http://www.massmayflower.org/research/articles/Baker-P/plymouth-rock.htm 
 
http://gonewengland.about.com/cs/sbostonsights/a/aaplymouthrock.htm 
 
http://www.pilgrimhallmuseum.org/plymouth_rock.htm

The Mayflower arrived in Plymouth Harbor in 1620, and according to oral tradition, Plymouth Rock was the site where William Bradford and other Pilgrims first set foot on land. Even though this story may not be completely true, it is holds an interesting take on U.S. history. 

There is actually no 17th century references to the Pilgrims landing on a rock. There is only two accounts of the 1620 arrival at Plymouth, neither place a significance on their first steps on land. The first time this story came about was 120 years later when James Thacher wrote in that a pier was about to be built over the rock, this is when Thomas Faunce came out with the story. He had a habit of taking his children and grandchildren to the rock and telling them the story as his father had told it to him. Which is, this rock had &ldquo;received the footsteps of our fathers on their first arrival.&rdquo; Though, this seemed to be a large time gap, Faunce's father arrived in Plymouth 1623 on the Anne. By about 1633, he was married and Thomas was born about 1647. His family were very close with the other pilgrims, and knew almost all of them. So, the legend began. 

Throughout the 1700s people looked to rock as a symbol of independence. In the 1800s while trying to move the rock it accidently broke in half, the lower half remaining on the shore, while the top half was moved around to different museums. People loved, cared, and protected this rock. Though many of us still ask the question, is this really where the Pilgrims first stepped foot? Too many people today it is an important icon of the U.S. history, and whether or not the story is really true, the story itself gave way to make interesting history. 



&ldquo;What we can declare, however, is that this Rock &ndash; located on Plymouth's shore near the foot of &ldquo;First Street&rdquo; &ndash; marks the spot where something significant happened. We may never know if here the first footfall happened. We do know that here the first settlement began. And, after all, the importance of Plymouth is not that the Pilgrims landed here, it is that the Pilgrims stayed here. Here they built their homes, here they created their Colony, here New England began.&rdquo; &ndash;Peggy Baker

Plymouth Rock

The Los Angeles Lakers are regarded as the most historic of the four professional sports franchises currently home to the Staples Center. The Staples Center has housed 5 NBA titles from the Lakers, and many historic moments. One such moment was Kobe Bryant's 81 point game against the Toronto Raptors which is second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game for highest scoring game by an individual in NBA history. The Staples Center hosted many great Lakers in the likes of Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Derrek Fisher, Rick Fox, Devan George, Robert Horry and NBA greats who finished their careers in LA such as Karl Malone and Steve Nash. So while the Lakers may not always be in future championship games, the have still been one of the NBA's most historic teams and they call the Staples Center home.The LA Sparks and LA Kings have also had a history of winning. The LA Sparks have won 2 WNBA championships and have been a resident of the Staples ever since it opened. The LA Kings have won 2 Stanley Cups while playing in the Staples center. The only team of the four LA teams to not win a championship in the Staples Center is the LA Clippers.Other events of historic value that have occurred in the Staples Center reach from politics to pop culture. In the 2000 presidential races the Staples Center hosted the Democratic National Convention. The conclusion of the convention was that Al Gore received the Democratic nomination for that year's election. As far as music and pop culture, Michael Jackson's memorial service was held at the Staples Center.&nbsp;

The Staples Center is a historic arena that is home to four professional sports teams: The Los Angeles Lakers, The Los Angeles Sparks, The Los Angeles Clippers, and The Los Angeles Kings. The Arena opened October 17th, 1999 and has housed many great moments in both sports and cultural history. The Staples Center has been home to everything from Kobe Bryant's 81 point performance against the Toronto Raptors in 2006 to Michael Jackson's memorial service in 2009. The Lakers, Sparks, and Kings continue to bring many championships to LA while playing in the Staples Center, and the four teams continue to make history (Both good and bad) every year. However the Lakers recently finished the 2015-2016 Season with the most losses in the Staples Center's history in one season with 65 losses in an 82 game season. The Staples Center is however still one of the most win associated stadiums in sports.

Staples Center

In his expedition with Lewis and Clark, John Colter explored what is present-day Jackson Hole in 1908. When he returned, no mapmaker or journalist would publish any of his findings because his "tales" of the wilderness and wildlife were so unbelievable. However, word spread and many trappers were intrigued. Trappers, who became known as mountain men, fled to the area. Fur trading was popular. Yellowstone was full of beavers and other creatures useful to the men. Most of the men were skilled trappers but did not know how to read or write. Luckily, Osborn Russell was a literate trapper who wrote the earliest journals about Yellowstone. Fur trading was coming to an end in the later 1840s. Jim Bridger was a trapper who originally came to Yellowstone for the trapping opportunities. Bridger stayed in the area and became a guide, scout, and legendary storyteller. He is accredited as&nbsp;the first geographer of the region. Miners inhibited between the 1850s-1870s. Walter Delacy published the first map of Yellowstone after he and his crew prospected the area for gold. They discovered Shoshone and Lewis Lake. D.E. Folsom, C.W. Cook, and William Peterson completely the first privately organized Yellowstone&nbsp;expedition in 1869. After 36 days of exploring, they returned to Montana to share their findings. Like Colter, the men were questioned on their information. Their stories were "too risky", but eventually got published in Western Monthly Magazine of Chicago. The following year, General Henry D. Washburn, Nathaniel P. Langford, and&nbsp;Gustavus C. Doan organized a second expedition. Their party&nbsp;is responsible for naming Old Faithful, Castle Geyser, Giant Geyser, and Grand Canyon. One of their party members got split up and spend 27 days lost in the landscape of Yellowstone. Rather than return and report to the newspapers, the men gave lectures and wrote their own prints about the experience. Dr. Ferdinand Hayden listened to one of Langford's lectures and asked his friends in Congress to fund an official expedition of Yellowstone. Hayden was granted $40,000 in appropriations for a survey to investigate the Missouri and Yellowstone territories. Hayden assembled a team including&nbsp;James Stevenson, Albert Peale, William Jackson and Thomas Moran for the journey. Many of the men were artists. Hayden was a photographer. The men made sketches and paintings, wrote journals, and took photographs of the endless beauties of the area. Their work was presented to the public and to Congress. On March 1st, 1872 Ulysses S Grant signed a bill into law, establishing Yellowstone as a national public park. Originally, management and control of the park were under the Secretary of Interior. At the time, it was Columbus Delano. Between 1886 and 1917, the United States Army was commissioned&nbsp;to oversee management of Yellowstone. In 1916, the National Park Service was created and administration of the park was transferred. Yellowstone's most unusual and famous&nbsp;natural features are its geysers. The land is freckled with small geysers, shooting no more than 10 feet high. There are six major geysers that erupt and shoot over 100 feet high daily. The geysers are naturally created by underground molten rock. Some geologists believe the earth's crust is an estimated 40 miles thick in the Yellowstone area, compared to 90 miles in most places. Along with geysers, Yellowstone is full of hot springs, pools, and run-off channels. Due to temperature and the algae and bacteria combination, many of these bodies of water reflect all colors of the rainbow. Scientist Bob Christiansen studied the land's ash flow tuffs under the U.S. Geological Survey. The three tuffs were named and examined. The Huckleberry Ridge Tuff was determined to be 2.1 million years old, Lava Creek Tuff 0.65 million, and Mesa Falls tuff was&nbsp;1.3 million years old. It is believed that the volcanic eruptions from these calderas helped form the varies landscapes of the Yellowstone region millions of years ago. Yellowstone National Park has the largest concentration of wildlife in the United States. Yellowstone is bear country. The forests are home to over 500 grizzly bears and Black bears. There are 13 total wolf packs in the Yellowstone ecosystem&nbsp;(over 370 individual wolves). Guests offend come to&nbsp;search for moose, elk, bison, badgers, otters, and foxes. Elk have the park's largest population; approximately 15,000 reside within its boundaries. The park even houses a wolverine and a lynx, though they are rarely ever spotted. Many opportunities are offered at Yellowstone. There are 6 different lodging cabins and 12 designated campsites. Over 1,100 miles of trails are available for hikers and backpackers. There are over one hundred lakes and a thousand miles of streams within the park. In 1890, any body of water was stocked full of fish, making fly-fishing a popular tourist activity. The game fish range from&nbsp;cutthroat, rainbow, brown, brook, and lake trout, along with grayling and mountain whitefish. During the winter months, snowmobiling and skiing are popular.

Established in 1872, Yellowstone became the first national park in the United States. The park encompasses over 2.2 million acres of land, full of environmental beauties. Famous for its volcanic calderas, Yellowstone National Park is full of geysers, canyons, lakes, mountains, rivers, and all of the critters that live in those places. Aside from the wildlife and tourists attractions, the Yellowstone area is full of American history.

Grant Village Visitor Center, Yellowstone National Park

Talk of
building a monument for this national hero began while President Abraham Lincoln was
still on his deathbed in 1865. The country&nbsp;knew he was going to
be remembered as one of the most influential men of all time. The Lincoln Memorial Association&nbsp;drafted&nbsp;plans for a memorial in 1867, deciding on a colossal design with&nbsp;38 statues,&nbsp;bronze equestrian figures, and numerous columnns, though it proved too expensive. The idea resurfaced in the early twentieth century as the National Mall began to fill with monuments, memorials, and museums, as it is known today.&nbsp;&nbsp;President Taft created the Lincoln Memorial Commission and set aside $2 million to fund the project. In 1914, construction began on a memorial designed by Henry Bacon. While some felt it was still to&nbsp;














ostentatious for a man who embodied humility, it&nbsp;instead can be seen as a temple to Lincoln's values. The Lincoln Memorial&nbsp;was modeled after
the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. It contains&nbsp;three chambers; the central chamber which contains an
imposing statue of Lincoln that towers over visitors at 19 feet tall. Designed by Daniel Chester French and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, this representation of the 16th president overlooks the 2,029 foot&nbsp;long Reflecting Pool and faces the Washington
Monument. The memorial's left and right chambers contain engraved copies of the Gettysburg
Address and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. Each address is accompanied by&nbsp;a mural painted by Jules Guerin.&nbsp;The&nbsp;Gettysburg Address mural, entitled "Emancipation," represents the values of freedom, liberty, justice, law, and immortality. In the central panel, the Angel of Truth releases slaves from bondage. The Second Inaugural Address mural, "Unity,"&nbsp;depicts the Angel of Truth bringing together the North and South and protecting the values of science, the arts, the future, and fraternity. Other architectural details of the Lincoln Memorial were designed by Ernest C. Barstow and Evelyn Beatrice Longman. Visitors to the Lincoln Memorial are greeted by an inscription by Royal Cortissoz that captures the essence of President Lincoln:<blockquote>“In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever.”&nbsp;</blockquote>On
the outside of the Lincoln Memorial building, there are 36 columnns which represent the states
that Lincoln was fighting to unite. Engraved around outside of the monument are
the names of the 48 states in the Union at the time of the monument’s
completion (excluding Hawaii and Alaska which were added in a plaque at the
foot of the monument in 1959). 

This historic
monument was dedicated by former President Taft on May 30, 1922. This
dedication was meant to serve as a reminder of Lincoln’s work towards equality,
freedom, and national unity, yet, although the ideals of a united nation
prevailed, the truth of racial equality was not fully realized. Much of the
crowd at the ceremony was segregated, a fact that disturbed many who were there.
A rededication ceremony occurred in 2009 on the bicentennial of Lincoln’s
birth; it was partially meant to right the wrong of the first dedication and to
remind the people again of the importance of fighting for equality. 

Since its
1922 opening, the site has been the backdrop for many demonstrations on behalf
of civil rights. Most famous among these is the March on Washington for Jobs
and Freedom of 1963. This march saw 200,000 people come together to demand
equality for all races; it was the day of Martin Luther King Jr.’s world
renowned “I Have a Dream” speech. Another rally, often known as the Prayer Pilgrimage
of 1957, saw 25,000 people come together to protest the slow progression of
desegregation and the economic plight of African Americans. This protest was a
prototype for the march to be led by King years later. The steps of the
monument also saw singer Marian Anderson perform a concert on Easter Sunday in
1939. It was a nationally funded event sponsored by the Roosevelt administration
and was heard across the country via radio.Today, the Lincoln Memorial is a symbol of equality and of the struggles we have
overcome in fighting for civil rights. It honors the president who strove to
unite a torn nation and who desired to see equality reign. Visitors from all
over the world flood the steps of this monument every day to see the memorial
to one of our nation’s greatest presidents.&nbsp;

An iconic symbol of freedom stands in the center of our nation’s capital: the Lincoln Memorial. This grand monument to one of our most influential presidents has been the site of countless concerts, speeches, and protests -- including Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Dedicated to the Savior of the Union, the memorial and its history call to mind the human rights struggles our nation has faced, from the Civil War to the March on Washington. Today, it is overseen by the National Park Service and is part of the National Mall and Memorial Parks.

The Lincoln Memorial

French architect Pierre L'Enfant created the blueprint for the federal city that became Washington D.C., but he and President George Washington held very different views about the design for what would later be known as The White House. L'Enfant's 1791 plan for the city was based around a central palace that mirrored the grandeur of the dwellings of European heads of state. Believing that America's Executive Mansion should better reflect republican principles, Washington dismissed L'Enfant's plan and held a design competition.Hoban, an Irish-born and architect who was living in Charleston, South Carolina,&nbsp;won the competition to create the Executive Mansion. Hoban's inspiration for the house was drawn from an Anglo-Irish villa called the Leinster House in Dublin. A second competition was held to determine the design of the nation's capitol. It is&nbsp;believed that Thomas Jefferson, who designed his own home of Monticello,&nbsp;entered the competition&nbsp;under a pseudonym. If this is the case, Jefferson's designs were not selected in either competition.&nbsp;Construction of the President's home began in 1792. Attempts to&nbsp;recruit skilled workers to the project proved difficult because the capitol was located in a sparsely-settled area. As a result, most of the labor was performed by slaves and&nbsp;free men of color who had fewer employment options. Stonemasons and carpenters trained enslaved people to perform necessary tasks to assist the small number of skilled laborers who joined the project. Slaves also built many of the other buildings throughout the new federal city. According to a letter from First Lady Abigail Adams, who lived in the Executive Mansion while it was being completed, the slaves who worked on the home were "half fed, and destitute of cloathing." She opined that the work could be performed more&nbsp;efficiently&nbsp;by free laborers from New England.&nbsp; Jefferson defeated Adams in November, 1880, the same month that Abigail Adams wrote about the failure to complete the Executive Mansion. While President, Jefferson personally oversaw some of the construction and ordered&nbsp;several structural changes with the help of&nbsp;architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Jefferson's changes&nbsp;included the addition of terrace-pavilions on either side of the main building and single-story wings for storage. In addition to replacing the slate roof with one of sheet iron, Jefferson further improved the grounds by landscaping them in a picturesque manner.&nbsp;The British set the mansion on fire&nbsp;during the War of 1812. James Madison was President at the time and his wife, Dolly Madison, famously saved artwork including a portrait of George Washington. Despite the British efforts to destroy the building, mother nature had other plans. As British sought shelter from a&nbsp;summer thunderstorm, their fire was extinguished. The interior of the White House had been destroyed, but the&nbsp;outside walls and the interior brick walls survived. Madison brought Hoban back to restore the mansion, a process&nbsp;which took three years. It was during this period of&nbsp;reconstruction that the house was painted white. Hoban later added the South and North Porticos, using a similar design that had been created by Benjamin&nbsp;Latrobe.Expansion and further alterations were made when President Theodore Roosevelt declared the house unsafe to inhabit and had the original building remodeled. Roosevelt desire to separate his workspace from his family life and did so by making the third-story attic into habitable rooms and adding the Executive Office wing and the East Gallery. In 1909, architect Nathan C. Wyeth extended the West Wing,&nbsp;adding the well-known Oval Office, the President's formal workspace. Although referred to as "The White House"&nbsp;since the time of its construction when its exterior walls were covered with protective whitewash,&nbsp;President Theodore Roosevelt made "The White House"&nbsp;the mansion's official name in 1901.&nbsp;In the mid-twentieth century, the White House underwent
several&nbsp;renovations to improve its structural soundness and historic
appearance. In 1949-1951, the&nbsp;building was determined unsafe after years
of&nbsp;maintenance neglect. The restoration involved replacing the original
frame and paneling with steel, along with adding a balcony to the South
Portico. In the meantime, President Harry Truman relocated to the
neighboring&nbsp;Blair House, also known as the President's Guest House. These
decades also saw increased security and technological integration. Truman
welcomed news crews to the White House in the 1950s after the restoration was
complete. When John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy moved into the White House in
1961, the stylish and artistically-minded First Lady refurbished the living
quarters and publicly accessible spaces with antique furniture, art, and
artifacts. She developed a Fine Arts Committee to collect art and Americana and
an advisory committee that drafted a treatise on the restoration philosophy.
The White House, according to these plans, was both a symbol and functional
structure with a “living” character. They chose décor to reflect a multitude of
time periods and administrations. Later that year, the White House was declared
a museum and Lorraine Waxman Pearce was hired as the first curator of its
collections and history. Jacqueline Kennedy also brought this history to the
public through magazine articles and a televised tour of the White House in
1962. Lyndon Johnson’s administration continued this work by establishing the Committee
for the Preservation of the White House to advise historical preservation,
collections acquisitions, and design.




















Since the 1960s, the White House has continued to add to its
historical collections while integrating modern technologies to the building. White
House staff began using computers in the 1980s and the first emails were sent
in 1992. In 1979, Jimmy Carter had solar panels installed on the White House roof,
though they were removed in the 1980s as Reagan’s administration promoted fossil
fuels. Solar panels returned under George W. Bush in 2003 and more were added
under Barack Obama in 2013. Despite modern renovations and the addition of
security measures following the terrorist attacks of&nbsp;September&nbsp;2001,
citizens can still tour the White House with advance registration through their
Congressional offices. In this and in many other ways, the White House remains&nbsp;an
architectural symbol of the American presidency and&nbsp;the&nbsp;republican
ideals of the Founders. 
 
The White House&nbsp;Visitor Center is&nbsp;located just west of the corner of
15th and E Streets, is open daily from 7:30 am to 4 pm. Inside this temporary
visitor&nbsp;center&nbsp;there is an information desk, a 30-minute movie on the
White House,&nbsp;Where History Lives,&nbsp;and the White House
Historical Association gift shop.

Designed by architect James Hoban and built in coordination with George Washington and other American leaders, the Executive Mansion is known informally around the world as "The White House." Although President Washington oversaw construction, he never lived in the house. President John Adams, elected in 1796 as the second President, and First Lady Abigail Adams were the first residents of the White House, which was still unfinished at the time. It completed in 1800, though construction and restoration projects have taken place ever since. It was partially burned by the British in the War of 1812. Contrary to the popular story that it was painted white to hide burn marks, the White House was simply painted white in 1818. The building was known as the White House prior to this time because of lime-based whitewash that was used to protect the exterior. The White House also includes two wings: the West Wing, built in the early 1900s under Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, and the East Wing, first built by President Theodore Roosevelt and significantly expanded in 1942 to include an underground bunker and office spaces. In all, the White House complex covers around 18 acres and includes gardens and spacious lawns. 

The White House

During his life, President George Washington was primarily associated with two lodges in Virginia: the Fredericksburg Lodge, his Mother Lodge; and Alexandria Lodge No. 22 in Alexandria, Virginia, where he served as Charter Master under the Grand Lodge of Virginia.Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4 first proposed the idea of a Masonic memorial to Washington in 1852, with funds being sought from Grand Lodges throughout the country. The Alexandria-Washington Lodge had become the repository of many artifacts concerning Washington his family, but the facilities were inadequate for the display and storage of the items. In 1871, a fire in the Lodge destroyed much of the collection. The conflagration led Charles H. Callahan, Senior Warden of Alexandria-Washington Lodge, to purchase several lots on Shuters Hill in 1909 for the construction of a fire-proof Lodge Hall.In 1910, Masonic leaders from around the U.S. gathered at Alexandria Lodge and created the George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association. The objects of the Association, as set forth in its Constitution, are "to erect and maintain in the City of Alexandria, Virginia, a suitable Memorial Temple to George Washington, the Mason, one which shall express in durability and beauty the undying esteem of the Freemasons of the United States for him in whose memory it shall stand throughout the coming years.”1American architect and Freemason Harvey Wiley Corbett drew up the initial plans for the Memorial. It was originally designed as a Neoclassical three-story memorial temple topped by a three-story tower. However, numerous revisions to the design occurred until 1922. Ultimately, the Grand Lodges of the United states approved the idea of a colossal building designed as a Memorial "lighthouse" to Washington.On June 5, 1922, the groundbreaking ceremony took place. Constructed proceeded as funds became available for each stage of the project, even throughout the Great Depression. The cornerstone was dedicated in a Masonic ceremony on November 1, 1923. This event was conducted in front of an audience comprised of such notable figures as President Calvin Coolidge, former President and Chief Justice William H. Taft, in addition to a crowd of thousands of Freemasons from across the country. On May 12, 1932, 200 years after Washington's birth, the Memorial was dedicated, with President Herbert Hoover in attendance. The Memorial interior was largely built following World War II, and the building was finally deemed complete by 1970, though the marble facing and full illumination were not in place until three years later. A large square and compasses were added to the front lawn in 1999. The Memorial’s structure consists of nine floors, many of which are open to ticketed visitors. It is capped by a step pyramid with seven steps, with a light fixture atop the pyramid in the shape of a double keystone.

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is a Masonic building and memorial honoring the first President of the United States. Built by his fellow Masons between 1922 and 1932 at a cost of six million dollars, the 333-foot-tall memorial was inspired by a mixture of classical European buildings and modeled after the ancient lighthouse at Alexandria. It is located atop Shooter's Hill (also known as Shuter's Hill) in Alexandria, Virginia. The site is a tourist destination; research center and library; community center; performing arts center and concert hall; banquet and celebration site; and a meeting site for local and visiting Masonic lodges and organizations.

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial

Times Square was originally known as Long Acre Square, as was generally used as the early site for William H. Vanderbilt's horse exchange. During the 1880s, this area was a large space with dull apartments surrounding it, but once electric lights and theater advertisements began to appear, the neighborhood changed into an inviting environment for New Yorkers. With it, though, came brothels, pickpockets, and streetwalkers, turning the area into more of a red-light district. In the early 1900s, New York Times owner and publisher Adolph S. Ochs realized an opportunity to build Times Tower in a highly visible location. The Times moved into their new location, the second tallest building in the city at the time, in January 1905. The previous spring, a resolution was signed by Mayor George C. McClellan that renamed the intersection Times Square. Within a decade, they outgrew the location and moved to a new one. Before they left, they gave birth to an ongoing tradition today: the New Year's Eve spectacular. Although the Times moved, the tower remained and is still the focal point of Times Square today.

Times Square, also known as the "Crossroads of the World," is one of, if not, the most iconic places in New York City and is one of the world's busiest pedestrian areas. Stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets, this junction of Broadway and 7th Avenue holds a plethora of sights to enjoy. Take time to gaze at the numerous stores located around Times Square as well as the gigantic advertisements on the surrounding buildings! Make sure to arrive early if you plan to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve!

Times Square

The Piers opened in 1910, having taken more than thirty
years of planning and a further eight to complete construction. Called "the
most remarkable urban design achievement of their day" by the New York
Times, the piers were the first stop for many European immigrants, who were
transferred from the transatlantic ships to ferries that brought them to Ellis
Island for registration. In addition, many luxury liners arrived and departed
at the Chelsea Piers. The Titanic was
due to conclude her maiden voyage at Pier 59 of the Chelsea Piers. Both pier
and ship were owned by the White Star Line, who hoped that the luxury ship
would be their most successful investment. However, the Carpathia ship that brought the Titanic’s
survivors to the city was operated by White Star Line’s rival, the
British-owned Cunard Line, who owned Pier 54. Cunard’s Mauretania and the Lusitania&nbsp;luxury
liners also berthed at the Chelsea Piers. The latter was torpedoed by a German
U-boat in 1915, killing almost two thousand people and eventually causing
America to join the First World War in 1917. Further tragedy occurred on
October 29th, 1929, when the Wall Street stock market crashed. The Barengaria luxury ocean liner, owned by
Cunard Line, was the first ship to arrive at the Chelsea Piers after the event,
and many of the most affluent passengers on board arrived to find that they
were bankrupt. 

Pier 54 featured a main shed, designed by New York City
architects Warren and Wetmore, who also designed the Grand Central Terminal
building. &nbsp;The piers were built in a
Beaux Arts style, with pink granite and wood buildings, and enormous steel
archways facing the street. During the early 20th century it was
common to see long lines of longshoremen queue in front of this shed, where the
day’s staff would be chosen by the boss of the pier. 

However, in 1932 a fire destroyed the original Pier 54, and
by 1933 the Depression had diminished the former allure of luxury transatlantic
liners. During the 1930s newer and larger ocean liners arrived at the Chelsea
Peirs, including the SS Normandie and
RMS Queen Mary. These required longer
piers, which were built along the waterfront between West 44th and
West 52nd Streets. The Chelsea Piers became largely redundant and
fell into non-use. By 1958 transatlantic liners had almost completely ceased
operations, as commercial airplane services started connecting America with
Europe. From that point on the piers were used to store and distribute cargo.
When the largest cargo handlers, the Grace and United States lines, moved their
operations to New Jersey in 1967 the Piers became entirely vacant. 

In the 1990s the main shed and other features of the piers
were demolished, but in 1992 plans to completely remove the old piers were
replaced with a new project proposal by local developers Roland Betts, Tom
Bernstein and David Tewksbury. Since then, the waterfront has been redeveloped
by the Chelsea Piers Management, Inc. They have developed a sports and
entertainment complex across a number of the historic piers, transforming the
area into one of the city’s most popular destinations for relaxing and
recreation.&nbsp;

After the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank on April 14th 1912, the Cunard ship Carpathia brought the 675 survivors to New York. They arrived at Pier 54 of the Chelsea Piers on April 20th, where they were greeted by a crowd of more than thirty thousand people. The Chelsea Piers was New York’s primary terminal for passenger ships, as well as a point of departure for the nation’s soldiers leaving for Europe during the First and Second World Wars. During the 1950s and 1960s it was used as a cargo terminal, though its services diminished during the mid- to late-60s. Despite being protected by the Hudson River Park Trust, Pier 54 was recently dismantled to be replaced with a large floating recreational island. 

Pier 54 and Titanic's Arrival

Alexander Hamilton was one of the most influential of America's Founding Generation, serving as an officer in the Revolutionary War and one of the leading spirits behind the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Although Hamilton may be most well-known today for his death at the hands of Aaron Burr following his participation in the nation's most famous duel, Hamilton should also be remembered as the father of America's monetary system. Hamilton was the leading proponent of a strong central government and central banking. As the first Secretary of the Treasury, he shaped the nature of currency and banking. As one of George Washington's most trusted advisers, he shaped the nature of the Presidency. Hamilton may have followed in Washington's footsteps had it not been for his perception as a man of strong personal ambition, or his decision to participate in a fatal duel with Vice President Aaron Burr in Weehawken, New Jersey, in July 1804. His life and legacy are commemorated in a bronze statue, commissioned in 1917 and dedicated on May 17, 1923, at the United States Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. This 10-foot-tall statue was created by American sculptor James Earle Fraser. It stands atop a 9-foot granite base made by the Beaux-Arts architect Henry Bacon. Cast by the Kunst Foundry in New York, the statue depicts Hamilton holding a tricorn hat and dress coat. He wears knee breeches, a throat fichu, buckled shoes, and ruffled cuffs. The statue bears inscriptions on its front, back, and north face indicating the foundry and text relating to Hamilton's life. The inscriptions read as follows: (Rear of sculpture, near base)<blockquote>Fraser 19221</blockquote>(Rear of sculpture, near base)<blockquote>A. Kunst Foundry NY1</blockquote>(Front of base)<blockquote>ALEXANDER HAMILTON/1757-1804/FIRST SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY/SOLDIER ORATOR STATESMAN/CHAMPION OF CONSTITUTIONAL UNION/REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT AND/NATIONAL INTEGRITY1</blockquote>(North side of base) <blockquote>HE SMOTE THE ROCK OF THE NATIONAL RESOURCES AND ABUNDANT STREAMS OF REVENUE GUSHED FORTH. HE TOUCHED THE DEAD CORPSE OF THE PUBLIC CREDIT AND IT SPRANG UPON ITS FEET. signed Founder's mark appears.1</blockquote> Hamilton's life is also chronicled in a bestselling book by Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton, published in 2004. In 2015, a musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda based on the book debuted on Broadway, winning eleven Tony Awards and renewing widespread interest in Hamilton's life. In 2017, the Library of Congress digitized the largest collection of Hamilton's papers, consisting of approximately 12,000 documents, for researchers, students, and curious readers to freely peruse.

One of the most prominent figures in early American history is represented by this 10-foot-tall outdoor bronze sculpture by American sculptor James Earle Fraser. The Alexander Hamilton Statue stands atop a granite base created by Henry Bacon. The base features multiple inscriptions pertaining to the "Father of the American Monetary System." It is located on the on the south patio (Alexander Hamilton Place, NW) of the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington D.C.

Alexander Hamilton Statue

The Speedway is used for different types of automotive races including a 3.65 mile sports car course, a 2.95 mile motocross course, and a .25 mile carting and motorcycle course. The infield features a 29 acre lake that is used for boat races. International Speedway Corporation owns and operates the speedway. The track has been renovated three times and repaved twice once in 1978 and 2010. In 2001 during the Daytona 500 in the final lap Dale Earnhardt was involved in a crash that took his life. The Grandstand was named the Earnhardt Grandstand.&nbsp;

Built in 1958 and holding its first race the following year, Daytona International Speedway is one of the most famous and important racetracks in the United States. The track was designed by William France Sr., the founder of NASCAR. Prior to the creation of this dedicated 2.5 mile tri-oval racetrack, the famous Daytona race occurred on part of the A1A highway and part of the beach. 

Daytona International Speeway

Built in 1895, this home was later purchased by Martin Luther King's grandfather Adam Daniel Williams in 1909. Williams was a pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the same congregation that would later by led by Dr. King. Adam Daniel Williams and his wife Jennie Williams purchased the house for around $3,500. It was not until 1929 when King's father Martin Luther King married Alberta Williams and moved into the home. Martin Luther King Jr. was born along with his siblings inside of the home in their parent's bedroom. The house is a two-story Queen Anne style home. It has a one-story partial front and side porch. There is a scroll cut woodwork trim, a shingled gable end, two porthole windows, and a side bay. The porch is on an enclosed brick foundation. After the Kings departed the house in 1941, the home was divided for several years into two rental units. The house has since been restored to its original plan and is now a popular tourist location. The home is located in the Sweet Auburn Historic District in Atlanta, Georgia. The district is known as one of the biggest concentration points for African American businesses along with having significant historic value. Today, Martin Luther King Jr.'s home is a part of the Martin Luther King Jr Historic Site. Martin Luther King Jr. was thrust into the national spotlight as he led the successful 381- day Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56. Initially somewhat reluctant to take on the mantle of civil rights leader, he responded to the needs of his congregants at a time when some Black clergy feared that being associated with civil rights activism might lead to dire consequences. King followed the lead of African American women such as Rosa Parks in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and increasingly came to respect the talent and wisdom of other Black leaders such as Ella Baker who pushed him to support students and others who used civil disobedience as a strategy. King organized and presided over the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957 and was a co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church. Dr. King's speeches and letters came to form a critical part of the spiritual and intellectual foundation of the Civil Rights Movement, and his leadership and call to action led tens of thousands to push for equal rights through non-violent actions. His methods paved the way to the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned public segregation and hiring discrimination in schools, public transportation, and other public activities. Turning his attention to disfranchisement, King also successfully pushed Congress to approve the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That law was weakened by the Republican majority in the 21st century, but during the late 20th century it gave the Justice Department wide powers to prevent voter discrimination and other actions such as gerrymandering. Martin Luther King was arrested around thirty times throughout his life for his participation in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, he is best known for his many inspiring speeches including his address to participants in the March on Washington. That speech called for an end to police brutality, employment and housing discrimination, segregation, disfranchisement, and other actions that prevented American from achieving his dream of racial equality

Built in 1895, this Queen-Anne style home in Atlanta became the birth home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in January 1929. King was born in his parent's bedroom and lived in this home until age twelve. The property was acquired by the National Park Service and is part of Atlanta's Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park. NPS rangers provide interpretive tours of the home.

Martin Luther King Jr. Birthplace

Mildred Ella
Didrikson was born in Port Arthur, Texas on June 26, 1911.&nbsp; Her mother, Hannah, and her father, Ole, were
immigrants from Norway.&nbsp; She moved with
her family from Port Arthur to Beaufort at the age of four.&nbsp; There is a rumor that she acquired the
nickname “Babe” (after major league baseball player, Babe Ruth) after hitting
five home runs in a childhood baseball game, but the reality was that her
mother had called her “Bebe” (Norwegian for Babe) since she was a toddler.1

Mildred was
the sixth of seven children and times were often difficult for the Didrikson
family.&nbsp; Mildred worked at many part-time
jobs, including sewing gunny sacks at a penny a sack.&nbsp; She was an excellent seamstress and made many
of the clothes that she and her siblings wore.&nbsp;
She won a sewing competition at the South Dallas State Fair in Beaumont
in 1931.&nbsp; She attended school at Beaumont
High School, but was never a successful student.&nbsp; She eventually dropped out with her parents’
permission and moved to Dallas to play basketball. &nbsp;It was here that her athletic career began to
soar.

After a
short but successful career in basketball, Babe turned her attention to track
and field.&nbsp; Babe had read about the 1928
Olympics in her dad’s newspapers and decided that she wanted to be an Olympic
athlete and began training with her sister, running through their neighborhood
and jumping hedges as they went along.3&nbsp;&nbsp;During the Olympic trials she qualified for
five events, but women were only allowed to participate in three.&nbsp; At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, she won
two gold medals and one silver medal at the age of twenty-one.&nbsp; She received a gold medal for the javelin
throw, a gold medal for the 80-meter hurdles, and a silver medal in the high
jump.4

Didrikson is
probably best known for her achievements in golf.&nbsp; She won 82 tournaments over her golfing
career.&nbsp; She took up golf in 1933 and was
considered a professional shortly after because she gave advertising
endorsements.&nbsp; At the 1938 Los Angeles Open,
Babe met her future husband, George Zaharias, a wrestler and part-time actor
from Colorado.&nbsp; After a short courtship,
they married in December of that same year.&nbsp;
Four months after they married, George whisked her away on a vacation to
Australia, but typical of their status as a power couple, he lined up an exhibition
for her to play while there, and Babe’s sparkling personality had now become an
international affair.5

In 1943,
Babe was awarded amateur status as a golfer which enabled her to play in a
wider array of tournaments.&nbsp; Between 1943
and 1947 she won 17 tournaments in row.&nbsp;
In the 1940s women’s professional involvement in golf was limited.&nbsp; Her husband suggested that they create a
women’s professional tournament circuit.&nbsp;
George worked to find financial backers while Babe worked with fellow
female golfer Patty Berg to co-found the Ladies Professional Golf Association
(LPGA) in 1949.&nbsp; Berg was President of
the LPGA the first year, and then Babe held the position for the rest of her
life.6

In 1953 Babe
was diagnosed with colon cancer and underwent a colostomy.&nbsp; She returned to the tournament circuit three
months after the surgery.&nbsp; This was
important to prove to spectators and to herself that she still had what it took
to play professional golf.&nbsp; She won a few
tournaments here and there, but never again played to the caliber for which she
had been previously known.&nbsp; After
battling her disease for over three years, Mildred Ella “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias
passed away on September 27, 1956 in Galveston, Texas.7

She was voted the World’s Greatest Woman Athlete
of the first half of the 20th century by the Associated Press, and was
the only athlete to be named Woman of the Year by the Associated Press six
times (1931, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950, and 1954).&nbsp;
She was named the Sports Illustrated “Female Athlete of the 20th
Century—Individual Sports” and was named the 10th Greatest North
American Athlete of the 20th Century by ESPN.8<div><div>

</div>

</div>

Since its opening in 1976, the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum has worked to share the history of the most influential female athlete of the early 20th century. Ella "Babe" Didrikson dominated women's basketball, golf, and track and field from the 1930s to 1950s. The museum is free and open to the public, and includes trophies and awards that Zaharias acquired throughout her career. The museum also holds a variety of exhibits containing sports memorabilia, newspaper clippings, and photographs. Funds raised by the museum helps to fund scholarships for female student athletes at Lamar University.  

Historical Markings

Plymouth Rock

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context