Frank Scaturro

Frank Scaturro helped revive the Grant Monument Association in 1994 and served as its president until 2005 and again since 2009. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University and his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Scaturro has several publication credits, including President Grant Reconsidered (Madison Books, 1999) and The Supreme Court’s Retreat from Reconstruction (Greenwood Press, 2000).

In 1991, while dorming at Columbia, Frank volunteered with the National Park Service and began guiding tours of nearby Grant’s Tomb. As he became more familiar with the 150-foot granite structure, he noticed that what was formerly one of the nation’s most popular attractions was showing serious signs of neglect. The roof leaked, the walls were discolored, and the site was slowly becoming masked with graffiti and treated like a bathroom. Drug users and their associated paraphernalia became more and more prevalent on the Tomb’s front staircase and plaza. Thus began a personal crusade, soon to be joined by others, to inform the Park Service, and later political leaders and the general public, of the Tomb’s deterioration. By 1997, his many reports and memos were answered with a $1.8 million face-lift.

Watch Frank Scaturro’s July 22, 2018, presentation on President Grant’s final days and the story of the construction of Grant’s Tomb.