Times October 2009

Welcome to National “Malady in City “From the moment I got up Mall and Memorial Increasing Despite in the morning to when I Parks! went to bed at night, I felt a Preventive Measures” constant sense of fear. We October is a great The 1918 Influenza Epidemic were afraid to kiss each other, time to experience in , D.C. to eat with each other, to your national park! have contact of any kind. You Our ranger staff By Ranger Sandy Tennyson were surrounded by death…. presents interpretive entire families were gone Makeshift treatment area on a porch at Walter Reed Hospital during 1918 flu epidemic. programs throughout In the fall of 1918, as the United completely… they disappeared the park from bike from the face of the earth.” States was coming to grips with including vital War Bond Drives, tours and evening the horrors of death from the First were suspended. Unfortunately, walking tours to - William H. Sardo, Jr., World War, the country found these measures were in vain. By shorter detailed Washington, D.C. resident, itself battling another horror, an Saturday, October 5, fifty-four programs of each 6 years-old in 1918 extremely deadly and infectious police officers were sick and two memorial. influenza spread across the hundred sixty-one trolley car county in epidemic proportions. drivers became ill, causing the To learn more about Stealthily, the gruesome virus transportation system to ground the future of the known as the Spanish Influenza to a halt. With so many firemen National Mall, visit began its march from the trenches sick, the Fire Marshal believed “the the National Mall Plan of Europe to U.S. military facilities. whole city’d burn to the ground if website (www.nps. a fire ever got started.” gov/nationalmallplan) As it reached Americans shores, to read current millions were stricken and The U.S. Government, in the midst alternatives, express hundreds of thousands died. of trying to win a war, staggered ideas, and follow our The onset of the disease was work hours of all its employees, progress. severe. Victims reported dull hoping to stop the spread of the headaches and body aches in the virus by relieving crowding on Page through this morning. By noon, symptoms street cars. Workers were also newspaper to find included an increasingly high fever. advised to keep office windows out more about the Nightfall brought no relief as the open, and thirty-minute “fresh air many fascinating victim drifted into a semi-conscious breaks” were mandatory twice a ranger programs state. Most would not see sunrise, day. offered throughout succumbing to suffocation from the park. Our park fluid buildup in their lungs. The disease peaked in the late staff and volunteers fall and disappeared as suddenly will be glad to The first cases of influenza as it had arrived, leaving its mark answer any of your appeared in Washington, D.C. in American Red Cross advertisement, The Evening of fear across the nation. By the questions. Thanks for Star, Wednesday, October 9, 1918 the last week of September. The time the pandemic had subsided visiting, and have a federal city, overcrowded with new acted swiftly closing schools, in Washington, at least 30,000 wonderful experience employees supporting the war- playgrounds, churches, theaters, residents had become ill and 3,000 at National Mall and time government, was extremely vaudeville houses and “all places had died. Memorial Parks! vulnerable. District officials of amusement.” Public meetings,

National Park Service Page 2 Page 4 Page 6 U.S. Department of the Interior • Ranger Led Bike Tours • Ranger Led Programs, • Washington Monument continued Tickets National Mall and Memorial Parks • Potomac Nature Packs • Eastern National 900 Ohio Drive, SW Page 3 • New Lincoln Memorial • Tourmobile Washington, DC 20024 • Ranger Led Programs Webpage • Old Post Office Tower NHS Tours and Presentations 202-233-3520 • NPS Organic Act www.nps.gov/nama or www.nps.gov/mall Page 5 • Daily Ranger Programs National Mall Plan Website: www.nps.gov/nationalmallplan • Getting Around in Washington, D.C. Radio: 1670 AM October 2009, Volume 2 Issue 10 National Mall Times 1 Ranger Led Bike Tours

Join rangers Lincoln Memorial? What is George every Saturday and Sunday from Washington leaning on? You will 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. for FREE guided never look at the monuments and bike tours of the Nation’s Capital. memorials on the National Mall the (Family Tours are given on the third same way again! Sunday of the month from 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.) Tour season Parents – Please note; all participants begins Saturday, March 28, and (children and adults) must have their continues through Sunday, November own bike and helmet. Reservations 29, 2009. Please bring your own bike, for Family Tours are required. Please helmet (required), and water. All call Bike Program Coordinator Ranger tours begin at the Thomas Jefferson Jason Martz 202-438-4391 to make Memorial plaza. reservations. Space is limited.

For more information call Bike Saturday, October 24 Program Coordinator, Ranger Jason Pop Culture on the National Mall Martz at 202-438-4391, or check our website: www.nps.gov/mall. Join park rangers as they lead a bike tour exploring the history of the Saturday, October 3 National Mall from a slightly different The Mercury Seven angle. This won’t be your average, Saturday, October 17 textbook history of the monuments and From Infection to Election: Presidential Fifty years ago America’s first seven memorials, but history through the eyes Illnesses astronauts were introduced to the world at a of film, music, sports, and other modes news conference in Washington, D.C. Their of popular culture. Aliens crash into the Do you suffer from asthma? Gout? enthusiasm and charm captured the national Washington Monument in “The Day the Dysentery? Hypertensive cardiomyopathy? spotlight, and they became virtual celebrities Earth Stood Still”, Nixon welcomes Elvis If so, then you have something in common overnight. Their mission, known as Project to the , Houdini wants to with quite a few American presidents. Join Mercury, was the initial phase of America’s parachute off the top of the Washington park rangers for a bike tour around the first attempts at breaking the veil of our Monument, Jenny runs through the National Mall, stopping at thematically- atmosphere, and hurtling brave volunteers Reflecting Pool in “Forrest Gump”, and related sites to explore the illnesses and in the vast reaches of outer space. Join much, much more. Come out and hear how diseases of select commanders-in-chief. National Park Service rangers as we explore popular culture has changed our perspective Find out who had food poisoning, who the story of the Mercury Seven and their in these alternative annals of history. was blind in one eye and deaf in one ear, impact upon the world. who may not have had polio after all, and Sunday, October 25 whose debilitating stroke was covered up Sunday, October 4 Photography on the Mall - Then and Now throughout his presidency. “From Infection Transportation History of D.C. to Election” uncovers the back story of Ever wonder where you can best photograph several diseases that may have had an Come and explore the history of the Capitol, the Thomas adverse effect on the presidency, thereby Washington, D.C. as told through the Jefferson Memorial, the White House, the affecting American, and world, history. development of the regional transportation Washington Monument, or any of the other network. This tour will trace Washington, iconic locations around the city? Grab Sunday, October 18 D.C. transportation history from the your camera and join us for a two-wheeled On this Date in History - “All Quiet Along of the earliest days to the rail, road, and air jaunt across the National Mall to see what the Potomac Tonight:” The Battle at Ball’s networks of the 21st century. it looked like after the turn of the 20th Bluff century, and then take your own shots from Saturday, October 10 some of our best vantage points today! See On October 21, 1861, a great Civil War Did Silly Putty Win the War? the National Mall through the eyes of the battle raged just a few dozen miles from Everyday Items from Wartime camera lens, and take home the pictures of a Washington City, near a bend in the Potomac lifetime! River. Immediately in the wake of the Union No, silly putty did not win the war, but it disaster there, Washington politicians and may not have existed if World War II had newspapers commenced the usual game not taken place. Many items we take for of finger pointing, backstabbing, and fault granted today have emerged from war-time finding in their search for a scapegoat. society-items that were invented to speed Would they blame the President, the the war along, and items that were created Secretary of War, the commanding general, purely by accident. Join park rangers for or the senior officer on the field—who just a bike tour through war history, and the happened to be the best friend of Abraham surprising inventions that came out of it. Lincoln? Who would take the fall? We will You may never look at a can of soup the focus our attention on Washington, D.C. and same way again! National Park Service sites where the story of this small-scale, yet fascinating, military Sunday, October 11 engagement forever altered the course of On This Date in History- The United States the , and affected the Navy—Past and Present lives of everyone associated with it—for better or for worse. Did you know that the United States Navy Saturday, October 31 is older than the United States itself? Unexplored Tales of the City – Murderers Sunday, October 18 Moreover, the Navy has always played a Family Tour – The Hunt is On! major role in the creation, development, Everyone has heard of Lizzie Borden, Jack The Search for Symbols on the National Mall and defense of this country and its capital the Ripper, and Charles Manson. What 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. city. When Peter L’Enfant designed the is less known is how these murderers are federal city in 1791, he included a prominent connected to Washington, D.C. Join park Have you ever wondered if there is anything site for a Navy memorial, and designated rangers for a tour that will help explain how hidden inside the monuments and memorials military use areas such as that occupied by these and other murderous connections on the National Mall? If you did, you’re the . Throughout are linked to our nation’s capital. Gory right! There are symbols, some in plain view, American history, the U.S. Navy has provided stories will be told, crime scene pictures will others hidden, which are clues about the heroic men and women whose service be shown, and nightmares hatched. Due person or event being memorialized that to country has been vital to our survival. to the graphic nature of the tour it is not help visitors better understand the structure. Explore Washington’s strong naval tradition recommended for children. Plants, animals, and even different types of by experiencing some of its many memorials stone have meaning. You just need to know dedicated to the performance and sacrifice where, and what to look for. What can the of this nation’s sea service veterans. leaves at the World War II Memorial teach us? Who is that man in the painting at the 2 National Mall Times Ranger Led Programs

Daily at 1:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m Join a National Park Service ranger for were essential to all Americans. Join a FDR’s Fireside Chats a two-hour walking tour of the history park ranger to learn about how railroads and culture of the Spanish and Latin had a profound impact on American life. Imagine… American statues on Virginia Avenue. This walking tour of Washington, D.C. it’s 1935, The tour will start at the entrance to railroad station sites will start at Union and the the Foggy Bottom Metro Station, (23rd Station. Contact Matt McNamer at United & I Street, N.W.,) and will end at the 202-438-9563 for more information. States intersection of Virginia and Constitution is in the Avenues, N.W. This will be a strenuous Saturday, October 10 tightening walk, and comfortable shoes are The Washington Monument at 125: chokehold recommended. There are no public The Man, the Monument, its Memorial of the restrooms along the route. Contact Stones Great Mike Balis at 202-438-9710 for more 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. Depression. In the midst of massive job information. losses, starvation, and financial chaos, This year we celebrate the 125th one voice rings out clearly to bring Friday, October 2 anniversary of the completion of the calm and reason to a frightened nation. Stalingrad and the Battles of 1942 Washington Monument. Learn little- Out of the darkness of the depression 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. known facts about the remarkable man emerges a beacon of hope in the person it honors, the history of the idea of a of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Come and The Battle of Stalingrad was a critical National Monument, and why it took listen to Roosevelt himself as he delivers campaign for the Germans and the so long to build. Discover the secrets of one of his famous “Fireside Chats,” with Soviets in 1942. How would this battle its decoration, and some of the stories an introduction and follow-up summary help shape the ultimate outcome of behind the memorial stones embedded from a National Park Service staff World War II? However, the Battles of in its interior walls. Meet at the base of member. Meet at the Franklin Delano the Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal, the Washington Monument. Contact Roosevelt Memorial. Call 202-426-6841 El Alamein, and the landings in North Jan Buerger at 202-497-1397 for more for more information. Africa by the Allies were decisive battles information. in 1942 as well. Join two National Park Daily at 1:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m Service rangers as they explain the “I Have A Dream” details and minutiae about the Battle of Stalingrad, the battles of 1942, and On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King how they helped determine the ultimate climbed result of World War II. Meet at the the steps World War II Memorial to learn more. of the Contact Brad Berger at 202-438-4173 for Lincoln more information. Memorial, and Saturday, October 3 delivered The Lincoln Haunts Jaunt one of 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. the great examples of rhetoric known to man – Celebrate our sixteenth President’s Saturday, October 10 the speech known as “I Have a Dream.” Bicentennial by stopping at sites that Washington and the Heroes of the Referring to the Bible, the Declaration would have been familiar to Abraham Revolution of Independence, the Emancipation Lincoln. This walking tour will 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Proclamation, the Constitution of the concentrate in areas around Lafayette United States, the Gettysburg Address, Square, the White House, and along General led and even Shakespeare’s Richard III, King Pennsylvania Avenue. Meet at the American forces to victory in the informed and urged his audience to base of the Washington Monument for Revolutionary War, and he did so with action in support of the advancement of this two-hour walking tour. Contact the aid of European tactics, troops, the civil rights movement. You can stand Lowell Fry at 202-438-9603 for more and leaders. Join a park ranger to exactly where King stood, imagining information. learn about some of these leaders, and the energy of a crowd 200,000 strong how they are commemorated in the listening to the immortal words of his Sunday, October 4 landscape of the capital city. Tours begin speech. Listen to King himself as he Bird Walk Around the Tidal Basin the Washington Monument, and walking delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. shoes are recommended. Contact with an introduction and follow-up Don Stanko at 240-375-4857 for more summary from a National Park Service What is bipedal, endothermic, and a information. staff member. Meet at the Lincoln vertebrate species? Join a park ranger Memorial. Call 202-426-6841 for more to explore the Tidal Basin area for birds! Sunday, October 11 information. Discover waterfowl, songbirds, and World War II Operations and Vehicles possibly even birds of prey. B.Y.O.B! 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Every Saturday in October Bring Your Own Binoculars, bug spray, “Viva la Revolution”: the South and wear comfortable shoes. Tour The operations and vehicles of WWII American Rebellion from Spain begins at the base of the steps of the proved to be of crucial importance to the 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Contact United States’ rendezvous with destiny. Kristel Nelson at 202- 497-1357 for more Meet at the Pacific Theater entrance of The statues along Virginia Avenue, N.W. information. the WWII Memorial to take a walking honor those who helped the United tour to learn about timelines, battles, States acquire its freedom, as well as Wednesday, October 7, 14, 21, 28 aircraft, tanks, and ships such as the USS Latin American revolutionary leaders. America’s Railroads Enterprise, (the Big E,) which contributed Bernardo Galvez assisted the United 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. to more major actions than any other States during its revolution; Jose San ship, and still survived the war. Contact Martin, Simon Bolivar, and Jose Artigas For over one hundred years American Victor Pillow at 202-286-1624 for more led rebel forces that liberated twelve railroads touched almost every aspect information. million people in South America from of American life. Whether it was 1810-1824. travel, transportation, communication, settlement, war or politics, railroads National Mall Times 3 Ranger Led Programs - Continued

Saturday, October 17 Sunday, October 18 & 25 would endure; the forest itself created In Wildness is the Preservation of A Tradition of Honor problems as well. Come learn more the World: A Celebration of 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. about why the Hurtgen Forest was a “America’s Best Idea” challenge for the Americans. This tour 12:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. Join National Park Service rangers for a begins at the World War II Memorial. tour of the Japanese-American Memorial Contact Paul O’Brian at Two events made America’s Declaration to Patriotism During World War II. Learn 202-438-7066 for more information. of Independence the “shot heard round more about the internment of over the world” on April 19, 1775, and the 100,000 Americans without any due Continental Congress’s subsequent process, and the service of over three appointment of George Washington thousand. Contact Mike Balis at 202-438- as Commander in Chief of the Patriot 9710 for more information about this troops. The Old-North-Bridge landscape program, and where to meet. of the “shot heard round the world” (Minute Man National Historical Park, Saturday, October 24 Concord, M.A.) inspired Henry David Friends and Rivals: The Turbulent Thoreau’s famous dictum: “In wildness Relationship between John Adams and is the preservation of the world.” Learn Thomas Jefferson why that historic battlefield prompted 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. his early articulation of “America’s best idea,” and how it all connects to the Over the fifty-one years during which National Mall. Meet at The 56 Signers Founding Fathers John Adams and Potomac Nature Packs of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson were acquainted, they Birds, Bugs and Trees, OH MY! Memorial in . were alternately close friends and bitter Contact Jan Buerger at 202-497-1397 for political adversaries. The relationship Discover the wild side of the National more information. between the short, pugnacious, and Mall with nature packs designed to self-described “obnoxious” Adams, and engage the entire family. Each pack the tall, stately, soft-spoken Jefferson is filled with a sketch pad, binoculars, is one of the great dramas of American books, park brochures, maps, and history. They worked together to craft activities for the whole family. These the Declaration of Independence, self-guided nature packs allow the served together as President and Vice- whole family to put on their Eagle President of the new nation they helped eyes, and explore the unbe-leaf-able to conceive, then didn’t speak to each sights and sounds of the National other for twelve years. Come and learn Mall! about the unlikely friendship, the vicious personal attacks, political disputes, and Packs are available at the Survey the eloquent correspondence that they Lodge Ranger Station near the shared in their later years. Program southwest corner of the Washington begins at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Monument grounds. Packs are Saturday, October 17 steps. Contact Harry Gedney at available on a first come, first served Who Won the Civil War? 202-438-9640 for more information. basis, and require an adult’s drivers Slavery, Causes, Consequences, and license. One pack per family. Call Steps toward Reconstruction Saturday, October 31 202-426-6841 for more information. 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Hurtgen Forest: Not an Easy Walk Through the Woods The obvious answer to that question 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. & is only partially correct. The last Civil 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. War veteran died only fifty years ago. Why has this conflict, that took 620,000 After the Allies landed on the Normandy American lives, been termed “our coast in June 1944, broke through felt history?” We have to start at the France and liberated Paris, and advanced Washington Monument to find out! into Belgium and Holland, it seemed Meet on the west side of the Washington as though the war would be over by Monument. Contact Lowell Fry at Christmas. The Hurtgen Forest was 202-438-9603 for more information. thought to be an easy way to break into Germany for American forces, but it was not to be. German forces were not the only difficult problem Americans

Be sure to visit the updated Lincoln Memorial website! http://www.nps.gov/linc

Highlights include a new Lincoln Memorial Construction Flipbook and an Interactive Site. The flipbook utilizes historic photographs to tell the story of the memorial construction from inception to completion. You can experience a virtual walk-through of the memorial, and listen to ranger reflections of the memorial and its history on the Interactive Site.

4 National Mall Times Getting Around in Washington, D.C. Getting Around in Washington, D.C. of colorful railroads including the B&O, the C&O, the Seaboard Air Line, the Atlantic Coast Line, the By Ranger George A. McHugh Pennsylvania, the RF&P (Richmond, Fredericksburg, Venture to the outskirts of any major American urban center, and Potomac), and the and you can see the highly evident effects of suburban growth. Southern Railway. Many of You can see strip malls, one after the other along wide, multi- these railroads consolidated lane boulevards. You can see residential developments with their Washington, D.C. broad tree lined streets. From such a journey, a typical picture operations under one roof of 20th century land-use planning can be accurately drawn. with the opening of the With that image of modern American planning however, new Union Station in 1908. we sometimes forget that planning was just as necessary for Union Station development in early America, and Washington, D.C. was no Alongside their long-distance cousins, some Washington exception. streetcars and trolleys also called Union Station home. The Washington, D.C. streetcar and trolley system began years While most major American cities developed around commerce earlier in the midst of the Civil War. For nearly 60 years, or trade, and thus began to radiate outwards from that core Washington, D.C.’s streetcar system would grow to over 100 business, Washington went a different direction. As the miles of track in the city. There were also over 100 miles of product of the U.S. Congress, Washington was destined not track outside the city to be a spontaneous city, but a planned city. While buildings, running towards suburbs institutions, and landmarks may be the heart and soul of a city, as far as Bluemont, its true lifeblood is the infrastructure that connects the people Virginia. The streetcar and places. system generally peaked in popularity around Prominent 1916, about the same architect, Pierre time that the potential of C. L’Enfant was the combustion-engine chosen by George powered automobile Washington to was realized. Almost Washington, D.C. streetcars around Thomas Circle design the newly exactly 100 years after commissioned the streetcar system was born, the last remaining streetcars capital city in picked up their last passengers in late January of 1962. Oddly 1791. L’Enfant enough, while the equipment and infrastructure is nearly envisioned a city nonexistent today, the routes still remain. Most of WMATA’s connected by a (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) bus routes road network closely follow the routes of the original streetcars. For that still exists streetcar aficionados there is hope on the horizon. While today, including nothing will ever replicate the streetcars of old, the District has L’Enfant Plan the network of purchased three brand new streetcars for use on a proposed lettered and line extending from the Anacostia Metro station. The cars are numbered streets that cross at 90° angles, and the broad currently being stored and maintained in the Czech Republic, avenues that today bear the names of the states of the and will hopefully ride the roads of the District someday soon. union. Thus was created the beginnings of Washington’s transportation infrastructure. Up until the mid 19th century, Perhaps the most noticeable element of transportation these roads did not resemble the roads of today – rather, infrastructure in Washington, D.C. today is the Metrorail they were simply wide dirt pathways. This was no problem system. Despite its prominence on dry days, as the traffic was all on foot, horseback, or among U.S. and world cities, carriage. Rainy days were a different story. Washington, D.C.’s Washington got off to a rather proximity to the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers contributes late start when it came to to a topography laden building what has traditionally with water. Present day been called a subway, or heavy- rail transit. Many factors held was once Goose Creek, a Washington back for many tributary of the Potomac years, including the presence of that stretched eastwards a generally new and efficient towards the U.S. Capitol before Metrorail System highway system, and the turning southward towards the negative images associated with other mass transit systems. Anacostia. By the middle of the 19th Washington’s subway opened its doors in 1976 with the first century, Goose Creek was turned segment of the Red Line stretching from Rhode Island Avenue into a profit-making enterprise to Farragut North. In 2001 the system, as originally envisioned, – the Washington City . was finally completed. Today the Metrorail system operates The canal was intended to create 85 stations over more than 100 miles of track. Expansion a transportation pipeline into the plans are currently in place to build a Purple Line, forming an city. Shortly after the Civil War, the Washington City Canal outer loop line in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties canal, which was more of an open in , and to build a Silver Line via Tysons Corner and sewer, ceased operations. Constitution Avenue, today a major Reston in Virgina outwards towards Dulles Airport. thoroughfare, would be paved atop the old canal. As we progress into the 21st century, Washington, D.C. and Around the time that canals were gaining popularity in the the metropolitan region continue to grow. The transportation United States, so too was the iron horse. In 1835, the recently network that carries us to and fro will continue to grow chartered B&O Railroad opened their Washington branch from along with the city. Indeed, it is this very network that like Baltimore, Maryland. Canals could not compete with railroads, a circulatory system of the city will transport the lifeblood of and in 1924; the nearby C&O Canal ceased operations for human and freight traffic throughout the region. good.

In May, 1971 Amtrak was formed to take over the passenger rail operations of the major Class I railroads in the United States. Prior to that time, the city was served by a number National Mall Times 5 The Washington Monument Old Post Office Tower NHS

The Old Post Office, built between 1892 and 1899, is home to the Bells of Congress, which were a gift from England on our Nation’s Bicentennial. From the observation deck, located 270 Visiting the Washington Monument feet above the street level, the visitor can get a spectacular view of our Nation’s Capital. Summer Hours: Monday, May 25 - Monday, September 7 Operating Hours Rest of Year: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. Summer: Memorial Day All persons who wish to visit the Washington through Labor Day Monument must have a ticket. One person may pick up to six tickets. Open daily (except July 4 and Monday through Saturday December 25). 9:00 a.m. - 7:45 a.m. Sunday and Holidays Timed entry tickets are required and may be obtained 10:00 a.m. - 5:45 p.m. in two ways: Winter: Labor Day through 1. Free, same-day tickets may be picked up at the Memorial Day Washington Monument Lodge (located at the base of the Monument along 15th Street) on a first come - Monday through Saturday first serve basis, the morning of your visit. Monument 9:00 a.m. - 4:45 a.m. Lodge opens at 8:30 a.m. Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 5:45 a.m. 2. Reserved tickets may be obtained in advance by visiting www.recreation.gov or by calling 202-606-8691 www.nps.gov/opot 1-877-444-6777 (for individuals) or 1-877-559-6777 (for large groups). Reserved tickets are often booked 30 days ahead of time. Please plan accordingly. All Old Post Office Tower NHS Tours and Presentations reserved tickets carry a $1.50 convenience charge. Ranger led walking tours of Pennsylvania Avenue Upon Request - Saturdays and Sundays 11:00 a.m. & 1:00 a.m.

Join a park ranger for an interpretive program to learn more about one of Washington, D.C.’s more impressive and fascinating landmarks, the Old Post Office Tower. Tours are by request. Call 202-606-8691 for more information.

Eastern National For Whom the Bell Tolls: The Washington Ringing Society Want to learn more about National Mall and Memorial Parks? and the Bells of Congress Eastern National, a park partner, operates four bookstores First Thursday of every month 6:45 p.m. throughout the park. The bookstores are located at: The art of change ringing goes back to the Middle Ages, and Lincoln Memorial Franklin Delano Roosevelt you can experience it first-hand at the Old Post Office Tower! 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. Memorial To learn more about the systematic ringing of the Bells of 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. Congress, join members of the Washington Ringing Society Thomas Jefferson Memorial the first Thursday of each month for a full explanation of the 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. www.easternnational.org Bells of Congress, why they are here, and how they work. The program will be followed by their weekly practice session. Washington Monument Lodge Call 202-606-8691 for more information. 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.

Tourmobile Sightseeing Daily Ranger Programs

Get ready for the sights and sounds of the Nation’s Capital. • World War II Memorial Tourmobile Sightseeing’s narrated shuttle tours take you right • Lincoln Memorial where you want to go. Buy your tickets from the driver, and • Thomas Jefferson enjoy unlimited re-boarding. You choose where to stop, stay Memorial as long as you want, then board and ride to another historic • Vietnam Veterans location. Memorial • Korean War Veterans 202-554-5100 www.tourmobile.com Memorial • Franklin Delano Roosevelt Join National Park Service Memorial rangers to learn more about “Monuments, and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the meaning, symbolism, Scheduled Programs are the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife and significance of the park’s presented at: therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such many memorials. No prior manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for sign-up is required, and all 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., the enjoyment of future generations.” programs are free. Program 3:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. length varies. For more National Park Service Organic Act information contact a park **Additional programs on ranger at each memorial. request. August 25, 1916 Programs are offered at the following memorials…

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