The tomb’s important symbolic features appear in a relatively small band circling the obelisk’s base. Designer Larkin Mead meant for them to work together to tell a single, grand story. He wrote in 1868: At the base of the obelisk … stands the Statue of Abraham Lincoln. On a plane below … are four groups of Statuary, representing the … Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery and marine (Navy). Encircling these pedestals are tablets upon which are written the names of all the states in the Union.