For The First Time In A Generation, The Mormon Temple Will Open To The Public

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Surrender Dorothy!

FEB 27, 11:13 AM

For The First Time In A Generation, The Mormon Temple Will Open To The Public

Rachel Kurzius

Children have confused the building with the tall, white spires visible from the Beltway for Disneyland’s epic castle, and apparently at least one person thought it was Medieval Times. Not quite.

The Kensington, Md. building is a Mormon temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day, and it has become a landmark in the region.

Like all LDS temples, people who are not a part of the faith are barred from entering, with very few exceptions. And one of those exceptions is coming up: a public open house and rededication ceremony. It marks the first time since the temple first opened in 1974 that the general public will be allowed inside.

The open house will take place from September 24 through October 31, with an online sign-up form that will roll out during the summer. Entrance will be free, though it’s clear the church sees it as an opportunity to spread its faith.

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Link to tweet

Local

‘Surrender Dorothy’ painted on a Beltway overpass — what’s the story?

By John Kelly
June 24, 2011

As I traveled on the Beltway in the early ’70s near the Mormon Temple in Kensington, I was always amused by one re-occurring sight. On an overpass just as the temple comes into view, someone would always spray paints in big letters “Surrender Dorothy.” The line was from “The Wizard of Oz,” and I’m fairly sure it reflected the graffiti artist’s impression that the temple was reminiscent of the spires that Dorothy and company saw as they approached the Emerald City and their subsequent fear when the witch wrote the phrase in the sky. While I recognize that it was illegal to do that, I marveled at the writer’s ability to write it so boldly as to be seen from the highway. I’ve often wondered if anyone knew the story behind it or knew who the person was.

— Christine Mulligan, Germantown

First, allow Answer Man to state that he does not condone breaking the law, especially breaking the law in such a dangerous way. That graffito (singular of graffiti) was on a CSX railway bridge, meaning the perpetrator(s) risked not just falling onto the Beltway below but being flattened by a passing freight train.

Answer Man could find no reference to when it first went up. The temple was dedicated in November 1974, and certainly by the early 1980s “Surrender Dorothy” was a common sight for Beltway drivers — and an irritant for state highway workers, who would periodically be brought in to remove what was seen as a distraction to drivers.

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A 1986 photo shows the Beltway overpass, close by the glistening spires of the Mormon Temple in Kensington, with the graffito. (United Press International)

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This is the first comment:

Rhea1
6/26/2011 11:57 AM EDT
I miss Baltimore's version too: the "Hon" added to the "Welcome to Baltimore" sign.

Some years ago the Post's Style Invitational ran a contest for jokes that only Washington-area people would understand. One of the entries was:

How long does it take to drive from Georgia to Connecticut?

About three minutes on a good day if you don't wait for Dorothy to surrender.

The graffito has a Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_Dorothy

Gridlock

The Beltway’s famed ‘Surrender Dorothy’ bridge gets a timely new message

By John Kelly
Columnist
Feb. 10, 2017 at 3:53 p.m. EST

What may be the most famous canvas for graffiti artists in the Washington area has been tagged with a new message: The words “Bridges Not Walls” now adorn the CSX railroad bridge over the Beltway between Georgia and Connecticut avenues in Montgomery County.

Anyone who drove that stretch of the Beltway regularly in the 1970s and 1980s probably remembers an earlier legend daubed upon the span: “Surrender Dorothy.” That lighthearted message poked fun at the Emerald City-like Mormon Temple that seems to hover beyond the bridge like the skyline of Oz.

The railroad bridge over the Beltway near the Mormon Temple has new graffiti: "Bridges Not Walls." It's not the first message painted there

Link to tweet

Reportedly, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not care for that snarky message, but for years, every time it was painted over, it would reappear. (The person who painted it first has never come forward, but in 2011, two Catholic school girls confessed to Washington Post columnist John Kelly that they had inspired the message. At a sleepover in 1974, 13 students who went to Holy Child in Potomac, Md., snuck out and stuffed wadded-up newspaper in the chain-link fence on the Linden Lane bridge over the Beltway. A photo of their message — “Surrender Dorothy” — appeared in the Montgomery Journal, where it was apparently seen by that first Picasso with a spray can.)

[Search for ‘Surrender Dorothy’ scrawler pulls back curtain on schoolgirl prank]

In 2014, someone painted the name of acclaimed District hardcore band Fugazi on the bridge: A request, perhaps, that the band — which played its last gig in 2002 — get back together.

[Fugazi, a standout from D.C.’s musical past, pops up in an unexpected place]

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John F. Kelly
John Kelly writes John Kelly's Washington, a daily look at Washington's less-famous side. Born in Washington, John started at The Post in 1989 as deputy editor in the Weekend section. Follow https://twitter.com/JohnKelly