www.nationalmallcoalition.org Through Public Policy and Innovative Ideas Innovative and Policy Public Through Advancing the Legacy of the National Mall National the of Legacy the Advancing National Mall Coalition Mall National When You Set Foot On The National Mall, The Founding Fathers Speak To You. 1 - Suffragists Parade on Pennsylvania Avenue, 1913 PHOTO CREDITS – Front Cover: Celebrating July 4th On The Mall, c. 1 990, by Tom Wachs – Back Cover: Aerial View Of The National Mall, by Car ol 2 - Children with sailboats at the Reflecting Pool, 1920s Highsmith – 1, 3, 5, 7: Library of Congress, Prints & Photogr aphs Division – 3 - Bonus veterans at the U.S. Capitol, Bonus March 1932 2: National Photo Company Collection, Libr ary of Congress – 4: National 4 - Marian Anderson on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Easter Sunday, 1939 Archives, Still Pictures Division, Photo T ime-Life – 6: AP/Wide W orld Photos – Map Side: Tom Wachs and Car ol Highsmith. 5 - Reflecting Pool with Navy temporary buildings, 1945 6 - Martin Luther King Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963 7 When you set foot on the 4 7 - Inauguration of Ronald Reagan on the west front of the U.S. Capitol, January 20, 1981 National Mall, the Founding 6 recent is the new National Fathers speak to you. From Museum of African their marble monuments, and 1 American History and Culture. Historical Guide Historical across the centuries, they tell of the ideals that gave birth The moratorium is a promise that will & MAP to our government “of the be very difficult to keep. There can be no moratorium on history. Future people, by the people, for generations will want their place the people…” “on the Mall.” Whether you are here to celebrate, petition, relax in the beautiful 3 What, then, is the future of setting, or to reflect, you are part of 2 the National Mall? a long tradition of our democracy in action. The National Mall Coalition, 5 a nonprofit organization dedicated 1st Centur y Mall to advancing the National Mall legacy through public policy and In 1791, President George innovative ideas, believes that chose Pierre (Peter) Washington history holds the answer: L’Enfant—soldier, architect and engineer—to plan the new capital. The Mall was to be the symbolic heart The time has come for the of the city and the newly founded Mall to expand again, as it nation. L’Enfant called the Mall nation. Sites were needed for new Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool African-American opera singer Martin Luther King Memorial. did with the McMillan Plan “public walks” and a “place of general memorials, public buildings, and in the early 1970s, the majestic Mall Marian Anderson, denied access to These memorials put more pressure a century ago, to provide resort” lined by theaters, academies, parkland. finally emerged as America’s premier Constitution Hall because of her race, on the Mall’s symbolic, but shrinking, space for the full expression open space. In 2003, Congress foreign chanceries, and “all such sort civic public space. sang “My Country, ’Tis Of Thee” on of our evolving democracy. the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. imposed a moratorium on future of places as may be attractive to the 2nd Centur y Mall The next major memorial or A quarter century later, on those memorials and visitors centers learned and afford diversion…” But the National Mall museum could launch this same steps, Martin Luther King Jr. declaring the Mall “a substantially In 1901 Congress es tablished developed as more than a new expansion ... a grand By the mid-nineteenth century, the McMillan Commission to public open space. It became proclaimed, “I have a dream…,” completed work of civic art.” invoking the words of the Founders But Congress has already authorized 3RD CENTURY MALL you could have explored the new renew L’Enfant’s vision. a great stage for expression of Smithsonian “Castle,” marveled at enshrined nearby. additional structures. The most our democratic ideals. animals in the zoo, and meandered The McMillan Plan proposed a great For more information about National Mall history through paths of romantic gardens on formal public park in the spirit of The Mall had become and the 3rd Century Mall concept, visit us online In 1894, for the first time, ordinary at www.nationalmallcoalition.com the Mall. During the Civil War, you Versailles and the Tuileries in Paris. citizens organized a “march on democracy’s stage. Millions THE 3RD CENTURY MALL could have chatted with soldiers It more than doubled the size of the Washington” to petition their elected of Americans come each year to can include a multi-purpose parking © 2017 National Mall Coalition, 6th ed. garage and visitors center beneath the encamped there. Later, you might Mall to the west and south on landfill leaders directly. “Coxey’s Army” protest, petition, honor, as well as Mall’s grassy open space. During heavy have even boarded a train for dredged from the Potomac by the of unemployed workers converged to celebrate and enjoy our nation’s This free map/historical guide to the rains, buses and cars would be removed Richmond or Baltimore. Army Corps of Engineers, giving us heritage. The world has seen: National Mall is a public service of the on the Capitol seeking relief from a to allow stormwater to collect here thus the Tidal Basin and sites for the glorious July 4th fireworks, the National Mall Coalition, a non-profit severe economic depression. In 1913, protecting our national museums and Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, Farmers’ Protest, the AIDS Quilt, 501(c)(3) citizens organization founded in But there were serious problems. the Suffragists’ demand for women’s public buildings from flooding. anti-war demonstrations, a grand 2000 to advance the legacy of the National Where L’Enfant saw a grand public as well as an expanded plan for the rights proved that Washington Learn more about the National Mall Mall through public policy and innovative space with promenades along future of the Mall. demonstrations could be dramatic, Bicentennial celebration, the Million Underground project and other innovative ideas. Please join us as champions of the Man March, Annual Folklife and Kite National Mall and consider a tax deductible refreshing pools, the Mall had dignified, and effective. Nineteen ideas at nationalmallcoalition.org Festivals, Presidential Inaugurations, donation. instead become fragmented by The McMillan Plan guided years later, “Bonus March” veterans chaotic, congested development. development for over seventy years. called on Congress to honor its Memorial Day concerts, and more. For more information, please visit Industrial smoke was belching in the The clutter east of the Washington promise of a bonus for their service www.nationalmallcoalition.org. Toward the end of the 20th century, shadow of the Capitol. Unhealthy, Monument gave way to the open in World War I. malarial marshes stretched beyond green promenade lined with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial triggered a new era of memorial National Mall Coalition the Washington Monument. Smithsonian museums and the The Mall also became the nation’s building: the Korean War Veterans P. O. Box 4709 National Gallery of Art. With the world-renowned site for declaring Rockville, MD 20849 Memorial, the FDR Memorial, the Meanwhile, the capital city was removal of World War I and II and demonstrating that all Americans (301) 335-8490 World War II Memorial, and the growing dramatically, as was the “temporary” buildings along the are entitled to equal rights. In 1939 .