These responses all miss the brilliance of what Lin did. Vietnam veteran Tom Cathcart was among those objecting to the memorial’s black hue, which he said was “the universal color of shame and sorrow and degradation.” Other critics thought Lin’s V-shaped design was a subliminal anti-war message that imitated the two-finger peace sign flashed by Vietnam War protestors.

The Vietnam Memorial is a piece about death for a culture in which people are constantly being told that life is the only thing that matters. Throughout her freshman and sophomore years, she watched as stonecutters added to the honor roll by etching the names of those killed in the Vietnam War. “I think it left a lasting impression on me,” Lin wrote, “the sense of the power of a name.”

Those memories were fresh in the mind of the daughter of Chinese immigrants senior year when, as part of an assignment in her funereal architecture seminar, she designed a walled monument to veterans of the Vietnam War that was etched with the names of those who gave their lives.

Political resistance to Lin’s design was also pronounced, with influential figures like H. Ross Perot withdrawing their support due to its controversial nature. (A statue dedicated to the women who served in the Vietnam War was also added to the site in 1993.)

After the memorial wall was unveiled on November 13, 1982, however, the controversy quickly subsided.

Some argued that the memorial should rise from the ground and not sink into the earth as if it was something to be hidden.

They misjudged their designer. The federal Commission of Fine Arts, swayed by political pressure, imposed alterations to Lin’s original vision, including the addition of a flagpole and realistic statues of soldiers.

In addition to her architectural ventures, Lin has earned income from multiple grants, awards, and commissions related to her artistic pursuits.

The wall’s detractors used everything from Lin’s age to her ethnicity to her as reasons the design should be changed or abandoned altogether. Overall, Maya Lin’s diverse portfolio, coupled with her impact on both architecture and public art, has solidified her financial success while inspiring future generations of artists and architects.

She hates Washington, and has rarely been back since her work was finished.