The National Society of the Daughters of the American Colonists donated the memorial to the city in 1935 and Congress approved it on February 12, 1936. It was dedicated on April 25 that year in a ceremony during which two descendants of the settlers unveiled the memorial. Its purpose was to not only honor the settlers but to also help teach American history. Artist Carl Mose carved the stone relief panels.The names on the memorial are as follows:Robert Troope 1663George Thompson 1663Francis Pope 1663John Langworth 1664John Lewger 1666Richd and Wm Pinner 1666Walter Thompson 1686Ninian Beall 1687John Watson 1687William Hutchison 1696Walter Evans 1698William Atcheson 1698Zachariah Wade 1670Richard Evans 1685Henry Jowles 1685Andrew Clarke 1685John Peerce 1685Walter Houp 1686

The Original Patentees Memorial was erected in 1936. It commemorates the 18 settlers whose lands now comprise the District of Columbia.

National Park Service: Original Patentees of DC Monument

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The Original Patentees Memorial honors the 18 settlers—patentees—who were the first to own the land that later formed the District of Columbia. Patentees are individuals who receive a grant and in this case, the settlers were each awarded a grant in the form of land. They received the grants before 1700. The memorial is a limestone obelisk seven feet high and features inscriptions of the settlers' names as well as carved relief panels depicting a tobacco plant, wild turkey, a stalk of corn, and a fish.

Original Patentees Memorial

This trail was originally created for the National Youth Science Camp and includes stops at forty landmarks and museums, including many that are related to science and technology. This route travels mostly west to east with a starting point that is near the Foggy Bottom Metro and an ending point near Capitol South Metro. 

There are scores of incredible museums and landmarks that are in Clio but not on this route. You can browse Clio at your leisure to find these and even receive notifications about nearby landmarks as you explore by using Clio's free mobile app. Simply turn on geofencing in the app and select a notification radius and other preferences and you will receive notifications, just be aware that a radius beyond a hundred meters will likely result in more notifications than one might prefer when walking through the heart of DC. 

The National Academy of Sciences was created, along with numerous other organizations, by the signing of the Act of Incorporation by President Abraham Lincoln on March 3, 1863. The Academy was designed to be a science-based organization that would provide aid and information for other branches of the United States Government. After the signing of the Act of Incorporation, the National Academy of Sciences was officially organized on April 22, 1863 during a meeting in the University of the City of New York’s chapel. The Academy did not have an established base of operations until a vote decided in 1870 that Washington, DC, would serve as the organization’s headquarters. Even after the establishment of a location, however, the Academy did not have an actual building until decades after its founding. In 1900, the Washington Academy of Sciences began to raise money in order to construct a building to house scientific organizations in the area, and in 1913, it seemed as though Congress would provide land to house the prospective building. The funds needed could not be raised by the involved parties, however, and as a result, the project fell through.By 1916, it became clear to the federal government that the Academy was of consistent use to them for their technical and scientific expertise, and efforts to raise money for a permanent building resurfaced. By 1919, sufficient funds were raised to craft the building, and plans went into motion for selecting sufficient land, an architect, and the actual construction of the building. Construction began in July of 1922, and on Monday 28th of 1924, the building was completed and an opening ceremony was held to commemorate its completion. The building still serves as the base of operations for the National Academy of Sciences today.

Founded in 1863 through an Act of Congress signed by Abraham Lincoln, the National Academy of Sciences is a non-profit private organization that serves to further scientific research and knowledge. Currently, the National Academy of Sciences is part of the International Council for Science, and is headquartered in its main building in Washington, DC. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 15, 1974.

National Academy of Sciences Building

<div>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

This memorial sits at the corner of the National
Academy of Sciences.&nbsp; It was unveiled on
April 22, 1979 during one of the Academy’s annual meetings, on centennial of
the scientists birth.&nbsp; This twelve foot
tall figure of Einstein is seated on a three step bench of white granite.&nbsp; He holds a paper in his hand with
mathematical equations that led to three of his most important scientific
contributions; the photoelectric effect, theory of general relativity, and the
equivalence of energy and matter.&nbsp; 

The sculptor was Robert Berks, who was already known
for his portrait busts of John F. Kennedy at the Kennedy Center.&nbsp; He based this sculpture on a bust of Einstein
that he sculpted in 1953.&nbsp; The landscape
architect, James A. Van Sweden, used emerald pearl imported from Norway, and
over 2700 metal studs inserted to portray the stars, moon, and the sun.&nbsp; They were positioned by astronomers from the
U.S. Naval Observatory, being in the correct spot as they were on the
dedication date.

The unveiling of the
statue came with a little bit of controversy.&nbsp;
Einstein is wearing a sweat suit and sandals while just sitting on a
bench.&nbsp; People believed he should have
been portrayed in a more professional, scholarly manner.&nbsp; "He was retired. He didn't have to dress
up formally anymore. Einstein had let his hair grow much longer, and he said
that his hairstyle was the result of negligence. Wearing the loose sweat shirt
and pants and sandals, I felt it was a device to get an abstract rhythm of his
body," sculptor Berks said.&nbsp; The
laid back tone of this statue helped make it popular with current residents and
visitors alike.&nbsp; People love to come to
him and just “hang out” with the genius by climbing on him for a picture. </div>

Einstein was born at Ulm, in Wurttemburg, Germany on March 14, 1879.  In 1896 he entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich to be trained as a physics and mathematics teacher.  He earned his diploma in 1901 and gained Swiss citizenship, but was unable to find work as a teacher.  He worked as a Technical Assistant in the Swiss Patent Office and also worked to receive his doctor’s degree in 1905.  In 1909 he became Professor Extraordinary at Zurich, and became Professor of Theoretical Physics in Prague.  He became a German citizen in 1914, but emigrated to America in 1933 due to political reasons.  He was visiting the United States when Hitler came to power.  Being Jewish, he did not return to Germany.  There, he became Professor of Theoretical Physics at Princeton.  He eventually became U.S. citizen in 1940, and retired from his post in 1945.

Albert Einstein Memorial 

<div>The history of the memorial originates from a non-profit organization called the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Fund (VVMF). The mission of creating this memorial was so veterans would have a physical representation of their service recognized by the American people. The hope was that this would bring some closure and reconciliation among the veterans and civilians.</div><div> </div><div>	There was backing for funding for the memorial at the national level, early on. Senator Charles McC. Mathais Jr. formed legislation to establish a site on national park land for this project on November 8, 1979. Sen John Warner was also an early supporter with his financial contributions that launched a fundraising campaign on the national level. A staggering eight million dollars&nbsp;was raised for the memorial, all of which came from private funding. Although many organizations and groups contributed to the funding, more than a quarter of a million individual Americans gave money for the project. In fact, this&nbsp;is where the majority of the funding&nbsp;came from. This is extremely significant, considering that the American&nbsp;public so strongly opposed the war.&nbsp;Ultimately, three acres of land were allocated to the memorial in Constitution Gardens beside the Lincoln Memorial on July 1, 1980.</div><div> </div><div>In October, the VVMF held a national competition for the design of the memorial and had 2,537 registrants. 1,421 entries were submitted by the deadline in March and subsequently judged by eight award-winning artists and designers selected by the VVMF. &nbsp;The panel of judges selected the winner on May 1, 1981: 21-year-old Maya Ying Ling, a senior at Yale University. The design was approved and accepted eagerly by the VVMF. The foundation&nbsp;hired an architect to bring Ying Ling's design to fruition and she served as a design consultant. Ground was broken for construction on March 26, 1982.&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>The design of the memorial consisted of two granite walls, which are about 10 feet high. The vertical edges of the walls taper to around eight inches. The stone used for the walls was imported from India, where it was chosen for its reflectiveness, and then shipped to Tennessee--where the etching of the names was completed using a sunblasting process. One wall points towards the Washington monument while the other points in the direction of the Lincoln Memorial. The reflective quality of the wall is a metaphor for unity of the past with the present. There is a pathway to walk alongside the memorial. The names start at the 1E panel, beginning with those who were killed in&nbsp;1959.&nbsp; </div>About 1,200 of the names on the wall are military personnel who went M.I.A.&nbsp;There are twelve women listed on the wall, even though there were far more female casualties in the Vietnam War.&nbsp;Many visitors to the wall etch the names of loved ones on paper.&nbsp;

This memorial to the 58,272 American military personnel who perished or were declared missing in action (MIA) during the Vietnam War was completed in 1982. The wall, in addition to the Three Servicemen Statue and the Vietnam Women's Memorial, is part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The memorial demonstrates the way that public perception of monuments can change over time. The initial design for the monument at the National Mall received criticism from leading conservative politicians who hoped to create a memorial that was similar to other war monuments that depicted soldiers and military leaders. Some politicians and commentators even attacked the designer, 21-year old student May Lin, because she was the daughter of Chinese immigrants. By the time of the monument's dedication, however, most Americans approved of the monument's design. Those who saw the monument in person were moved to see the reflections of the living in the Black granite wall as they reflected upon the names of the dead.  

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

<blockquote>“Women, too, needed a healing place and a healing
process.” Diane Carlson Evans, in Moving a Vision: The
Vietnam Women’s Memorial</blockquote>

The Vietnam War lasted from approximately 1955 to 1975,
with American military involvement officially beginning in March of 1965 and
escalating with the military draft in 1969. 8.7 million members of the Armed
Forces served in the Vietnam War, with 3.4 million deployed to Southeast Asia.
After the Vietnamese victory in 1975, the war became more difficult to
memorialize than previous wars in which the United States was victorious. While
today, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall is among the most emotional memorials
on the National Mall, its contemporary, non-traditional design was met with
controversy when it was dedicated in 1982. As a compromise, a sculpture
depicting three soldiers was dedicated in 1984 to balance the wall of names,
which some felt was impersonal. Of the two Army soldiers and one Marine in the
Three Soldiers memorial, all were male. The sculpture described his design as “consistent
with history,” a phrase that struck Diane Carlson Evans, an
Army nurse veteran who served in Vietnam.1

Between 10,000 and 11,000 women served in the Vietnam War
as volunteers. Ninety percent of the women served as nurses, and the remaining
10% comprised thousands of women serving as physicians,
physical therapists, air traffic control, military intelligence, and administration.
Worldwide, 265,000 women served in the Armed Forces. An unknown number of women
also contributed to the greater war effort as civilians working as news correspondents
and relief workers.

In 1984, Diane Carlson
Evans founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Project (now the Vietnam Women’s
Memorial Foundation) to create a memorial specifically honoring the service of
women and their unique experiences in war. Evans imagined a memorial that would
paint “a whole and true portrait of the women who served in the Vietnam War,
depicting their
professionalism, dedication, service, and sacrifice, had yet to be seen—their
stories yet to be heard.”2 Visually and symbolically, this memorial would balance the Three Soldiers memorial depicting male soldiers and
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, where the eight women’s names are etched
among the nearly 58,000 men who made the ultimate sacrifice. 

Establishing a memorial
on the National Mall required approval from a number of commissions, which initially
rejected Evans’s proposals. The Commission of Fine Arts, which reviews and
oversees public projects, saw the Vietnam project as complete and symbolic of
all servicepeople. Evans pressed on, going through a number of designs and
plans. In 1990, the Commission of Fine Arts permitted a women’s memorial to be
located within walking distance of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Shortly
after, Evans and her team accepted a memorial design by sculptor Glenna
Goodacre of New Mexico. The bronze sculpture depicted three Vietnam-era women
nurses caring for an injured male soldier. According to Goodacre: “My first
concern in designing this sculpture was to arrange the four figures in a
composition that is interesting from all angles: a true sculpture in the round.
The photos from Vietnam often included stacks of sandbags. It seemed natural
for a nurse – in a moment of crisis – to be supported by sandbags as she serves
as the life support for a wounded soldier lying across her lap. The standing
woman looks up, in search of a med-i-vac helicopter or, perhaps, in search of
help from God.”3 Goodacre’s design was approved by a number of federal commissions
in 1993.

On November 11, 1993,
the Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated, with speakers lauding the achievements
of servicewomen and value of the
memorial’s presence on the National Mall. One woman veteran expressed what it
personally meant to her: “I'm so grateful for your perseverance, commitment,
and passion to make the women's statue become a reality...My heart is still
over-flowing...You have given each of us women a priceless gift—the gift of
hope and healing. For us to be recognized, honored, appreciated, and united was
unbelievable.”

The
Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation remains an active in preserving and
remembering the history of women’s service in Vietnam. They host events such as
reunions and speakers, compile bibliographies and resources, and are building
an archive of oral histories.&nbsp;

The Vietnam Women’s Memorial honors the 265,000 women who served in the American military in the Vietnam era, 10,000 to 11,000 of whom actively served in the Vietnam War. Dedicated in 1993, this is the first memorial in the nation’s capital specifically dedicated to women’s service in the Armed Forced. The sculpture, created by artist Glenna Goodacre, depicts three women caring for a male soldier. The memorial is located within walking distance of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and the Lincoln Memorial.

Vietnam Women's Memorial

Talk of building a monument for this national hero began while President Abraham Lincoln was still on his deathbed in 1865. The country knew he was going to be remembered as one of the most influential men of all time. The Lincoln Memorial Association drafted plans for a memorial in 1867, deciding on a colossal design with 38 statues, 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.  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 ostentatious for a man who embodied humility, it instead can be seen as a temple to Lincoln's values.The Lincoln Memorial was modeled after the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. It contains 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 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 a mural painted by Jules Guerin. The 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," 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.” </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.

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

John Ericsson was born in Sweden on July 31, 1803. As a teenager, he joined the Swedish army and served as a lieutenant of topographical engineers. In 1826, Ericsson immigrated to England, settling in London. While residing in the city, he designed plans for installing naval engines below the waterline to protect them from enemy gunfire, and in 1836 received a patent for a screw propeller. Ericsson’s work caught the attention of a Captain Robert F. Stockton, a captain in the U.S. Navy who was in England at the time. Stockton convinced the U.S. Navy to order a small iron steamer outfitted with Ericsson’s screw propeller and an engine below the waterline. The vessel, named the Robert F. Stockton, arrived on America’s shores in May 1839. Ericsson immigrated to the United States a few months later and settled in New York City, where he would live for the remainder of his life. Soon after, Ericsson designed the machinery for the USS Princeton, the U.S. Navy’s first steam-powered screw warship. Launched in 1843, the vessel became infamous the following year when one of its guns exploded during a pleasure cruise on the Potomac River attended by President John Tyler and many federal government officials. The blast killed U.S. Secretary of State Abel Upshur and U.S. Secretary of the Navy Thomas Walker Gilmer, and injured Stockton and others. Fortunately, Tyler was unharmed. Shaken by the disaster, Ericsson, who designed the gun, decided not to work for the U.S. Navy again, and shifted his focus to designing commercial ships.Ericsson’s feelings changed, however, during the Civil War. Following the outbreak of the conflict, the U.S. Navy abandoned Norfolk, Virginia. In the process, it scuttled the USS Merrimack, a steam frigate. Shortly after, the Confederacy raised the vessel and secretly rebuilt it as an ironclad. Commissioned the CSS Virginia in February 1862, it looked to break the federal blockade. When the U.S. Navy learned of the Confederacy’s clandestine plans, it moved to create ironclads of its own. Ericsson submitted a design and the U.S. Navy accepted it. Dubbed the USS Monitor and launched on January 30, 1862, the steam-powered ironclad vessel featured a low, long hull, screw propeller, and single revolving turret. Just over a month later, on March 9, the Monitor battled the Virginia to a draw at Hampton Roads. In December of that same year, Ericsson’s revolutionary ship sunk in stormy seas off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Despite the fate of the Monitor, the U.S. Navy ordered Ericsson to build new classes of Monitor-like ironclads.After the war, Ericsson continued to design new naval technology. He worked on torpedoes ships and solar-powered engines. Ericsson died in New York City on March 8, 1889 at the age of eighty-five. The next year, the Swedish government requested the return of his remains, which were reinterred in Filipstad. Following Ericsson’s death, Scandinavian-Americans petitioned Congress to erect a memorial in honor of him in Washington, D.C. In 1916, Congress appropriated $35,000 and established a commission to oversee the project. The John Ericsson Memorial Committee then raised an additional $25,000, and in cooperation with the Commission of Fine Arts chose sculptor James Earle Frasier to design the memorial. After the commission selected a site in West Potomac Park, Frasier arranged for a large piece of pink granite to be shipped there in the winter of 1925-1926. The artist planned to carve the memorial on site during the spring. Frasier, however, was working with a tight deadline. The memorial’s unveiling was set to coincide with a May visit to the United States from Sweden’s Crown Prince Gustavus Adolphus and his wife. True to the prediction of many in the nation’s capital, Frasier did not finish the project in time. For the dedication on May 29, he tinted his full-size plaster model pink to make it appear as if it was the real memorial, which Frasier did not complete until the following spring. The memorial depicts Ericsson seated in a chair with a cloak draped around him. With his head tilted down and slightly to the side, he appears deep in thought. An ode to the engineer and inventor’s Scandinavian roots, Frasier included in the composition the Yggdrasill, the tree of life in Norse mythology, which rises behind Ericsson. Standing around the tree are three allegorical figures that represent “Adventure,” Labor,” and “Vision.”

This memorial commemorates Swedish-born engineer and inventor, John Ericsson (1803-1889). He is best remembered for designing the U.S. Navy’s first ironclad, the Monitor, during the Civil War. Following Ericsson’s death, Scandinavian-Americans petitioned Congress to erect a memorial in honor of him in Washington, D.C. In 1916, Congress appropriated $35,000 and established a commission to oversee the project. The John Ericsson Memorial Committee then raised an additional $25,000, and in cooperation with the Commission of Fine Arts chose sculptor James Earle Frasier to design the memorial. Dedicated on May 29, 1926 in West Potomac Park, it depicts Ericsson seated in a chair with a cloak draped around him. With his head tilted down and slightly to the side, he appears deep in thought. An ode to the engineer and inventor’s Scandinavian roots, Frasier included in the composition the Yggdrasill, the tree of life in Norse mythology, which rises behind Ericsson. Standing around the tree are three allegorical figures that represent “Adventure,” Labor,” and “Vision.”

John Ericsson Memorial

The Korean War began in 1950 when a Soviet backed North Korea invaded South Korea. Five years earlier, Soviet Premier Stalin and American President Truman agreed to the division of Korea at the 38th parallel. The USSR was to occupy the industrial north while the United States occupied the agricultural south. From split until war, the United States became preoccupied with rebuilding Western Europe and did not list Korea under the American defense perimeter in Asia. Eager to reunite North and South Korea, the newly appointed Prime Minister of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, asked for Stalin’s blessing to invade his southern neighbor while American attention was elsewhere. On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea. In response, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling member states to aide South Korea and send military assistance. The bulk of the fighting force was American, and the famous General Douglas MacArthur became Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command.  The War was fought in five distinct phases, each more trying than the last. The first phase was defensive and led to UN forces being driven back to Seoul, the capital of South Korea. It was not until the second phase that the UN forces went on the offensive under Operation CHROMITE. This military operation involved reinforcing the cornered forces and cutting off supply lines to the North. Upon completion of Operation CHROMITE, MacArthur famously claimed that American troops would be, “home by Christmas.” It seemed that the conflict would end quickly and the establishment of a non-communist government in a unified Korea. Unfortunately, the fighting was just beginning as Chinese forces entered the fray. Upon arrival, the Chinese turned the tide back in favor of the North Koreans and forced the longest retreat in American military history. The Chinese entrance into the Korean War changed the political scope of the engagement. The goal of the war became unclear and ultimately resulted in General MacArthur being excused from his commanding role. MacArthur sought to invade China and believed that without significant increases in troop numbers, the original aim to unify Korea was unachievable. This war’s connection to the Cold War began to show how difficult it would be to achieve even limited objectives against communism. With the Soviet Union, China, and the United States involved in the Korean War, the stage was set for future conflicts to become ideological rather than for land. As the UN forces mounted a counteroffensive against the Chinese advance, improvements in either sides territorial gain became limited. Negotiations for a cease fire continued throughout the last phase of war. Eventually, North and South Korea agreed to cease hostilities but did not sign a formal treaty. As a result of the Korean War, over 37,000 Americans lost their lives. The numbers lost by the native armies were much more staggering. More than 250,000 South Koreans perished and nearly 1.3 million are thought to have lost their lives on the North Korean and Chinese side of fighting. To this day, the United States maintains a strong presence in South Korea along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The Korean War Veterans Memorial was built to honor the memories of those soldiers. The memorial was commissioned by the U.S. Congress on October 28, 1986 and the design and construction of the monument was jointly managed by the Korean War Veterans Memorial Advisory Board and the American Battle Monuments Commission. The memorial was finished being built in 1995 and its dedication occurred on July 27th of that year. As the number 38 has significance of the conflict, it is also important within the memorial. The Korean War Veterans Memorial contains nineteen statues of soldiers. When viewed in the reflecting pool, these soldiers become thirty-eight. This is representative of the 38th parallel and the thirty-eight months that the Korean War raged. On top of its beauty, the Korean War Veterans Memorial serves as a reminder of the importance of America’s influence in Asia and its fight against communism during the twentieth century.

The Korean War Veterans Memorial, situated just off of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall, honors those who served in the Korean War. The memorial was commissioned by the U.S. Congress on October 28, 1986 and the design and construction of the monument was jointly managed by the Korean War Veterans Memorial Advisory Board and the American Battle Monuments Commission. The final design selected for the monument was created by Washington architectural firm Cooper-Lecky, following a bitter dispute that involved a government-sponsored design contest and four students from The Pennsylvania State University (see NY Times article below). The groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 14, 1992 and the memorial was dedicated on the 42nd anniversary of the end of the conflict-- July 27, 1995. The memorial is managed by the National Mall and Memorial Parks division of the National Park Service. 


Korean War Veterans Memorial

First Lady Helen Herron Taft traveled to the Philippines in 1901 and saw Lunete, a beautiful park space that inspired her to develop a cultivated landscape in Washington, DC a years later when her husband was president. While she worked with DC socialites on developing new park spaces, Japanese chemist Jokichi Takamine heard her plans to plant cherry trees and suggested acquiring them from Japan to strengthen ties between the two countries. This "landscape diplomacy" transformed the city. Japan offered to donate 2000 cherry trees of several varieties, representing different regions of Japan. The first shipment of trees, arriving in Seattle in 1910, had to be burned after USDA officials discovered pests and disease during inspection. The second batch of over 3000 trees arrived in 1912 with a letter from the Mayoress of Tokyo, Yei Theodora Ozaki, wife of the city's mayor. The first planting took place March 27, 1912. Helen Taft and Viscountess Iwa Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted two Yoshino cherries (Prunus x yedoensis), the first of over 3700 cherry trees planted in the capital. Taft gave the VIscountess a bouquet of American Beauty roses at the event. The trees began to bloom four years later. The city held its first Cherry Blossom Festival in 1935. Some trees were vandalized after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, but the landscape diplomacy continued after the end of World War II with the US giving budwood from the trees to the city of Tokyo to replenish the cherry grove of Adachi Ward. Fewer than 200 of the over 3000 original trees from the first plantings survive. Several times throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, more trees have been planted by American and Japanese diplomats in commemoration of the original planting ceremony and as a symbol of international friendship.

These Yoshino cherry trees, or sakura, were a gift from the city of Tokyo, Japan to the United States and were planted in 1912 in a small ceremony with First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Iwa Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador to the United States. The trees symbolized the friendship between the two nations, and was the culmination of several years' work trying to transport trees to the US without disease or pests. These trees were the first of over 3,000 trees from Japan planted in the nation's capital. The city began celebrating the Cherry Blossom festival in 1935 and the symbolic planting of two cherry trees has been a reoccurring event in Japanese-American diplomacy for decades.

Japanese Cherry Trees

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born into a middle-class family on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. The second of four siblings, he was the eldest son of Martin Luther King, Sr., a Baptist minister, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolteacher. Growing up, King attended the city’s segregated public schools. An extremely bright student, he graduated high school at the age of fifteen. King matriculated at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, where he studied medicine and law. While at Morehouse, he came under the mentorship of the college’s president, Dr. Benjamin Mays, a theologian and racial justice advocate. Inspired by Mays, King decided to follow in the family tradition by entering the ministry. After graduating from Morehouse in 1948, he enrolled at Crozer Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in divinity in 1951. King then attended Boston University to complete his graduate studies. While attending the university, he joined Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and married Coretta Scott, a young woman from Alabama enrolled at the city’s New England Conservatory of Music. The marriage ultimately produced four children. After completing his required coursework at Boston University, King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1954. The following year, the organizers of the Montgomery Bus Boycott selected him as their leader and official spokesman. The successful protest transformed King, then only in his late twenties, into a national figure and a leader of the civil rights movement. In 1957, he and other African American ministers formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a civil rights organization that he led until his death. An advocate of non-violent protest influenced by the likes of Henry David Thoreau and Mahatma Gandhi, King organized the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, held in August 1963. At the landmark event, he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to a crowd of between 200,000 to 300,000 people. The following year, King received the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1964, he led a march from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery, which helped influence the passage of the Voting Rights Act the following year. In the late 1960s, with racial segregation dismantled, federal protections for African American suffrage in place, and the rise of more militant Black leaders, King turned his attention to other issues affecting African Americans, including workers’ rights, poverty, and the Vietnam War. On the evening of April 4, 1968, while in Memphis to lend his support to striking sanitation workers, he was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel by James Earl Ray. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill into law establishing Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a federal holiday. Nearly thirty years after King’s death, Congress authorized his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, to erect a memorial in his honor in the nation’s capital. After its formation, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation selected West Potomac Park’s Tidal Basin as the memorial’s site and held a design competition, which drew more than 900 entrants. In 2000, the foundation selected the proposal submitted by ROMA Design Group. To execute the work, the group hired Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin. Dedicated in 2011, the memorial consists of a thirty-foot-tall rough granite mountain with a large section sliced from it. The section features a relief of King, standing defiantly with arms crossed. The design was inspired by a line from the civil rights leader’s famous “I Have a Dream Speech” in which he states: “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” Soon after it was unveiled, the memorial generated controversy because of a paraphrased quote featured on it. Critics argued that the paraphrased quote (“I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness”) sullied King’s memory by making him seem arrogant. In late 2012, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced his decision to remove the controversial quote. The following year, Yixin removed the quote from the memorial.

This West Potomac Park memorial commemorates one of the leaders of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968). A Baptist minister and advocate of non-violent protest, he rose to prominence within the movement and became a national figure as a result of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956). Between 1957 and 1964, King founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, organized the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and received the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership efforts. On April 4, 1968, while in Memphis to lend his support to striking sanitation workers, he was assassinated by James Earl Ray. Nearly thirty years after King’s death, Congress authorized his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, to erect a memorial in his honor in the nation’s capital. After its formation, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation selected West Potomac Park's Tidal Basin as the memorial’s site and held a design competition, which drew more than 900 entrants. In 2000, the foundation selected the proposal submitted by ROMA Design Group. To execute the work, the group hired Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin. Dedicated in 2011, the memorial consists of a thirty-foot-tall rough granite mountain with a large section sliced from it. The section features a relief of King, standing defiantly with arms crossed. The design was inspired by a line from the civil rights leader’s famous “I Have a Dream Speech” in which he states: “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

Nestled in a grove of trees alongside the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, the District of Columbia War Memorial is an easily hidden yet meaningful tribute to the 26,000 D.C. residents who served in World War I. Also called the Great War, World War I was the largest international conflict at the time, involving 70 million military personnel from over two dozen countries between 1914 and 1917. The United States remained neutral until declaring war on Germany in April 1917 and entering the conflict as an independent power. 4.7 million Americans served in the war and more than 116,500 lost their lives.1 The District of Columbia War Memorial is often overlooked, much like the history of the war itself, though recent restorations and plans for a national memorial are drawing attention back to this early war memorial on the National Mall. Almost immediately after World War I ended, citizens of D.C. called for a memorial honoring local service members. It took years before their hopes came to fruition. The most popular idea came from Janet Noyes, a civic activist in D.C. Her idea involved replacing a wooden bandstand on the National Mall with a marble structure that would host military concerts and serve as "living memorial" to veterans and fallen service members. In 1924, Congress established the District of Columbia War Memorial Commission to coordinate this memorial. Janet Noyes served as head of the women's committee while her husband, Frank Noyes, the owner of the Washington Evening Star newspaper and president of the Associated Press, served as chairman. The commission, comprised of notable Washingtonians, hired local architects and construction contractors. Volunteers organized teams to solicit donations from street car and bus companies, radio broadcasting companies, motion picture theaters and vaudeville houses, hotels, banks, large stores, the Boy and Girl Scouts, police and fire departments, and women's clubs and organizations. President Calvin Coolidge made one of the first donations to the project, while superintendent of D.C. schools, Dr. Frank W. Ballou, encouraged the 70,000 schoolchildren to donate five cents to the project. Fundraising, however, was still a slow process that some attributed to the city's disenfranchisement of its citizens; Washingtonians, for example, did not receive the right to vote until 1961. Eventually, enough funds were raised to begin construction in the spring of 1931.2The memorial would be an architecturally beautiful and practical addition to the National Mall. The Commission of Fine Arts approved designs and determined it would be the first memorial in West Potomac Park. The memorial was designed by Frederick H. Brooke, Nathan C. Wyeth, and Horace W. Peaslee, all of whom were prominent architects in the D.C. community. The bandstand was a common feature of towns and cities across America, though the one on the National Mall would be more grand in design and materials. It was built in the neoclassical design reminiscent of ancient Greece and Rome. Neoclassicism became popular on the National Mall in the early twentieth century, with the Lincoln Memorial and National Museum of Natural History already constructed and the Jefferson Memorial to come. The memorial bandstand included 12 columnns, a domed roof, and marble from Vermont. 499 names were inscribed in the marble to commemorate those who died in service or due to an injury before the war ended; seven of these names belonged to women. As construction continued, landscaping also beautified the area with oak, beech, elm, and tulip trees. On the National Mall, the District of Columbia War Memorial would be a focal point for music and social gathering during periods of cultural change and economic depression.3The memorial's inscription reads: <blockquote>The names of the men and women from the District of Columbia who gave their lives in the World War are here inscribed as a perpetual record of their patriotic service to their country. Those who fell and those who survived have given to this and to future generations an example of high idealism courageous sacrifice and gallant achievement.4</blockquote>The District of Columbia War Memorial was dedicated on November 11, 1931, the thirteenth anniversary of Armistice Day, which ended World War I. President Herbert Hoover presided and made an appeal to world peace, his address beginning at 11 o'clock, the same time the war had ended in 1918. Renowned musician John Philip Sousa brought the memorial to life. Sousa led a patriotic 20-minute performance with the United States Marine Band. Songs included "The Stars and Stripes Forever," "Taps," and "The Star Spangled Banner." The event welcomed thousands to the National Mall, including World War I veterans, Gold Star Mothers, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Disabled American Veterans. Americans across the nation listened on the radio. In the coming years, the memorial would be a significant concert venue, each performance honoring World War I service members.5Time and nature took a toll on the District of Columbia War Memorial. Not even a decade after construction, the memorial was already suffering water damage. In 1939, the Public Works Administration rehabilitated the walkways and mitigated water damage with gutters and an assortment of new tree species on the grounds. The use of the memorial as a bandstand also fell out of fashion, as new traditions, musical tastes, and memorials changed the culture of the National Mall. As the structure deteriorated, World War I veterans passed away. In 2008, the last living American veteran of World War I, Frank Buckles, called for the memorial to be restored and rededicated as a national memorial. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside $7.3 million to restore the structure and grounds, which began in 2010. It reopened November 11, 2011, on the 93rd anniversary of Armistice Day. Though this memorial remains dedicated to D.C. residents, the National World War I Memorial in D.C. is under construction in Pershing Park. Today, music occasionally lofts from the memorial. It remains a hidden gem worth discovering in the National Mall and Memorial Parks.6

Built in 1931, the District of Columbia War Memorial honors the 26,000 residents of D.C. who served in World War I. With architecture inspired by ancient Greece and Rome, it was designed as a functional bandstand for commemorative and military concerts that were popular in the early to mid twentieth century. Today, it is part of the National Park Service's National Mall and Memorial Parks, where it has recently undergone restoration. It is the only locally-focused memorial on the National Mall.

District of Columbia War Memorial

John Paul Jones was born John Paul on July 6, 1747 in Kirkcudbright, Scotland. At the age of twelve, he commenced an apprenticeship with a Scottish merchant shipper, during which time he sailed to the colony of Virginia and paid a visit to his elder brother in Fredericksburg. In the late 1760s, Paul worked as a chief mate on a transatlantic slave ship. After two years, he quit and returned to Scotland. In 1772, Paul sailed to the West Indies and purchased a ship. The following year, however, he killed the ringleader of a mutinous crew. In an effort to escape possible punishment, he fled the West Indies and changed his name by adding the surname Jones. A few years later, he settled in Fredericksburg.  When the American Revolution broke out in the spring of 1775, Jones traveled to Philadelphia. There, he received a commission as a lieutenant in the fledgling Continental Navy and was assigned to USS Alfred. The following year, Jones received a promotion to the rank of captain and assumed command of USS Providence. From August to October 1776, he sailed the Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to Bermuda, capturing eight ships and sinking eight more in the process. In June 1777, Congress appointed Jones commander of a newly constructed vessel, USS Ranger. Operating in St. George’s Channel and the Irish Sea, he raided English coastal towns and captured HMS Drake. In August 1779, Jones took command of USS Bonhomme Richard, which served as the flagship of a small American squadron. The following month, in the North Sea off the coast of Yorkshire, the American ships encountered a merchant fleet escorted by HMS Countess of Scarborough and HMS Serapis. During the engagement that followed, known to historians as the Battle of Flamborough Head, the Bonhomme Richard caught fire and began to sink. In response to a British request to surrender, Jones defiantly replied, “I have not yet begun to fight!” After a three-and-a-half-hour gunfight, the British warships surrendered. For the victory, King Louis XVI of France awarded Jones a gold-hilted sword and made him a chevalier of France.  Following the war, Congress awarded Jones the Congressional Gold Medal for his service to the country in 1787. Soon after, he accepted an offer to serve as a rear admiral in the Russian navy. Miserable in the position, Jones resigned and settled in Paris in 1790. On July 8, 1792, he died at the age of forty-five and was buried in an unmarked grave. In 1905, his remains were discovered, exhumed, and brought to the United States. Eight years later, Jones’s remains were reburied in a tomb at the United States Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, Maryland.  In June 1909, Congress allocated $50,000 for the construction of a memorial in honor of Jones. Dedicated in West Potomac Park in 1912, the memorial consists of a bronze statue of the Scottish-born naval commander backed by an elaborate marble stele fountain. Designed by sculptor Charles Henry Niehaus, the statue depicts Jones, dressed in full military uniform, standing and gazing into the distance with his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Etched into the back of the marble stele is a relief of Jones raising an American flag aboard the Bonhomme Richard. At the stele’s ends, near its base, two stylized fish spout water into two small basins.

This West Potomac Park memorial honors John Paul Jones (1747-1792), a Scottish-born naval commander who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolution. Referred to as the “Father of the American Navy,” he is best remembered for his victory at the Battle of Flamborough Head on September 23, 1779. During the naval engagement, Jones’s vessel, USS 'Bonhomme Richard,' caught fire and began to sink. In response to a British request to surrender, he defiantly replied, “I have not yet begun to fight!” In June 1909, Congress allocated $50,000 for the construction of a memorial in honor of Jones. Dedicated in 1912, the memorial consists of a bronze statue of the Scottish-born naval commander backed by an elaborate marble stele fountain. Designed by sculptor Charles Henry Niehaus, the statue depicts Jones, dressed in full military uniform, standing and gazing into the distance with his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword. Etched into the back of the marble stele is a relief of Jones raising an American flag aboard the Bonhomme Richard. At the stele’s ends, near its base, two stylized fish spout water into two small basins.

John Paul Jones Memorial

The National World War II Memorial commemorates the United States' involvement in the deadliest and most widespread conflict in history. Between 1939 and 1945, Allied powers fought against the Axis powers' authoritarian and fascist regimes. The United States entered the war after the Japanese bombed a military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. Soldiers and civilians mobilized to support the war, sacrificing their resources, time, and sometimes their lives.The first efforts to build a World War II memorial began in 1987, with veteran Roger Durbin and Ohio Representative Marcy Kaptur. After multiple unsuccessful attempts, legislation passed in the Senate and House in 1993 to establish a national memorial. On May 25, 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the World War II Memorial Act into law. This law gave the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), an independent federal organization, and a Memorial Advisory Board (MAB) authority to develop the project. For the next eleven years, these authorities partnered with other organizations, including the National Park Service, the Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capital Planning Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the General Services Administration.Choosing the memorial's location was one of the earliest and most important decisions. Congress passed a joint resolution in 1994, allowing the memorial to be built within the bounds of the National Mall. Protected by the National Park Service and nicknamed "America's Front Yard," the National Mall preserves and interprets to the world "the symbols and icons of our nation and its ideals." But choosing where on the National Mall, a space already cramped with monuments, museums, and tourists, would be a challenge. Seven sites around the National Mall were up for consideration. After almost a year, the involved organizations decided on a site between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Reflecting Pool. This open and central space would make the National World War II Memorial a very prominent part of the National Mall. Design plans would also incorporate the existing Rainbow Pool designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and Henry Bacon.With the location chosen, the next step was to find a winning design. Throughout 1996, more than 400 entries were submitted to an open competition. The ABMC and General Services Administration chose a grand proposal by Friedrich St. Florian, an Austrian-American architect. Because this memorial held great significance, debates continued over the location and design. Various stakeholders argued the memorial was too large, interrupted the view between the Washington Monument and the Reflecting Pool, and eliminated an open space traditionally used for demonstrations. Despite some criticism, construction began in September 2001 and moved quickly, as many expressed concern about losing veterans and witnesses to the war. Senator Bob Dole, a veteran, and Frederick W. Smith led the fundraising campaign that totaled $197 million; the federal government provided $16 million, and the rest came through generous donations.In April 2004, the National World War II Memorial opened to the public. In May, the memorial was dedicated in a ceremony with 150,000 attendees. The ABMC transferred ownership to the National Park Service, which maintains, operates, and interprets the memorial. Since 2007, the memorial has also been supported by the Friends of the National World War II Memorial, a nonprofit that raises funds and plans events such as observances of Veterans Day and Memorial Day.The memorial's large, sunken terrace and loud fountains give a powerful sense of the magnitude of war and the determination of its victors. The modified Rainbow Pool is the memorial's central feature, where water from surrounding fountains seems to join together. Though common in other parts of the National Mall, the National Park Service prohibits wading in the fountains of this monument. The pool is flanked by two granite arches symbolizing the war's Atlantic and Pacific Theatres. Encircling the memorial are 56 granite pillars, each representing U.S. states and territories involved in the war. One of the most prominent features of the memorial is the Price of Freedom Wall, which has 4,048 stars. Each of these stars represents 100 Americans killed in the war. Along the entrance walls, bronze bas-relief panels tell stories of American soldiers and citizens, depicting scenes such as military battles, preparing supplies and armaments, war bond drives, and victory.

Opened in 2004, the World War II Memorial honors the 16 million who served in the United States Armed Forces, the more than 400,000 members who made the ultimate sacrifice, and the millions who supported war efforts on the home front. This is the only memorial related to an event in the 20th century that appears in the central axis of the National Mall. It is part of the National Park Service's National Mall and Memorial Parks.

National World War II Memorial

In 1793, the land where the National Mall is now was once at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Tiber (or Goose) Creek. A wooden post was placed on the south side of the creek to mark the location of the meridian and the southwest corner of the triangle, which was a major feature of the layout of Washington designed by French engineer Pierre Charles L'Enfant (1754-1825). A statue of George Washington astride a horse was intended to be erected at the corner but this never came to fruition. The Washington Monument was also supposed to be built on the corner but the soil proved to be unsuitable such a large structure. As a result, the monument was built just to the east.Thomas Jefferson was one of the most vocal advocates of the idea for a U.S.-based prime meridian line, an aspirational assertion that American leaders hoped would be recognized by other nations in future generations. Such recognition would symbolize not only the new country's autonomy from Britain, American leaders believed, but also its ascent to global leadership.Placing the nascent capital city as the center of the globe was symbolic as many other nations made similar claims. In the early and mid-19th century, the global prime meridian would be increasingly recognized as running through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Many European nations had their own competing prime meridians through their capital, so the American assertion of centrality was representative of the era. The stone was removed and replaced several times before the current one was erected in 1889. The United States officially accepted the prime meridian line in Greenwich, England in 1912.

At just three feet tall, the Jefferson Pier Stone may seem oddly placed compared to the nearby Washington Monument, which reaches a height of 555 feet. However, the stone's history reveals the aspiration of American leaders who hoped this location would be recognized as the world's prime meridian line instead of several competing claims in European capital cities. An arbitrary north-south line, the prime meridian is recognized as zero longitude and marks the dividing line between the eastern and western hemispheres. The stone also serves as the southwest corner of a right triangle that connects the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and the originally-planned location of the Washington Monument. The Washington Meridian, as the line was called, formed the short side of the triangle line between the White House and the Washington Monument. The pier stone was placed here in 1804 and a replacement was erected in 1889. By that time, a line derived from the Greenwich Prime Meridian was accepted by most nations and had been used by ship captains around the globe.

Jefferson Pier Stone

Following his leadership as the commander of the nation's military forces in the Revolutionary War, and his leadership of the Constitutional Convention, Washington received the unanimous support of the first Electoral College and became the first American President. In this role, Washington shaped the Presidency and established many of the expectations for future presidents. The Washington National Monument Society (WNMS) proposed the idea of a monument that would be unlike any other in the world. After considering several designs, the organization selected a plan submitted by Robert Mills that called for a 600-foot Egyptian obelisk flanked by thirty 100-foot columns. The committee selected a site on what would become the National Mall directly south from the White House and west of the Capitol. At the time, much of the land south and west of the monument were wetlands. The location and size of this monument would later dictate the shape of the National Mall, especially after the Core of EngineersThe cornerstone for the project was laid on July 4th, 1848. The event was one of the most spectacular events, with notable guests in attendance, including President Polk and the wives of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. Workers toiled to create the foundation of the monument, an 80 foot square-step pyramid structure. Once this task was completed, the builders turned their attention to building the above-ground marble structure. They used a system of pulleys, a block and tackle system, and a mounted derrick to push stones to workers who completed each section. The WNMS also invited states, cities, and organizations to design memorial stones to help build the monument. They received 193, some of which are now visible through the elevator windows. By 1854, the monument was 156 feet above the ground.A new group within the Know-Nothing Party took control of the WNMS, a change that proved a detriment to the monument’s progress. This new alignment alienated potential donors, and the already struggling Society was forced to file for bankruptcy. These events put the construction of the monument on hold. Congress tried to offer financial aid, but the nation was soon embroiled in the Civil War. During a period known as Reconstruction, government leaders focussed on the status of formerly enslaved persons and the readmission of former Confederate states. This monument became a literal symbol of the period, with the construction of a national monument to a leader who was revered by both Northern and Southern leaders serving as a symbol of hope. Congress took control of building the monument through a joint resolution on July 5, 1876.The US Army Corps of Engineers, headed by Lt. Col. Thomas Lincoln Casey, was tasked with completing the massive project. The new leadership decided the base could not support the weight that would need to be added to reach the monument's planned height. As a result, the Corps of Engineers began reconstruction by adding more stone to the base, a process that lasted four years. Attaining the quantity of stone to complete the monument was another challenge. The quarry in Baltimore that was used for the base could not provide the needed quantity, so engineers looked elsewhere and selected a quarry in Massachusetts. A series of irregular deliveries and some inconsistent stone color caused concern, but builders continued until a third quarry was selected. The monument was completed with stone from Baltimore, and while the stone colors are close, they do not match perfectly. The three types of stone used are marble, granite, and blue gneiss. The color changes at about two-thirds up the monument.During construction, some of the original plans for the monument were abandoned. For example, the ornamentation intended to adorn the base of the obelisk was canceled for simplicity. The monument stands at 555 feet instead of 600 feet, a decision that reflected a change from nine-inch walls instead of the original thirteen inches.The memorial was completed and dedicated on February 21, 1885. An iron staircase was added later, and the monument opened to the public in 1886. An electric elevator was added in 1901 to shorten the trip to the top of the obelisk. On the aluminum cap which covers the capstone, there are names and dates of the monument’s construction inscribed as well as the Latin phrase “Laus Deo” meaning “Praise be to God." Beginning in the 1920s, American flags appeared around the monument for celebrations and special occasions. In 1958, flagpoles were permanently installed. Fifty flags representing each state have flown continuously since 1971.The Washington Monument has since become a major tourist attraction and an iconic symbol for the country. Visitors to Washington, D.C., flock to the monument, which offers astounding views of the Lincoln Memorial, Reflection Pool, Jefferson Memorial, and the Capitol Building. It has also been the site of many protests and events since its opening. For example, protesters during the Vietnam War and Korean War came to the monument to demonstrate against US involvement in those conflicts. The Washington Monument has undergone numerous restorations to clean, repair, and stabilize this important historic icon. On August 23, 2011, A 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck 90 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., causing damage to the Washington Monument walls and stability. The National Park Service gathered teams of engineers and architects to repair the structure using a blend of high-tech science and centuries-old masonry techniques. The monument's interior was closed for a period to renovate the interior and reopened in 2019.

Perhaps the most iconic monument in the nation's capital, the Washington Monument honors America's first president, George Washington. The monument dates back to 1833 when the National Monument Society began raising funds for the completion of this and other monuments. The Society ran out of funds in 1856, leaving the base of the monument unfinished until 1876, when construction resumed. The monument was completed in 1885. In the early 20th century, the monument became the centerpiece of the National Park Service's National Mall and Memorial Parks. Discerning visitors will notice that the base and the top of the monument feature slightly different colors of stone, something that reflects the two different phases of construction. The two decades when construction was paused created a situation where the original quarry was not available for the second phase.

The Washington Monument

President Ronald Reagan established a commission in 1983 to explore how the United States could commemorate the 300th anniversary of the first Germans to arrive in America. The commission chose to build a garden on the mall and selected German-American landscape artist, Wolfgang Oehme (1930-2011), to design it. American and West German businesses donated to the project (at the time, Germany was divided between East and West Germany) and it was dedicated on November 15, 1988 with Reagan and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in attendance. Improvements were made in 2012 and beginning in 2013 the garden began to be restored. The work was completed in 2022 and officially unveiled in April that year.

The German-American Friendship Garden was established in 1988 to commemorate the 300 years of German immigration to America and the friendship between the United States and Germany. It is located between the White House and the Washington Monument and consists of several planting beds with native plants of both countries and two water fountains. There is also an interpretive panel describing the park.

German-American Friendship Garden

The Washington City Canal was opened in 1815 as a way to bring commerce directly into the city center of Washington, and during this time, the canal system crossing Washington, D.C., and running alongside the mall served to allow small cargo ships to travel between the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. Prior to the rise of railroads, it was a thoroughfare for goods and people. The cargo included such materials as firewood and coal for fuel, food supplies, as well as marble and stone for public buildings. However, the canal faced many issues. Even in the best conditions, many boats could not pass through the canal because it had been only dug 3 feet deep. In addition, in construction, the tides had not been accounted for, and during hide tide, the water threatened to flood the city whilst during low tide many stretches of the canal were unusable. In 1831, the City of Washington bought the canal from the company which operated it because the city believed the canal would lead to more economic development. The city also invested in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company which was building the canal from Georgetown to Cumberland. With a controlling interest, the city forced the C&amp;O Canal Company to create an extension to the Washington City Canal. Two locks were made for the elevation change from Georgetown to Washington. Lock A was located at H and I streets, and Lock B was located at 17th street, the current location of the Lockkeepers house. The extension was constructed in 1832, which is when some believe the lockkeeper's house was constructed. However, the Historic American Buildings Survey taken in 1934-1935 believes that the house was constructed in 1837. The Survey states that this lock house is a surviving example of standard plans for lock houses built along the C&amp;O canal, and was built according to those plans. The Lockkeepers house itself is a rectangular one and a half story building that measures 30 feet wide by 18 feet deep and has a total square footage of 350 square feet. Originally, the Lockkeepers house was 2 and a half stories, however, when the Washington City Canal was filled, the area around the structure was filled in by one story, reducing the height of the building. It is constructed of fieldstone with a shingled roof and two stone chimneys at each side of the building. It is symmetrically designed in the federal style. The building was the residence of a lockkeeper and his family of thirteen children from 1835 to 1855. The lockkeeper was responsible for collecting tolls and operating the lock on the Washington City Canal. Additionally, he managed the canal connections and kept records. Nearby residents were often plagued with flooding caused by the canal overflows into the streets and the National Mall. By 1850s, the Washington City canal fell into disuse and became polluted. Unsanitary, costly, and prone to causing accidents, the canal was eventually closed to barge traffic. Twenty years following its closure, the city filled in the Canal and created Constitution Avenue, thus removing the need for a lockkeeper.The lock keeper's house was abandoned in 1855, except for occasional habitation by squatters. It was partially renovated in 1903 and given to the U.S. government in the early 1900s. It has been used as Park Police headquarters (who used it to keep prisoners), public restrooms, and now storage. A historical marker on the house includes the following inscription:<blockquote>Formerly the eastern terminal of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Erected about 1835. The canal passed along the present line of B Street in front of this house emptying into Tiber Creek and the Potomac River.</blockquote>

The Lockkeeper’s House was built sometime between 1832 and 1837 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This structure, the oldest on the National Mall, was built as a home for the lockkeeper of the extension that was built onto the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal. Between 1833 and the Civil War, the canal allowed for the passage of freight along present-day Constitution Avenue. The canal was seldom used by 1870, and in the following decade, the city's engineers filled the canal with rock and soil, creating Constitution Avenue. To this day, the canal runs under Constitution Avenue serving as a closed sewer. After the abandonment of the canal, In 1902, the C&O Canal Company transferred the lockhouse to the Army Corps of Engineers who evicted an African American family who had taken up residence in the long-abandoned house. The house was converted into use for the Park Police headquarters in 1903. In around 1915 or 1916, with the widening of 17th street, the Lockkeepers house was moved around In 1940, the first floor was converted into a bathroom and the attic used for storage. It was renovated in 2017 to serve as a historical exhibit and today serves as a reminder of the historical importance of canals. 

Lockkeeper's House

The Ysabel I, La Catolica Statue, constructed of marble, was created by Jose Luis Sanchez of Spain. Originally, this sculpture was created for the New York International Fair of 1964. According to Jose Luis Fernandez Del Amo, an art critic, “A personal image of the Queen representing Spain in the work of America had been wanted. What was needed was a full representation that would carry the historical importance of her personality…In the work of Jose Luis Sanchez, the Queen goes to the New York Fair as a legitimate ambassador of our Quixotic adventure.”&nbsp; Although Spain’s intention was to debut it here, the sculpture would later be moved to Washington, D.C. and dedicated on April 14, 1966. The sculpture remains at the entrance to the Organization of American States which functions to express unity and solidarity among the Americas. Because of this, Queen Isabella's sculpture represents an introduction to the America's history, for her influence instigate Christopher Columbus' expedition to the New World.

Ysabel I, also known as Isabell of Castille, was born on April 22, 1451, in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Castile. She was the daughter of John II of Castille and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal. Her half-brother, Henry IV, became king when she was just three years old. Despite the time period and connotation of women in politics, Henry IV encouraged her participation and political learning from the time that she was thirteen years old, even though she had a younger brother who would be seen as more suitable for the education. This encouragement and empowerment would shape the rest of her life in political and royal leadership.

While establishing her authority in the political position, Queen Isabella would withstand a four-year civil war. Additionally, upon marrying Ferdinand II of Aragon, “brought stability to the kingdoms that became the basis for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V” according to the Waymarking organization. Queen Isabella of Castille used her political position to also emphasize the importance of investment for education, the arts, religion, and human rights.

In accordance with her emphasis on human rights, Isabella spent much of her time defending the rights of Native Americans that Columbus would bring back to Spain as slaves. Of course, without her support, Columbus and his men would have never embarked to the Americas in the first place. The discovery of the Native Americans was an aspect of expansion that Queen Isabella was not expecting, but she would spend the rest of her life fighting for the recognition of their humanity.

Isabella of Castille lived her life impassioned by politics, hoping to better the welfare of her people. Alongside her husband, she would establish Spain as a forthcoming world power. She would work tirelessly for the sake of modern-day Spain until sickness would leave her incapable. To make sure that her intentions were never tampered or misinterpreted, Isabella would leave a will explicitly detailing her work, her passions, and her devotion to her people. Her will and her work carry the legacy that established the beginning of European development in the New World.&nbsp;

Jose Luis Sanchez of Spain originally created this sculpture of Queen Isabella of Castille for the 1964 New York International Fair. However, her statue would later be dedicated on April 14, 1966, for the front of the Organization of American States building. Her authority for declaring Columbus's expedition shaped much of our preliminary understanding of the Americas today. Her advocacy for education supported Christopher Columbus' expedition to the New World, while her emphasis on religion would lead to a regimented government directly affecting the fortitude of the Spanish Empire known today. 

Queen Isabella Sculpture

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was
founded October 11, 1890 during a time that was marked by a revival in
patriotism and intense interest in the beginnings of the United States of
America. Women excluded by men’s organizations felt the desire to express their
patriotic feelings and formed their own organization, the Daughters of the
American Revolution. This organization and its members have carried the torch
of patriotism ever since. The organization was founded by a group of four
pioneering women: Mary Desha, Mary Smith Lockwood, Ellen Hardin Walworth, and
Eugenia Washington. Today the organization has more than 800,000 members, 3,000
chapters around the USA, and more international chapters in thirteen countries
around the world, including Australia, France, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.Many eminent women have been members of DAR, including many
first ladies. Laura Bush, Barbara Bush, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, and
Mamie Eisenhower are included on the DAR’s list of esteemed members. Also
included are suffragist Susan B. Anthony and astronaut Rhea Seddon.The National Society owns an entire city block in one of the
most beautiful sections of Washington, DC, just two blocks from the White
House. The block includes three buildings: the Administration Building, the Memorial
Continental Hall, and the Constitution Hall. Both The Memorial Continental Hall
and The Constitution Hall are Registered National Historical Landmarks.




























The DAR Museum is located in the Continental Hall, designed in
1904 by prominent Washington Architect Edward Pearce Casey. This is the oldest
building from the whole complex. &nbsp;Made of pure white Vermont marble, the
neo-classic style buildings with pillared porticos make an eloquent
architectural statement about the work that goes on within these walls. Because
of its classical detailing, the Hall fits in well with the Colonial Revival
movement.&nbsp;

The Daughters of the American Revolution is a women's service organization dedicated to promoting historic preservation, education, patriotism, and honoring the patriots of the Revolutionary War. Their headquarters and museum are located in the within walking distance of President's Park and the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The museum, located in the 1904 Memorial Continental Hall, is dedicated to preserving the history, art, and artifacts of pre-industrial America. Established in 1890, the museum has 33 American period rooms with a collection expanding more than 30,000 items, including coverlets, furniture, costumes, ceramics, miniatures, toys, dolls, silver, glass, and musical instruments used or made in America in the preindustrial period (1700 to 1850).

Daughters of the American Revolution Museum

Barton's history of working with relief agencies dates back to the start of the Civil War. Barton was among the first volunteers to appear at the Washington Infirmary. Barton became aware of the growing network of relief organizations that would become part of the international Red Cross while visiting Europe following the Civil War. Upon returning to the states, Barton campaigned for the creation of an American Red Cross. She also lobied with others for the ratification of the Geneva Convention which established standards regarding the protection of the soldiers who had been injured in war. Barton led the American Red Cross during its first two decades. She helped organize disaster relief efforts and aided the United States military during the Spanish-American War. Prior to the First World War, the Red Cross introduced guidelines and provided supplies so that soldiers could help one another by providing first aid. The organization also promoted public health nursing programs, staffed hospitals and ambulance companies, and recruited registered nurses to serve the military.

Declared a National Historical Landmark in 1965, the headquarters of the National Red Cross houses a small number of exhibits related to the history of the organization, as well as artifacts and works of art. The Red Cross was founded in the United States by Clara Barton and a circle of her acquaintances in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 1881.

National Red Cross Headquarters

At 11:41 a.m. local time on December 7, 1988, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck approximately three miles from Spitak, a city of nearly 30,000 people in the northwestern region of the Soviet republic of Armenia. Occurring relatively close to the Earth’s surface, the tremor was felt as far away as Turkey and Iran. A mere four minutes later, a second earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.8, shook the ground again. The earthquakes combine to almost completely level the city of Spitak and destroyed roughly eighty percent of the buildings in the city of Leninakin (now Gyumri), Armenia’s second-largest city, thirty miles to the west. The level of destruction overwhelmed Armenia’s resources. Exacerbating the situation, the country’s Soviet-controlled authorities were slow to allow rescuers and relief workers to enter the area. In all, the earthquakes killed between 25,000 and 60,000 people, and injured over 100,000 more. Destroying hundreds of thousands of structures in the northern part of the country, the tremors left more than 500,000 Armenians homeless.  On the day of the earthquakes, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, was on an official visit to the United States, where he delivered a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. The speech was historic for it not only was the first given by a Soviet leader to the global organization in nearly three decades, but also announced the Soviet Union’s plans for unilateral arms and troop reductions, in addition to the shrinking of its military presence in Eastern Europe. After delivering the speech, he met with President Ronald Reagan and President-elect George H.W. Bush. Following his visit to the United States, Gorbachev toured the devastation in Armenia. He also made the surprising and unprecedented move of requesting international humanitarian aid to help the people of the small Soviet republic. One of the organizations that responded to Gorbachev’s call was the American Red Cross. In the year following the earthquakes, the organization donated over $14 million in disaster assistance. Of the total amount, the American Red Cross gave $8 million worth of medicine and medical supplies and $6.5 million in cash. The organization also set up a prosthetics workshop, a spinal trauma rehabilitation unit, and an emergency preparedness program. Following the disaster and the influx of foreign aid, Armenian sculptor Friedrich Sogoyan went to work creating a statue. The result of his labors was Motherland, a stylized bronze sculpture of a mother closely clutching her child. Completed in 1990, the piece was inspired by the story of Susanna Petrosyan, a mother and her four-year-old daughter who were trapped beneath the rubble of her sister-in-law Karine's apartment. The pair had gone to visit the sister-in-law in her fifth-floor apartment moments before the earthquake. After two days, Karine was dead and their only food- a jar of preserves, was gone. ″I thought my child was going to die of thirst,″ Petrosyan explained to a reporter after their rescue. ″I had no water, no fruit juice, no liquids. It was then I remembered that I had my own blood.″ Concerned only with the survival of her child, Petrosyan lacerated her hand to provide liquid for the girl to drink after both had gone days without water. Miraculously, rescue workers uncovered the rubble and discovered the mother and daughter after eight days. Petrosyan's husband was with the rescue crew that discovered his wife and daughter, and after both were airlifted to a nearby hospital, the mother and daughter survived. Doctors were unsure if the small amount of blood helped preserve the daughter's life, but it was clear that offering something to drink helped to alieve the child's thirst. "″I knew I was going to die,″ Susanna Petrosyan explained to a reporter when recounting her decision ″but I wanted my daughter to live.″ Petrosyan's story was among many miraculous stories of tragedy self-sacrifice. Two weeks after the earthquake, the brutal terrorist attack that killed all 259 passengers on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland took media attention away from the tragedy in Armenia. While the earthquake has been largely forgotten in the United States, the tragedy and the international response continues to play a significant role in the historical memory of Armenians. The following year, Sogoyan presented the sculpture to the American Red Cross as a gift from the people of Armenia in recognition of the organization’s help in the aftermath of the devastating 1988 earthquakes. The sculpture sits on the lawn outside the American Red Cross National Headquarters on Seventeenth Street NW in Washington, D.C.

On December 7, 1988, two earthquakes devastated the northwestern region of the small Soviet republic of Armenia. Occurring within four minutes of each another, the tremors killed between 25,000 and 60,000 people, injured over 100,000 more, and left more than 500,000 homeless. Following the natural disaster, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, made the surprising and unprecedented move of requesting international humanitarian aid to help the people of Armenia. One of the organizations that responded to Gorbachev’s call was the American Red Cross. In the year following the earthquakes, the organization donated over $14 million in disaster assistance. Of the total amount, the American Red Cross gave $8 million worth of medicine and medical supplies and $6.5 million in cash. Following the disaster and the influx of foreign aid, Armenian sculptor Friedrich Sogoyan went to work creating a statue. The result of his labors was Motherland, a stylized bronze sculpture of a mother closely clutching her child. Completed in 1990, the piece was inspired by the story of Susanna Petrosyan who was trapped beneath rubble with her four-year-old daughter for eight days. To alleviate the thirst of her child, the mother lacerated her hand and allowed her daughter to drink some of her own blood. Miraculously, both survived. The following year, Sogoyan presented the sculpture to the American Red Cross as a gift from the people of Armenia in recognition of the organization’s help in the aftermath of the devastating 1988 earthquakes. The sculpture sits on the lawn outside the American Red Cross National Headquarters on Seventeenth Street NW in Washington, D.C. 

Motherland (Armenian Earthquake Statue)

The First Division was formed as part of the American Expeditionary Forces in May 1917 after the United States declared war on Germany. These forces were the first in the United States Military to fight overseas. The First Division was a particular favorite of General John J. Pershing, commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Forces, and the division earned the nickname “Pershing’s Own.” In February 1919, active soldiers in Germany came together and formed the Society of the First Division to honor the fallen.The First Division Monument was a special project of Major General Charles P. Summerall, the president of the Society of the First Division and a commander in World War I. He proposed the memorial in September 1919, and by October, the First Division Memorial Association was organized to raise funds and manage the project. Summerall and the memorial team collaborated with the Commission of Fine Arts, an agency that oversees building design in Washington, D.C., to create a beautiful and honorable monument on federal grounds. Summerall’s vision for the monument was inspired by the Battle Monument, a Civil War memorial at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. It consisted of a tall granite columnn with a statue of Victory at the top. The base listed the names of fallen soldiers and officers. Summerall wanted a monument that commemorated all fallen soldiers of the First Division, unlike many of the Civil War monuments in D.C., which often displayed a notable individual on horseback.Throughout the planning and construction processes, the First Division Monument team and the Commission of Fine Arts faced important decisions about the monument’s design and meaning. This would be the first monument to the Great War in the nation’s capital, and no war since the Civil War engaged soldiers and citizens so rigorously. The Commission of Fine Arts initially pushed for a national memorial, rather than one solely dedicated to the First Division. They realized, however, that populating D.C. with a variety of World War I monuments would create balance among the city’s numerous Civil War monuments. the First Division Memorial Association chose a site for the monument, they took such ideas into consideration. Their site fulfilled the Senate Park Commission Plan of 1901-02, which called for a monument in President’s Park outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, formerly known as the State, War, and Navy Building and the Old Executive Office Building. This site also created a visual balance with a nearby statue of Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman. Yet the Commission of Fine Arts favored a fountain instead of a columnn monument on this site. The monument’s architect, Cass Gilbert, argued that a fountain would be more difficult to maintain and that columnns around the world, such as Nelson’s Column in London’s Trafalgar Square and Trajan’s Column in Rome, proved the permanence and power of this design. The Commission of Fine Arts agreed.The Society of the First Division hired prominent figures in art and architecture to create a contemporary yet classical monument. They hired architects Cass Gilbert to build the monument and sculptor David Chester French to create the statue of Victory. Gilbert designed grand works such as the Woolworth Building in New York and Washington, D.C.’s Treasury Annex Building, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Building, and Supreme Court Building. French, a founder of the Commission of Fine Arts, fashioned the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial and the fountain in Dupont Circle. Additionally, the monument project explored the George A. Fuler company to create the pedestal, the Dodd’s Granite Company to extract the unique and desirable Milford pink granite, and the Piccirilli Brothers and the Roman Bronze Works of New York cast the statue.  Completed in 1924, the First Division Monument stood at 78 feet, from the ground to the top of the Victory statue. It included the names of 5,599 members of the First Division on bronze plaques. French’s winged statue of Victory, an ancient Roman goddess often personified in American art. She stands in a dynamic pose with hands outstretched, a waving flag, and a flowing dress. The National Park Service calls her “an eternal flame on the constant memorial.” The First Division Monument was dedicated on October 4, 1924, with more than 6,000 veterans and guests in attendance. Major General Summerall and President Calvin Coolidge spoke and the First Division band played the “Star-Spangled Banner.”Like the symbolic statue of Victory, the First Division Monument has been dynamic. After acquired by the National Park Service in 1939, new additions have been added to commemorate fallen First Division soldiers in subsequent wars. The World War II addition, designed by Cass Gilbert Jr., was added August 24, 1957, honoring the more than 4,300 who fought throughout Europe and North Africa. A mirroring design was completed in May 1977, to honor the more than 3,000 soldiers who died in Vietnam, where the First Division was the first to be deployed in the war. In the 1990s, the First Division led armored attacks in Desert Storm, and a plaque honoring the 27 soldiers who died was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1995. The grounds have also undergone change. In the 1960s, Lady Bird Johnson led efforts to create a flower bed in the shape of the First Division patch. Services are held at the First Division Monument on Veterans Day, while the Society of the First Infantry Division has a commemoration plan in place to guide future expansion of the monument. Constantly evolving yet steadfast, the First Division Monument is a prominent reminder of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The First Division Monument honors fallen members of the First Division of the United States Army. Located in President's Park outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the monument was originally erected and dedicated in 1924 in honor of First Division members who died in World War I. The Society of the First Division, under the leadership of Major General Charles P. Summerall, advocated for a World War I monument in the nation's capital. Over the years, multiple additions to the monument honor First Division members who died in World War II, the Vietnam War, and Desert Storm. Its design reflects the Battle Monument at the United States Military Academy in West Point. It features a granite columnn and pedestal designed by Cass Gilbert and a winged statue of Victory by David Chester French. The First Division Monument is under the care of the National Park Service and hosts services on Veterans Day.

First Division Monument

Capital planner Pierre L'Enfant had an idea similar to the zero milestone in 1791. The idea is based on the Golden Milestone in ancient Rome. Washington's version was the brainchild of Dr. S.M. Johnson, a supporter of the Better Roads Movement, which from the late nineteenth century sought to improve thoroughfares across the country.In summer 1919, to raise awareness of issues with the nation's roads, a U.S. Army motor convoy of more than 60 vehicles planned to set out from Washington and drive to San Francisco. To mark the starting point, and to establish an origin point for all the nation's roads, a temporary marker was placed at this spot. Congress authorized the official milestone on June 5, 1920. The dedication ceremony took place almost exactly three years later, on June 4, 1923. The U.S. Army band played a song specific to the occasion, and Dr. Johnson and President Warren G. Harding spoke.The north face of the milestone pillar, which faces the White House, simply reads "Zero Milestone" with an engraving of the winged helmet of classical messenger god Mercury. The east face reads, "Starting point, second trans-continental motor convoy over the Bankhead Highway. XIV Jun MCMXX [June 14, 1920]." The south side, which faces the Ellipse, reads "Point for the measurement of distances from Washington on highways of of the United States." The west face gives similar information to the east face: "Starting point of first trans-continental motor convoy over the Lincoln Highway. VII JVL MCMXIX [July 7, 1919]."Sculptor and landscape architect Horace Peaselee carved the pillar from Milford granite, with a bronze plaque on the top resembling a mariner's compass. Peaslee had served as part of the United States Office of Public Buildings and Grounds, and was the primary architect for Meridian Hill Park, before designing the milestone. In the early 1920s, he helped to found and was involved with the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, a citizens' group on urban planning and design.As stated by a plaque in the sidewalk beneath the pillar, the latitude, longitude, and elevation of the milestone were determined by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.Another milestone in the capital's history was the Washington Meridian, placed in 1804. The original stone was an obelisk that marked the northern boundary of 16th Street NW, at Meridian Hill, about two miles north of where the current milestone stands. This older stone was directly north of the White House, on the "White House Meridian" establishing east-west longitudinal divide for American cartographers until 1884. The northward extension of this street in the early 1900s destroyed the stone. At one time, a plaque marked the approximate location of the original stone. This plaque, near the milestone donated by the Army and Navy Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution notes that the original stone stood 52 feet and nine inches west of the plaque.

Created by sculptor Horace W. Peaslee, this marker was set in 1923 to replace an earlier stone placed in President's Park in 1919. The first marker signified the starting point of a U.S. Army motor convoy from Washington and San Francisco which explored and raised awareness about the needs of the nation's roads. The dedication of the official milestone took place on June 4, 1923. The stone is granite, four feet high with engravings on all sides and a compass rose on top. The original purpose of the stone was to set an origin point for measuring highways in the United States. Roads and distances within the nation's capital are still measured using the Zero Milestone.

Zero Milestone

In 1959, during the fiftieth anniversary of scouting, then-Senator and Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson proposed to Congress the construction of a memorial to honor Scouting in America. The government did not pay for the memorial, because funds were raised throughout Scouting and through donations. In 1960, the Golden Jubilee year of Scouting, a fund was created by scouts and their leaders to erect the memorial. With the location of the memorial’s prominent position possible through the authorization of Congress, the Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission. During its unveiling on November 7, 1964, Associate Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark, who’s own Eagle Scout fiftieth anniversary was that same day, accepted the memorial on behalf of the nation.The statues were created by sculptor Donald DeLue out of bronze, and the rest of the memorial was designed by architect William Henry Deacy, both from New York City. A scroll was placed in the pedestal containing the names of all the people and scout units that gave money to construct the memorial. The three statues on the memorial represent a man, a woman, and a boy scout, all atop an inscribed pedestal. The memorial was created in honor of the service of millions of scouts to the nation and the millions of men and women who aided in the development of their character. Each of the memorial's statues has a symbolic purpose with several meanings. Some of these are the male statue’s representation of strength, love of country, and honor, the female statue’s love of god, justice, and freedom, and the scout representing the hopes of the past, present, and future. The pool placed in front of the statues represents the honor of everyone who joined the Boy Scouts, which also bears an inscription around its edge.The memorial is located south of the White House on the Ellipse along 15th street North West in Washington, D.C. Starting in March 2009 the memorial was refurbished by the National Park Service through funding from Congress and reopened in April 2010. Between the memorial’s unveiling and refurbishment, it had received several minor repairs over the years, but the fountain stopped properly working. Requiring new pumps, pipes, and the pool’s marble replaced, while the statues were refurbished to resemble their original design. Today the memorial is open to the public and continues to be maintained by the National Park Service.

This monument was constructed in honor of Scouting's contributions to the United States and all those who helped in developing each scout's character. The memorial was unveiled in Washington, D.C. in 1964 and was later refurbished in 2009. Its construction was approved by Congress in 1959, after its introduction by Senator Lyndon Johnson, with funds raised from scouts and donations from across the country. The memorial consists of three statues, a man, a woman, and a scout, all atop a pedestal which bears an inscription, and a fountain. The National Park Services restored the memorial in 2009 following its decline. Problems with the fountain’s operation, and other issues which arose since its creation. The memorial is located south of the White House in the Ellipse along 15th Street North West.

Boy Scout Memorial

Oscar Solomon Straus was born into a Jewish family on December 23, 1850 in the town of Otterberg in what is now Germany. When he was a toddler, he and his family immigrated to the United States and settled in the tiny town of Talbotton in west-central Georgia. Following the conclusion of the Civil War, they left the South and relocated to New York City. There, Straus attended Columbia College, earning an undergraduate degree in 1871 and a law degree two years later. He then established a law firm and practiced for nearly a decade before retiring to join his father and two brothers at the import firm of L. Straus &amp; Sons, which at the time was operating in the basement of a retail store owned by Rowland H. Macy. In the late 1880s, Straus’s brothers, Isidor and Nathan, purchased a percentage of R.H. Macy and Company. Within a decade, they had assumed complete control of the company. Under their leadership, R.H. Macy and Company moved its store from Lower Manhattan to Herald Square in Midtown and began opening branch stores across the country. The company’s Herald Square store eventually grew into the largest department store in the world. (Isidor Straus later died during the sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912.) Before his brothers built a retail empire, Oscar Straus left the family business and turned his attention to politics. After his involvement in a New York City mayoral race, he supported New York governor Grover Cleveland in his bid for the White House in 1884. Cleveland ultimately won, and later appointed Straus U.S. minister to the Ottoman Empire. He served in the role from 1887 to 1889. Roughly a decade later, President William McKinley appointed Straus to the same position. Once again, he held the position for two years. After becoming friends with President Theodore Roosevelt, Roosevelt appointed Straus a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in the Netherlands. He served in the role until Roosevelt nominated him to be U.S. secretary of commerce and labor in 1906. Consequently, Straus became the first Jewish Cabinet member in American history. He held the position until Roosevelt’s tenure in the White House came to an end in early 1909. Straus, however, was not without work for long. Later that same year, the new President of the United States, William Howard Taft, appointed him U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. After resigning from the post in 1910, Straus returned to the United States. Two years later, he ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York. During the Great War, Straus worked with former President Taft on the League to Enforce Peace, an organization that called for the creation of an international peacekeeping body to prevent future wars. He died in New York City on May 3, 1926 at the age of seventy-five.  Shortly after Straus’s death, Congress authorized the construction of a memorial in honor of him in the nation’s capital. Subsequently, the federal government agreed to donate a site and pay for its future maintenance. Family, friends, and admirers of Straus then formed a committee to raise funds for the memorial’s construction. The Great Depression and the Second World War, however, hampered their fundraising efforts and delayed the project for years, but in 1947 the memorial was finally completed. Dedicated by President Harry Truman in the Federal Triangle on October 26, 1947, the memorial consists of a large fountain with concentric basins flanked by two bronze allegorical groups on pedestals. Designed by German-American sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman, the sculptures represent “Justice” and “Reason.” Today, the memorial sits in front of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

This Federal Triangle memorial commemorates lawyer and diplomat, Oscar S. Straus (1850-1926). A native of what is now Germany and a graduate of Columbia College of Law, he served as U.S. secretary of commerce and labor from 1906 to 1909, the first Jewish Cabinet member in American history. The brother of Isidor and Nathan Straus of Macy’s fame, Straus also represented the United States in the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) on three separate occasions (1887-1889, 1898-1900, and 1909-1910). For this, he is considered by some to be one of America’s first career diplomats. Shortly after Straus’s death, Congress authorized the construction of a memorial in honor of him in the nation’s capital. Subsequently, the federal government agreed to donate a site and pay for its future maintenance. Family, friends, and admirers of Straus then formed a committee to raise funds for the memorial’s construction. The Great Depression and the Second World War, however, hampered their fundraising efforts and delayed the project for years, but in 1947 the memorial was finally completed. Dedicated by President Harry Truman in the Federal Triangle on October 26, 1947, the memorial consists of a large fountain with concentric basins flanked by two bronze allegorical groups on pedestals. Designed by German-American sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman, the sculptures represent “Justice” and “Reason.” Today, the memorial sits in front of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

Oscar S. Straus Memorial

In 1915, Black veterans of World War I launched a movement to create a national museum dedicated to African American veterans.&nbsp;In 1916, African American attorney&nbsp;Ferdinand Desoto Lee challenged Black leaders to create a “permanent memorial to colored soldiers and sailors.”&nbsp;Missouri Republican Congressman Leonidas Dyer, the same Congressman who advocated on behalf of an anti-lynching bill,&nbsp;introduced legislation the same year that Lee chartered the National Memorial Association. Echoing the call of Lee's organization, Dyer's legislation called for the creation of a commission to create "a monument or memorial" for Black soldiers and sailors. In 1919, Dyer called for the creation of a national monument for Black veterans to be built on the National Mall. In 1920, Lee's National Memorial Association expanded their plans to include both a monument and a building with exhibits dedicated to African American achievements. Ten years later, Congress passed legislation allowing for the creation of a monument to Black soldiers. However, Congress failed to allocate funds for the project.Franklin Deleano Roosevelt places the creation of the monument towards the bottom of the administration's goals in 1933, the same year that Ferdinand Lee passed away. Similar measures failed throughout the next six decades, including a 1965 bill calling for the creation of a "Negro History Museum. Similar to previous efforts, Congress failed to act on this bill and efforts throughout the 1960s and 1970s receive little more than verbal support. Even in the immediate wake of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, a bill to explore the creation of a national repository of Black history failed to receive support. Congressman John Lewis, a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, likewise tried and failed to secure passage of a bill to create a National African American History Museum in the 1990s. Although a bipartisan commission working between 2002 and 2003 secured the passage of a law authorizing the creation of a public commission to create a Black history museum with the Smithsonian, it&nbsp;appeared that the National Museum of African American History and Culture Act would meet a similar fate. As funding efforts stalled, a group of&nbsp;private foundations and African American athletes and&nbsp;celebrities took action, raising $240 million to support the museum. The federal government matched private fundraising efforts, allowing for the construction and operation of the museum. On September 24, 2016, the first African American president dedicated the new museum.&nbsp; The museum's galleries are arranged chronologically, beginning with the gallery entitled "From Slavery to Emancipation." Visitors travel seventy feet below ground to start their historical journey in this gallery, which begins with life in Africa and the slave trade. After visitors pass through exhibits that relate slavery throughout the Americas and the British colonies, they see how slavery was woven into the the political and economic fabric of the nation, including the Constitution itself. Later exhibits show how people of African descent confronted slavery, culminating with exhibits about the African American experience in the Civil War.&nbsp; The second series of galleries are dedicated to the topic "From Segregation to Today." These exhibits reveal the complexities of Reconstruction and the emergence of Jim Crow. Emotional highlights of these galleries include the original coffin that held the body of 14-year old Emmett Till, "white only" signs,&nbsp;and portions of ropes and other tools of racial violence that were used to maim and kill African Americans during first half and mid-20th century. The upper galleries include special rotating exhibits that demonstrate the resiliency of African American communities and and highlight Black culture and achievement.&nbsp;

The National Museum of African American History & Culture was authorized by Congress and President George W. Bush in 2003. After 13 years of planning and construction, the museum opened on September 24th, 2016. The museum holds over 40,000 artifacts within its vaults, most of which were donated by institutions and individuals. Several thousand of artifacts are included in the museum's twelve galleries. The museum's three-tiered form is meant to symbolize hands held in prayer and was modeled from the shape of a traditional Yoruban crown. 

As of November, 2016, this museum uses a timed pass system to accommodate large crowds. 

 Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture

The National Museum of American History traces its roots to the Smithsonian Institution's original collections dating back to the 1840s. These collections were first housed in the Smithsonian Institution Building, also known as the Castle, and then the National Museum Building, now called the Arts and Industries Building, which opened in 1881. The National Museum housed treasures of American history natural history, anthropology, and art. Together, they fostered a "national heritage" for the former colony. Objects of American history were often associated with famous figures, such as Abraham Lincoln's hat, George Washington's uniform, and Benjamin Franklin's printing press, or were connected to innovation in science, technology, transportation, textiles, and musical instruments. Over the course of the twentieth century, the Smithsonian constructed new museums to house collections of natural history, anthropology, and art, leaving the Arts and Industries Building to focus solely on American history. It soon amassed collections of modern industry, photography, clothing, and objects of everyday life. The Arts and Industries Building held the first exhibits of the First Ladies' dresses, the Star Spangled Banner, and, until the establishment of the National Air and Space Museum, collections of airplanes and spacecraft.As collections, exhibits, and visions of the museum continued to grow, the Smithsonian Institution planned a larger museum dedicated to American history. In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized funding of a new museum building. Its design put a modern twist on classical architecture, indicating that this building would be one that honored the past and looked toward the future. The Museum of History and Technology opened to the public in 1964. The museum also continued collecting artifacts of both distant and recent past, such as Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz and the Woolworth's lunch counter from the Greensboro sit-ins. In 1980, the museum’s name was changed to the National Museum of American History to represent its mission to reflect the historical experience of America and its people. The museum closed between September 2006 and November 2008 to undergo renovations to the architectural core of the museum and the infrastructure.Today, the National Museum of American History uses its collections of more than three million artifacts to understand the United States of yesterday and today. One of the most signficant artifacts is the Star-Spangled Banner, which has its own gallery in the museum. The exhibit showcases the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner," a poem that later became the United States National Anthem. It was raised over Fort McHenry on September 14, 1814, in celebration of a victory over British forces. Also, in the spirit of creating a dynamic museum that caters to presenting present-day America’s story, as well as its past, there is a space for visitors to share what the American flag symbolizes to them.The Museum uses artifacts to convey larger ideas, such as in the exhibit “American Stories,” which showcases more than 100 historical and cultural artifacts, including the rarely displayed walking stick used by Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln’s gold pocket watch, Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves, and a fragment of Plymouth Rock. One of the most beloved exhibits is “America on the Move,” which uses sights, sounds, and sensations to explore the history of transportation in the United States from 1870 to the present. While the trains and cars in this exhibit seem like the largest artifacts in the collection, that title belongs to the two-and-a-half-story house in the exhibit "Within These Walls," which interprets ordinary home life. The Museum has tackled complex topics and underrepresented stories such as the 2012 exhibit "Slavery at Jefferson's Monticello: Paradox of Liberty," the first national exhibit on slavery, presented by Monticello and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.The Museum is also home to the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, which leverages research and education to inspire modern innovation. Research opportunities in the museum's collections and archives further understanding of the United States and its place in the world. STEM-focused exhibits such as the Spark!Lab promote creative thinking and innovation for families of all ages, while Wegmans Wonderplace is a space dedicated for children ages 0-6.Currently, the museum is undergoing further renovation to its west exhibition wing to add a center for education, new spaces for performance, new galleries, and a more updated infrastructure for the west wing of the museum.

The National Museum of American History is dedicated to the "infinite richness and complexity" of American history. Located on the National Mall, it is one of the most-visited museums in the country. The Smithsonian collections of American history date back to the 17th century and efforts to preserve artifacts date back to the 1840s, while the current museum building opened in 1964 as the Museum of History and Technology. Its name was changed to the National Museum of American History in 1980. The museum's renovation from 2006 to 2008 included the construction of the new Star-Spangled Banner gallery, which holds the original flag that inspired the national anthem. The Museum includes exhibits dedicated to a plethora of topics, including politics and government, civil rights, gender and sexuality, military and war, business and innovation, indigenous Americans, ethnicity and immigration, disability history, religion, and food history.

Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

Even before the Smithsonian Institution was
founded in 1848, Americans were collecting specimens and objects that would
later fill the largest natural history museum in the United States. In the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, collecting was a way of categorizing and
making sense of the American landscape. Formal collecting was usually a leisure
activity reserved for wealthy individuals, who then displayed these collections
in “curiosity cabinets” in their homes. The United States government also
supported geological expeditions to map locations for transportation routes and
military posts, and the ambitious United States Exploring Expedition, which
surveyed the Pacific between 1838 and 1842. When British scientist James Smithson
gifted his estate to found “an establishment for the&nbsp;increase and diffusion of knowledge”
in Washington, D.C.,” the young democracy faced a fundamental dilemma. Should the
United States government to create a national institution, and what should this
institution look like? For more than ten years, Congress grappled with questions
of government authority, federal expansion, and Smithson’s broad vision. In the
end, they decided the Smithsonian gave an opportunity for the United States to
stand among established nations in science and culture, and the Smithsonian Institution
was signed into law on August 10, 1846.1

In 1855, the National Museum opened at the
Smithsonian Institution Building, more commonly known as “the Castle.” Originally,
the National Museum held historical, archaeological, and natural history
collections together. While some collections were purchased or donated, most
were collected on expeditions initiated by the first Smithsonian curator,
Spencer F. Baird. Yet these collecting efforts proved so successful that the
Smithsonian ran out of space in the Castle and in the&nbsp;National Museum Building,
now the Arts and Industries Building, opened in 1881. In 1902, Congress approved construction
of a new museum as part of the 1901
McMillan Commission Plan, which helped create the National Mall as it is today.
The McMillan Plan proposed removing the Victorian landscaping and replacing it
with grass and building neoclassical style museums, educational centers, and memorials along the Mall.2&nbsp;

The current natural
history museum building, then the new National Museum, opened on March 17,
1910. The building was inspired by Roman architecture with the granite columnns
and dome. Like in the past, this museum housed natural history collections
among history, art, and archaeology. It was not until the mid-twentieth century
that the National Museum separated natural history specimens from historical
artifacts, reflecting broader shifts in the museum profession and academic
disciplines of science, history, anthropology, and art. In 1969, after the
National Museum was dissolved, the building was renamed the National Museum of
Natural History and fully dedicated itself to pursuits of scientific research,
collection, and education.3

Today, the National
Museum of Natural History holds more than 126 million natural science specimens
and cultural artifacts, both on site and in off-site storage facilities. There
are permanent exhibitions dedicated to human origins and culture, paleontology,
mammals, ocean life, insects, bones, and geology. Research covers a broad
spectrum of science and is conducted at the museum and in laboratories, field
stations, and libraries&nbsp;around the world. An
Office of Repatriation inventories the origins of cultural artifacts and human
remains in the collection and can return them to federally recognized indigenous
groups. Since the founding of the Smithsonian Institution, science has
transitioned from an exclusive pursuit of wealthy, highly educated individuals
to one that can be studied and enjoyed by all walks of life. To bridge the
scientific and public communities, the Museum offers programs, citizen science
projects, and a science education center, Q?rius. The National Museum of
Natural History welcomes millions of visitors each year to explore wonders
of the world.4

The National Museum of Natural History is the most-visited natural history museum in the United States. Dedicated to inspiring curiosity and discovery of the natural world, the National Museum of Natural History preserves and interprets natural science, geology, and anthropology collections. The current building on the National Mall opened in 1910. Among the most popular exhibits are the Hall of Dinosaurs, Egyptian and Roman artifacts, the Hope Diamond, and the sarcophagus of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Born
to a modest family in Albany, New York, in 1797, the young Joseph Henry worked &nbsp;nearly missed attending college due to finances.
After coming upon the popular Lectures on Experimental
Philosophy, Astronomy, and Chemistry&nbsp;(1808)
by George Gregory, Henry felt called to pursue scientific research. He entered Albany Academy at
the age of 21 and received a professor position there a few years after
graduating. From 1832 to 1846, Henry began a career at the College of New Jersey, now Princeton
University, and taught popular courses in natural philosophy, geology, and
architecture. Henry built a name for himself within the scientific communities
of the United States and Europe. He developed the most powerful electromagnets
of the time, using iron bars wrapped in metal coil to generate energy. His
discoveries led him to experiment with electric motors, the telegraph, and the
telephone. He also studied optics, acoustics, astrophysics, fluid dynamics, molecular
forces, and terrestrial magnetism, making him a well-rounded intellectual.

In December 1846, the Smithsonian
Board of Regents selected Henry as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution. Henry and his wife, Harriett, and their four children moved from
Princeton to Washington, D.C. and made their home in the private residence of
the newly-constructed Castle. Henry did not particularly like Washington, D.C.,
preferring the pace of college towns and rural areas, and initially disapproved
of Smithsonian dollars going toward brick-and-mortar projects like the Castle. He
also lamented the heat and humidity of Washingtonian summers, writing that “the
thick walls of the [Smithsonian] building become like the sides of an oven
sufficiently hot to cook whatever they may enclose.”1 When he had the
opportunity, he escaped to less punishing environments where he could conduct
research, his most fundamental passion. His dedication to science and culture
put the Smithsonian Institution on an important path for the “increase and
diffusion of knowledge.”&nbsp;

In his tenure as Secretary of
the Smithsonian, Henry set a precedent for the position and the entire Smithsonian
Institution. His “Programme of Organization,” adopted in 1847, created a guide
for developing the Smithsonian Institution’s mission and values. He laid out
research and educational initiatives including research expeditions,
publications, collections, a museum, and a library, all of which emphasized
science, history, anthropology, and art. Under Henry, the Castle welcomed the
public to view exhibits and hear lectures. He oversaw numerous projects such as
the Smithsonian Meteorological Project, which developed a pattern of
recordkeeping that later transformed into the National Weather Service. Outside
of the Smithsonian Institution itself, Henry’s scientific network expanded as
did his influence. He founded and led the National Academy of Science and was
an active member of the Philosophical Society of Washington and the Light-House
Board.

The Civil War put a strain on
the Smithsonian’s resources, as with the rest of the United States government,
challenging Henry to continue scientific advancement amid hardships. He served
as a science advisor to President Abraham Lincoln, assisted the Union Army with
establishing a balloon corps, and worked with the Sanitary Commission and
Surgeon-General of the U.S. Army to better understand physical, mental, and
emotional wellbeing of soldiers. In 1865, an accidental fire destroyed much of
the Castle, including exhibitions, a lecture room, a laboratory, and Henry’s
office containing his papers, letters, diaries, and reports. Henry’s daughter,
Mary, called the event “one of the momentous and saddest events of lives.”2 In the following days, Henry
moved the surviving collections and initiated efforts to repair the building.
After the Civil War, more permanent repairs were completed and the building reopened
to visitors.

While
still serving as the Smithsonian Secretary, Henry died on May 13, 1878, after months
of suffering from Bright’s disease, a historical description of kidney disease.
&nbsp;His funeral was compared to the fanfare
of Abraham Lincoln’s and he was laid to rest in Oak Hill Cemetery in D.C. In
his memory, Congress passed an act to create a statue of Henry. The bronze
statue designed by William Wetmore Story was erected on the National Mall
grounds in 1883. Thousands attended the dedication ceremony, where John Philip
Sousa conducted the Marine Band’s first public&nbsp;performance of “The Transit of Venus March." The statue stands nine feet tall and features Henry
leaning against a pedestal where there is a relief of a horseshoe-shaped electromagnet.
A unit of induction is also named&nbsp;“the Henry” in his honor.&nbsp;In 1965, in honor of
the Bicentennial Celebration of James Smithson’s birth, the Joseph Henry statue
was turned to face the National Mall. He forever looks upon the numerous
Smithsonian museums that followed him. In the words of former Secretary I.
Michael Heyman, Joseph Henry “successfully
steered the Institution through many contentious and divisive issues during its
nascent years, setting the course for the great complex of museums and research
facilities we have today.”3

The statue of Joseph Henry, first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, welcomes visitors to the Smithsonian Institution Building, also known as the Castle. Joseph Henry (1797-1878) was renowned as a scientist who made important contributions to the study of electromagnetism and invention of the electric motor, telegraph, and telephone. The Smithsonian Board of Regents appointed him Secretary in 1846, and he spent the rest of his life laying essential groundwork for the Smithsonian Institution as it is today. The bronze statue in his memory, created by William Wetmore Story, was erected in 1883. 

Statue of Joseph Henry

In 1826, a French-born British citizen named James
Smithson drafted a clause in his Last Will and Testament that would
dramatically change the history of the United States and the city of
Washington, D.C. Smithson had lived a successful life as a scientist who published
at least 27 academic papers and was an active member of the scientific
community in Europe. Despite extensive travels, Smithson had never been to the
United States. Yet when Smithson died and left his estate to his nephew, the
will instructed that should his nephew die without heirs, Smithson’s estate
would be gifted to the United States. In 1835, after his nephew, Henry James
Hungerford, died, Smithson’s estate of $500,000 was given "to the United
States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian
Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”1Smithson’s gift ignited ten years of debates in Congress
that not only shaped the Smithsonian Institution, but also challenged the young
nation to better understand its federal authority. Congress wondered, is the
United States allowed to create a national institution? The Constitution gave
no such authority. Yet Federalist arguments for “increasing and diffusing
knowledge” won out, and the gift was formally accepted in 1836. Congress faced
yet another dilemma: what would this “Smithsonian Institution” be? They
considered a university, education fund, a research institute, a national
library, a publishing house, or a museum. After a decade of debate, they
settled on a museum with exhibits, collections, and a library. On August 10,
1846, President <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=1792">James K. Polk </a>signed the Smithsonian Institution into law, which
established a Board of Regents and a Secretary to oversee the Institution and commissioned
a new building within walking distance of the <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=20279" title="Link: https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=20279">United States Capitol</a>. The
Smithsonian was a unique branch of the federal government in its time and it
remains such today. Unlike other federal organizations, the Smithsonian
controls only its buildings and grounds and is recognized as a 501(c)(3)
tax-exempt educational organization.2&nbsp;The Castle was designed to reflect
institutions of higher learning, like those in England, and to evoke themes of
the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom. Architect James Renwick Jr. designed the Castle
in the Norman architectural style, a combination of late Romanesque and early
Gothic motifs. The Castle is built of Seneca Redstone, a type of sandstone mined
in Maryland’s Seneca Quarry. The bricks had a distinct red color caused by
rusted iron in the sandstone and were also fireproof. At the time of the Castle’s
construction, Seneca Quarry was owned by John Park Custis Peter, the
great-grandson of George Washington’s wife. Despite its aesthetic beauty, the
redstone was more than likely quarried by slaves. Scottish contractor Gilbert
Cameron managed construction. Once completed in 1855, the Castle was the first
building on what would become the National Mall in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century. At the time, the land was an empty, isolated swamp.3&nbsp;Called the “nation’s attic,” the Castle
originally housed museum collections, exhibits, administrative offices, a
library, laboratories, lecture halls, and rooms for visitors to stay. Within
these walls, scientists made important discoveries, visitors explored wonders
of the world, speakers debated current events such as slavery and abolition,
and meteorologists fostered what would become the <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.weather.gov/timeline" title="Link: https://www.weather.gov/timeline">National Weather Service</a>. General laborers also cared for the building and its exhibits on a day-to-day basis; one of whom, <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/stories/solomon-brown-first-african-american-employee-smithsonian-institution ">Solomon Brown</a>, was the first African American employee at the Smithsonian and served as the Institution's "eyes and ears."&nbsp;The
first Secretary of the Smithsonian, <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://siarchives.si.edu/history/joseph-henry" title="Link: https://siarchives.si.edu/history/joseph-henry">Joseph Henry</a>, and his family resided in the
Castle’s East Wing.&nbsp;By the 1880s, the Smithsonian was rapidly outgrowing its
space. In 1881, the Smithsonian built its first museum, now called the <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=46368">Arts and
Industries Building</a>. A few years later, in 1889, animals on the Castle
grounds were moved to the Rock Creek area to establish the <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=15072" title="Link: https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=15072">National Zoo</a>.4The Castle’s purpose and physical nature has
changed over time. A fire destroyed large portions of the building in January
1865, when water sources to extinguish the fire were frozen. Most of
James Smithson’s papers were also lost in the fire. Such devastation to the
building and its resources prompted major fireproofing initiatives in the late
nineteenth century. The Castle welcomed telephones in the mid-1880s and
electric lighting in 1895. In 1901, the first children’s museum in Washington
was installed in the South Tower Room. The exhibit halls&nbsp;changed as collections moved out of the Castle and into new museums lining the National Mall.&nbsp;In the 1960s, the Castle
underwent a major renovation to include heating and air conditioning, new roofs
and staircases, elevators, and a restaurant. At one time, the Castle was home
to the Smithsonian Institution Archives and the Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars.5Today, the Castle carries on its tradition of welcoming a diverse community of&nbsp;visitors&nbsp;and
administrators. It
houses an information center to orient visitors as they explore all that the
Smithsonian and Washington, D.C. has to offer. Two outdoor gardens, the Enid A. Haupt Garden and Folger Rose Garden, show the&nbsp;beauty of nature through flowers and fountains.&nbsp;Exhibits inside the Castle tell the history of the
Smithsonian Institution, which now comprises nineteen museums, research
centers, and a zoo. These branches of the Smithsonian&nbsp;are historically and architecturally important in and of themselves.
The Smithsonian Institution produces publications, including&nbsp;Smithsonian&nbsp;and&nbsp;Air &amp; Space&nbsp;magazines, and also manages invaluable&nbsp;libraries, archives, and collections. Although the epicenter of
the institution is Washington D.C., there are Smithsonian facilities in
other states and countries, including Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
York City, Virginia, and Panama. More than 200 other museums are considered
Smithsonian Affiliates.6




































One modest alcove of the Castle is also the
final resting place of James Smithson. When he died in 1829, Smithson was originally
buried near Genoa, Italy. Alexander Graham Bell championed the cause to bring Smithson's remains to the United States in 1904. Originally, the proposals for Smithson’s
tomb - such as sprawling gardens and monuments that would have&nbsp;made the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=18647">Lincoln Memorial</a>&nbsp;look small - proved too expensive for the government at this time. Instead, the Smithsonian chose a simpler
and more economical design that laid Smithson to rest in a chapel within the Castle.
His sarcophagus is topped with a pine cone, representing the seeds he sowed for
the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.”7

Completed in 1855, the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly known as the Castle, was the first building of the Smithsonian Institution and also the first building on the National Mall. Its beautiful Norman, Romanesque, and Gothic architectural styles earned it the nickname “the Castle.” It was the first building to house Smithsonian exhibits and collections of natural history, history, anthropology, and art. Today, the Castle houses administrative offices, an information center, exhibits, and the crypt of James Smithson, the benefactor and namesake of the Smithsonian Institution. 

Smithsonian Institution Building, the Castle

One of Washington D.C.'s lesser-known monuments, the Daguerre Memorial can now be found at the National Portrait Gallery. The monument has become a popular place for capturing "selfies" among those who know the history behind the French inventor's revolutionary technology, which removed barriers. A daguerreotype could be obtained at a fraction of the cost of commissioning a painting. During the 1850s, the process of capturing photographs on glass and paper replaced the daguerreotype. Still, the influence of Daguerre was so great that this monument to a French citizen was placed on the National Mall outside the Arts and Industries Building and remained there for nearly eight decades.Louis Daguerre was born on November 18, 1787, in northern France. His artistic talents were apparent at a young age, and when he was 16, he became an apprentice under panorama painter Pierre Prévost. At the time, large, curved panoramas were painted for theaters as backdrops. Daguerre eventually painted panoramas for plays and operas, and from 1821 to 1822, he built a "diorama" theater next to his studio. It was round and could fit 350 people. It was also designed to rotate to show spectators the entire painting, which was either transparent or opaque.Daguerre's interest in photography began when he started using the camera obscura technique to help his painting work, and refined the method by creating better lenses. Then in 1826, Daguerre learned about the work of Joseph Niépce (1765-1833), who invented the first photographic process called heliography in 1825. The two men became partners in 1829 and eventually developed a photography process in 1832 called physautotype that could capture images in less than eight hours. Unfortunately, Niépce died of a stroke in 1833 but Daguerre continued the work. Daguerre's breakthrough came when he discovered that mercury vapor accelerated the creation of an image down to 30 minutes.In 1838 he began to tell a few trusted artists and scientists about his invention. One of these was astronomer and legislator François Arago, who secured a lifetime pension from the French government for Daguerre in exchange for the rights to the daguerreotype process (Niépce's son agreed to the exchange and also received a lifetime pension).Daguerre formally presented the process to the world on August 19, 1839, at a joint session of the French Academy of Sciences and the French Academy of the Arts. His invention was revolutionary, and because it was relatively affordable, it quickly spread around the world. The process was immediately utilized by artists, scientists, archaeologists, and explorers. Although he was required to provide a detailed booklet detailing the step-by-step demonstration of the process, Daguerre kept the patent on the equipment used to make daguerreotype photographs. Daguerreotype became less prevalent as photographs on glass and paper, which were faster and cheaper to produce, emerged in the 1850s. Paper prints, in particular, while not as detailed as daguerreotypes, were able to be reproduced easily. Daguerre died in 1851 at the age of 63 in a suburb of Paris. Unfortunately, few of his daguerreotypes still exist after a fire destroyed his laboratory and diorama in 1839. In addition, Daguerre's written records and early experimental works were lost.

From its dedication in 1890 to its removal from the National Mall in 1969, this was the site of a monument commissioned by the Photographers' Association of America honoring French artist and inventor Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851). In 1839, Daugerre invented the first practical process to capture images. The resulting still image was called a "daguerreotype," and the technique spread quickly around the world. Daguerre's innovation used chemical reactions to capture a detailed and enduring image on a copper plate in just a few minutes. The process required a subject to be still, and in the 1840s and much of the 1850s, this technology was used to create portraits, including thousands that have been preserved. The monument was removed in the late 1960s, a period when the monumental landscape of the National Mall centered more on American political leaders and monuments to veterans. Recognizing the value of Daguerre's contribution to the world, the memorial was taken out of storage and placed at the National Portrait Gallery in 1989. The monument features a bust of Daguerre between a globe and a female figure representing Fame. The assertions of one of the monument's inscriptions demonstrate the ethos of the era when it was created. One inscription reads, "Photograph, the electric telegraph, and the steam engine are the three greatest discoveries of the age. No five centuries in human progress can show such strides as these."

Location of the Daguerre Memorial (1890 to 1969)

When the United States accepted the late&nbsp;James Smithson's estate in 1836,&nbsp;it was originally not known what kind of institution would be established.&nbsp;The&nbsp;first Smithsonian Secretary, Joseph Henry, envisioned&nbsp;a museum and library that would be "the two modes of increasing and diffusing knowledge." This museum would house&nbsp;collections of natural history, American history, anthropology, and art and put them on display,&nbsp;"free of expense," for the&nbsp;public.1 In 1850, Henry appointed&nbsp;Spencer F. Baird as the first curator of the Smithsonian's collections, which were originally housed&nbsp;in the&nbsp;Smithsonian Institution Building, also known as&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=15326">the Castle</a>.&nbsp;As a naturalist, Baird focused on amassing a large collection of specimens that illustrated North American flora and fauna. In 1876, the Smithsonian also received collections and exhibitions&nbsp;from&nbsp;the Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia.&nbsp;Baird understood that in order to continue growing, the Smithsonian would&nbsp;need more space and more methodical&nbsp;organization.2 Baird's&nbsp;dream came true with the National Museum Building. Constructed&nbsp;between 1879 and 1881,&nbsp;the National Museum Building&nbsp;was worldly in its collections and its&nbsp;architecture. Collections included&nbsp;natural history, American history, anthropology, and art. The National Museum&nbsp;Building&nbsp;was&nbsp;inspired by world's fairs and exposition architecture and&nbsp;borrowed Greek, Byzantine, and Moorish designs&nbsp;that were in&nbsp;fashion at the time. Its&nbsp;red brick complements the Castle yet&nbsp;contrasts much of&nbsp;the modern National Mall, which is lined with museums and monuments made of light-colored stone and marble. Architects chose red brick because it was&nbsp;"fireproof, economical, and versatile."&nbsp;The Building's&nbsp;design was open and festive&nbsp;with&nbsp;geometric patterns, skylights,&nbsp;colored brick accents and tiling,&nbsp;and a central rotunda.&nbsp;With its brilliant use of windows and ventilation, artificial lighting and heating and cooling systems were seldom needed. The&nbsp;National Museum&nbsp;Building hosted President James&nbsp;Garfield's inaugural ball&nbsp;on March 4, 1881, and opened to the public in October of that year.3 By 1910, the&nbsp;Smithsonian collections had already outgrown the&nbsp;National Museum Building.&nbsp;The natural history collections moved&nbsp;to the <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=15371">National Museum of Natural History</a>&nbsp;across the Mall. The National Museum Building&nbsp;was then renamed the Arts and Industries Building and focused on&nbsp;displaying treasures of art and history,&nbsp;such as the Star-Spangled Banner, the&nbsp;Spirit of St. Louis, and First Ladies' dresses. Over the course of the&nbsp;twentieth century, the Smithsonian&nbsp;moved&nbsp;collections out of the Arts and Industries Building and into newly-constructed museums. Because so many museums originated from&nbsp;the Arts and Industries Building, it&nbsp;is often nicknamed the "incubator." These museums include the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=15064" title="Link: https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=15064">National Museum of American History</a>, the <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=12245">S</a><a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=12245">mithsonian American Art Museum</a>, the <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=14700" title="Link: https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=14700">National Portrait Gallery</a>,&nbsp;the <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=15332">National Air and Space Museum</a>, and the <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://theclio.com/web/entry?id=13665">National Postal Museum</a>.&nbsp;As collections departed,&nbsp;the Arts and&nbsp;Industries Building held exhibits, such as 1876: A Centennial Exhibition celebrating the fair that helped build the National Museum. Gardens added beautiful landscaping to the grounds in the 1980s.4 In the new&nbsp;millennium, the Arts and Industries Building thrived culturally, yet&nbsp;deteriorated&nbsp;physically. In 2004,&nbsp;though&nbsp;the Arts and Industries Building was home to&nbsp;exhibits, archives, offices, and 500&nbsp;employees of various&nbsp;Smithsonian organizations, it&nbsp;closed due to&nbsp;cracks in the walls and flooring, leaks in the ceiling, pests, and&nbsp;poor internal&nbsp;systems.&nbsp;Since then, the Building has undergone extensive renovations to restore its former glory&nbsp;and take advantage of its&nbsp;historically&nbsp;sustainable construction. The future of the&nbsp;Arts and Industries Building is still being planned. In the meantime, it provides a space for pop-up exhibits and special events.&nbsp;Today,&nbsp;the words&nbsp;"National Museum" are still visible on the building's&nbsp;facade,&nbsp;a testament to its place in both American history and Smithsonian history.5

Completed in 1881, the Arts and Industries building was the second structure on the National Mall and the first building dedicated solely to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum. It housed early collections of natural history, American history, anthropology, and art. As the Smithsonian Institution grew, these collections were given their own museums on the National Mall. Currently undergoing renovations, the Arts and Industries Building is open for special events and pop-up exhibitions. The grounds are home to the beautifully landscaped Mary Livingston Ripley Garden. The Arts and Industries Building, one of the finest examples of architecture inspired by the world's fairs, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and named a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building

This museum was originally housed in a townhouse on Capitol Hill that was once owned by African American abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass. The museum became part of the Smithsonian Institution in August 1979 following the enactment of Public Law 95-414. It was renamed the National Museum of African Art in 1981 and relocated to a new facility on the National Mall in 1987.Located in the quadrangle complex on the grounds of the National Mall behind the Smithsonian Institution Building, the museum is a unique place, with 96 percent of its collections below ground. The building is part of the Smithsonian's Quadrangle Complex, designed by the famous Boston-based architect Jean Paul Carlhian. The Quadrangle Complex also houses the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the S. Dillon Ripley International Center, all linked underground and capped of with the Enid A. Haupt Victorian Garden on the roof. The museum collection consists of more than 10,000 works and treasures, including over 400 modern and contemporary works of art, making it the most extensive publicly held collection of modern and contemporary African art in the United States. Objects range from ceramics, exceptional photographs, textiles, sculptures, paintings, and more. Over fifty years, the museum has continued to advance Warren Robbins’s vision of sharing the beauty and power of the diverse arts and cultures of Africa.

Established in 1963 as a freestanding museum near Capitol Hill in a townhouse, this museum grew to become part of the Smithsonian Institution in 1979. After an act of Congress in 1981, the museum was renamed the National Museum of African Art. The museum was created thanks to the leadership and advocacy of Warren M. Robbins, a prominent art collector, and former U.S. Foreign Service Officer who saw this museum as a way to foster an appreciation of this heritage and an understanding of the African continent generally. When the museum opened to the public in May 1964, it was the first museum in the United States dedicated to African art exclusively. Today it is the only national museum in the United States dedicated to the collection, exhibition, conservation, and study of the arts of Africa.

Smithsonian National Museum of African Art

On the eve of the Cold War, President&nbsp;Roosevelt initiated a Federal research program aimed at harnessing the potential of atomic power as a weapon. This led to the creation of the Manhattan Project and the world's first atomic bomb. After the war, Congress reflected the debate between many American scientists and civilians as to whether the nation should see atomic power in terms of military might, or as a source of energy that might be controlled by private companies and public utilities. In response, Congress created the&nbsp;Atomic Energy Commission which took control over the&nbsp;Manhattan&nbsp;Project and also students the&nbsp;potential of nuclear reactors as a source of power for both civilian and military purposes.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The energy crisis of the 1970s, as well as the proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear&nbsp;power plants (and related civilian concerns regarding these technologies) led to the creation of the Department of Energy as the 12th Cabinet-level federal agency. The&nbsp;Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 consolidated several&nbsp;Federal energy agencies under one organizational structure. Today, the Department aims to create and implement a&nbsp;national energy plan, regulate energy prices, support America's independence from foreign sources of energy,&nbsp;and&nbsp;promote research and safety. &nbsp; Now considered one of the least attractive federal buildings, (along with other Brutalist structures built during this same era like the Hubert Humphrey Building and the J. Edgar Hoover Building)&nbsp;the exterior of the Forrestal Building features pre-cast concrete units. Brutalism was an&nbsp;architectural style of the 1950s and 1960s characterized by concrete cast in&nbsp;block-like forms.&nbsp;As one might expect given the current occupant, the&nbsp;Forrestal Building has been upgraded to include numerous&nbsp;energy-efficient features and is powered partially by one of the largest&nbsp;solar arrays in the city. &nbsp;

Named after the first US Secretary of Defense, this Cold War-era building features the briefly-popular Brutalist style of architecture that is itself a product of the Cold War. The building housed the offices of Navy personnel between its completion in 1969 and the creation of the Department of Energy in 1977. The creation of the Cabinet-level Department of Energy was a response to the various energy crisis of the 1970s and combined several existing federal agencies such as the Federal Energy Administration, the Federal Power Commission, and the Energy Research and Development Administration. The Department of Energy oversees a variety of civilian and military energy-related programs, including those related to nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants. In recent decades, the department oversees the government's efforts to develop and promote renewable energy initiatives.  

James V. Forrestal Building, US Department of Energy

When the Civil War began, the medical corps of the Union Army was relatively inexperienced and without access to professional training and research opportunities.&nbsp;In 1862 the Surgeon General of the Union Army commissioned&nbsp;Brigade Surgeon John Hill Brinton to " "collect and properly arrange in the Military
Medical Museum all specimens of morbid anatomy, both medical and surgical,
which may have accumulated since the commencement of the Rebellion in the
various U.S. hospitals or which may have been retained by any of the medical
officers of the Army." &nbsp;The museum was originally&nbsp;located in the Ford's Theatre following renovation by the federal government&nbsp;after&nbsp;President Lincoln was&nbsp;assassinated there in 1865, and moved three times until in 1887 a permanent structure was built at the site on Independence Avenue,&nbsp;where the museum was housed until&nbsp;1969. &nbsp;In 1883 Billings was&nbsp;in charge of the newly merged Army Medical Museum and&nbsp;Surgeon General's Library, and he&nbsp;commissioned the architectural firm Cluss and Schulze to design a building that could accommodate both. The location was chosen&nbsp;by the secretary of war, the architect of the Capitol and the secretary of the Smithsonian Institute in 1885, and&nbsp;$200,000 was&nbsp;allocated by Congress for its construction. The four-story, H-shaped building was made of red brick. It had separate wings for the museum and library, and was in an excellent location to attract the public. The center of the building contained the&nbsp;Records and Pension Division, a dark room for processing photographs, rooms for dissection and anatomy research, and a secure room to house the museum's collection of genitals, then considered too unsavory to display to the public. Natural light was used in the exhibit halls, where wood-panelled vitrines contained an enormous collection devoted to the&nbsp;human anatomy and embryology, pathology, numismatics, ethnography and physical anthropology, specimen preparation, and the history of the microscope. The building was heated by gas heaters and fireplaces. Through the efforts of&nbsp;Brigade Surgeon John Hill Brinton, and those of his successors, the&nbsp;museum amassed an enormous collection of medical artefacts from all over the world, including many that were recovered from famous theatres of war by the Surgeon General of the Army. This was no cabinet of curiosities; by using this collection army medical researchers took great steps towards the study of&nbsp;cells, gunshot wounds, bone injuries, and diseased organs. In addition, it became a kind of impromptu national memorial following the end of the Civil War, as its collection also held specimens of maimed soldiers from both sides of the conflict.The glass cases where these&nbsp;specimens were held also contained&nbsp;flags and standards of both Union and Confederate&nbsp;ambulance corps, as well as swords and sabers.&nbsp;In 1888 the museum was opened to civilian medical professionals by&nbsp;Lieutenant Colonel John S. Billings, then&nbsp;museum curator. In 1922 the American Registry of Pathology was
founded as a focus for the interchange of knowledge between military and civilian medicine and science. The Museum was renamed as the&nbsp;Army Institute of Pathology in 1946, and from that point served as the U.S. Army's laboratory for pathological research (six years later this extended to&nbsp;the Department of Defense and other federal agencies). However,&nbsp;the building became largely redundant in&nbsp;1955, when the laboratory and researchers were&nbsp;moved to the Walter Reed Army Medical
Center in Bethesda.
&nbsp;The building was demolished in 1969, and&nbsp;the extensive collection was split between different institutions, with the library collection discarded.

The Army Medical Museum and Library was one of the earliest federally appointed research institutes combining medical and military science. Founded in 1888, the building served as the Army Medical School and library of the Surgeon General of the Army (which would later become the National Library of Medicine) until the 1960s, when different locations were chosen for its services. Despite becoming a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, the building was demolished in 1969. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden can now be found on the site. The museum's collections are now held by a variety of institutions, including the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Maryland. 

Army Medical Museum and Library (1888-1969)

Dwight D Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas, on October 14, 1890. Eisenhower grew up in Abeline, Kansas, having moved there when he was one. He was born into a poor family, as his father worked in a creamery. Dwight was nicknamed "Ike" a name that stuck into his later life. He enjoyed sports but took a moderate interest in his studies. After graduating from Abeline High School in the Class of 1909, Eisenhower attended West Point US Military Academy. He excelled in football but injured his knee, forcing him to stop playing. Graduating in the class of 1915, which produced 59 generals, Eisenhower was 61st and 125th in academics and discipline, respectively, out of 164 graduates.After graduating from West Point, Eisenhower was commissioned second lieutenant and sent to San Antonio, Texas, where he met his future wife, Mamie Geneva Doud. Eisenhower commanded a tank training center as a Captain during WWI and although he was to be shipped overseas, the war ended before his departure. During the interwar period, Eisenhower attended the Army's Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he graduated first in the 1926 class of 275. Eventually, Eisenhower became an aide to legendary World War II Pacific Commander Douglas MacArthur.In 1941, at the start of World War II Eisenhower was promoted to chief of staff of the Third Army. After winning the attention of Army Chief of Staff George C Marshall, in June 1942, Eisenhower had rapidly advanced to command all US troops in Europe. Through 1944, Eisenhower commanded assaults on Northern Africa and Southern Italy. In December of 1943, Eisenhower had again been promoted to command all allied troops, including British and Canadian forces, in Europe. During the joint invasion of Normandy beaches, Eisenhower commanded the amphibious attack, leading to the eventual recapture of Paris. Eisenhower retired in 1948 with high popularity.In 1952, Eisenhower was elected US President, with the campaign slogan "I Like Ike". During his two terms, Eisenhower set US foreign policy for the Cold War against the USSR and helped end the Korean War. In 1957, in his second term, Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce desegregation in public schools. He also finished desegregating the military which Truman had started. In addition, Eisenhower signed a massive infrastructure bill that created the National US Highway System. Eisenhower died on March 28, 1969.The memorial in DC was commissioned by Congress in 1999 and built by the Eisenhower Memorial Commission at a cost of 150 million. The original design of the memorial caused many conflicts between architect Frank Gehry and the family of Eisenhower. Originally, Gehry had proposed a memorial where a sole statue of a barefoot, young Eisenhower was shown, against a tapestry background of the Kansas plains. Secretary of State James A Baker III brokered a compromise in which the tapestry was changed to Normandy, and put the youthful Eisenhower statue to the side. The memorial is built on a 4-acre site along eastbound Independence Avenue. Originally, the opening of the memorial was scheduled for May 8, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, however, due to Covid-19 the opening was postponed to September 2020.

The Dwight D Eisenhower Memorial commemorates the life of the 34th US President who is best known for leading allied forces in World War II. The memorial was designed by Frank Gehry and consists of a series of three statues, inscriptions, and a first-of-its-kind tapestry. The memorial features three statues sculpted by Sergey Eylanbekov, one of Eisenhower as a boy, one as Supreme Allied Commander with troops from the 101st Airborne Division, and one as President featured with civilian and military advisors. The tapestry by Tomas Osiniki depicts the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc on the Normandy coastline. Dedicated on September 18, 2020, this was the newest memorial on or near the National Mall at the time this article was written.

Dwight D Eisenhower Memorial

The founding of Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum finds is directly related to the establishment of the Smithsonian Institue itself. In 1876, the Institute was gifted twenty kites from the Chinese Imperial Commission. These kites were the first artifacts to be added to the collection, and along with other items that were gifted and sought out over the years, they were displayed in a building nicknamed the “Tin Shed” behind the Smithsonian Castle in 1920. The Shed was the Air and Space Museum’s home for some time, and as time went on, President Harry Truman signed a bill to create the Smithsonian National Air Museum in order to collect more artifacts. As the collection quickly outgrew the Tin Shed’s space, much of the collection was stored in an abandoned aircraft factory.

In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson changed the Museum to the National Air and Space Museum in order to reflect the nation’s developments in both aeronautic and space flight, starting with adding rockets and missiles to the Museum’s collection. As the collection expanded, the Museum received funding for a new building in 1971 to be constructed in the National Mall. As construction began in 1975, the Smithsonian Institute had a team working to bring together research and artifacts for the museum, as well as to actively bring together research on spacecraft data. In a short span of time, the Museum was fully constructed and filled with exhibits in time for its opening on July 1, 1976. The National Air and Space Museum was instantly a national sensation; it received over five million visitors in just six months of being active.

To this day, the National Air and Space Museum is still one of the most popular museums in the nation, and one of the most active, as well. Within the Museum’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies division, team members are active in all current Mars and Moon missions. On the Museum floor, themed tours are held throughout the day and&nbsp;Discovery Stations&nbsp;give visitors hands-on interactions&nbsp;with scientific displays and artifacts. Talks with Museum curators and NASA scientists, engineers, and astronauts&nbsp;are often held in the Moving Beyond Earth gallery.&nbsp;The Albert Einstein&nbsp;Planetarium presents&nbsp;live shows&nbsp;on the night sky and screens films, while the&nbsp;Lockheed Martin&nbsp;IMAX Theater shows 3D films and Hollywood movies.&nbsp;Outdoors along Independence Avenue, the Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory,&nbsp;named for one of the first female astronomers to earn a doctorate,&nbsp;facilitates solar observation through a variety of telescopes and hosts special nighttime observation events.&nbsp;

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum houses the largest collection of artifacts related to space and aviation. With both the location in Washington, D.C. and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, the National Air and Space Museum is the most popular museum in the country, drawing in more than eight million visitors per year. Dating back to its founding in 1876, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum holds true to its mission to educate, inspire, and celebrate the history and progress of both air and space flight.

Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum 

In the early 1990s, the Smithsonian and&nbsp;Congress began to explore the creation of&nbsp;a museum dedicated to American Indians. The effort was the result of conversations with&nbsp;numerous Native communities and historians. Although these dialogues were originally efforts to discuss the
ground-level requirements for the museum, these ideas branched out to discuss
how the lives and cultures of Native peoples could be incorporated into the
actual building itself. Some of these ideas manifested in a natural landscape
being constructed around the museum, as well as the building being constructed
to seem as though it was weathered and constructed by nature.

The construction of the landscape was inspired by the Native
belief that the earth retains memories of its past. In considering this
concept, the landscape was designed in such a way to resemble the landscape of
the Americas prior to contact from European settlers. Some considerations that
were included are, for example, hardwood forests, wetlands, meadows, traditional
croplands, grandfather rocks, and cardinal direction markers.

The museum itself displays a number of both temporary and
permanent exhibits on American Indian life and culture. Some of its permanent
exhibits focus on Native cosmology, the history of Native peoples and how they
once lived, and also examinations of contemporary Native culture and life.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) is a recent addition to the historical museums of the Smithsonian. Unlike almost any other museum in the country, the NMAI displays exhibits that center upon the life, history, and culture of Western Hemisphere Native Americans. The museum opened to the public on September 21st, 2004. Prior to that time, the creation of the museum was a collective venture between the Smithsonian and various Native communities that began in the early 1990s. Through this cooperation, the museum creates and maintains exhibits on Native peoples and their history. The architecture of the building also incorporates many thematic elements central to the lives and culture of Native peoples.

Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

George Washington proposed the creation of a garden and plant museum for the capital in 1796.&nbsp;

Established by the U.S. Congress in 1820, this botanic garden is one of the oldest in the nation and reflects President George Washington's vision for the nation's capital which included aesthetically pleasing buildings and gardens. The indoor exhibits and gardens take users through a variety of natural environments and include many endangered species. The outdoor spaces offer a variety of species that are native to the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. 

United States Botanic Garden Conservatory

A zinc coating protects the original cast-iron of the fountain which dates back to the Philadelphia exposition that celebrated the nation's centennial&nbsp;in 1876. At that time, the fountain was lighted by gaslights around the center pedestal that feature three young women that appear to be holding the fountain's large basin. Water spills into that basin from a crown at the top while sea creatures at the base shoot water from their mouths into the central reservoir.&nbsp;

This park is home to the U.S. Botanic Garden Administration Building and the Bartholdi  Fountain. The park was renamed in 1985 to honor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi who designed the Statue of Liberty.  The thirty-foot-tall Bartholdi Fountain was also renamed and was originally designed for Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition. Capitol architect Frederick Law Olmsted purchased the fountain after the Philadelphia exposition was complete and placed it at the center of the National Mall which served as the home o the U.S. Botanic Garden until 1927. The statue was re-dedicated in 1932. 

Science and History on the National Mall (STEM Trek)

Original Patentees Memorial

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information