victims of the Ukraine famine obviously deserve recognition,8221; Parsons testified, 8220;we believe that creating separate memorials for individual groups would detract from the overall message of the Victims of Communism Memorial and could, potentially, create an unfortunate competition amongst various groups for limited memorial sites in our nation8217;s capital.8221;

There are more than 160 memorials in the city, and 75 museums, said Lisa N. MacSpadden, the spokeswoman for the National Capital Planning Commission. The inventory goes up, on average, by one memorial a year and one museum a decade, MacSpadden said. The commission8217;s most recent map shows 100 memorial-worthy sites remaining to commemorate all the country8217;s history to date and all its history to come.

Statues of foreigners are, of course, nothing new: the Marquis de Lafayette looks down on the White House from a high pedestal in his eponymous park, with Thaddeus Kosciusko a stone8217;s throw away.

Simon Bolivar, who freed much of South America from Spanish rule, looms over the intersection of 18th and E Streets N.W., and a statue of the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko was unveiled by President Dwight D. Eisenhower near the eastern end of the P Street Bridge. That monument was championed by one of Levin8217;s predecessors who also represented heavily Ukrainian areas of Michigan like Troy and Warren.

The history of the Ukrainian famine 8212; in which Moscow8217;s requisitioning of the Ukrainian harvest, along with its orders to collectivise agriculture, caused the starvation of millions of people 8212; was long caught in the disinformation and silence imposed by Stalin. Not until a few weeks ago did the Ukrainian Parliament enact a law paying tribute and providing for the creation of a memorial to the famine8217;s victims. The law came weeks after the US Congress voted to approve the memorial in Washington, to be paid for by the government of Ukraine. The initial push for the memorial came from Ukrainian-Americans in Michigan, said Borys Potapenko, president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.

The strongest push, in 2004 and 2005, coincided with the Orange Revolution that brought Viktor A. Yushchenko the presidency. Potapenko said in a telephone interview that he was nervous about the memorial8217;s future in the wake of recent political developments, which have left Yushchenko to share power with his former opponent, Viktor Yanukovich, who had Moscow8217;s support. But Iryna Bezverkha, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Embassy, said embassy officials met in December with members of a Park Service advisory commission to discuss the steps to be followed to win approval for a design and site.

City planners, however, are more concerned with Congress8217;s ability to come to terms with the physical limits of the land. 8220;We are starting to realise that there are a limited number of places left8221; for memorials, said Cogbill of the planning commission. 8220;That means we have to start to think carefully.8221;

8211;FELICITY BARRINGER