S. Dillon Ripley was the eighth Secretary of the Smithsonian, serving from 1964-1984. Under his leadership, the Smithsonian Institution expanded and revitalized. Ripley believed museums should be vital sites of learning and engagement, actively…
When the architect of the National Museum of History and Technology wanted an outdoor sculpture designed for the new museum opening in the mid-1960s, he recommended artist Jose de Rivera. Rivera was an established sculptor known for his abstract…
As First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt championed equal opportunity for all races and for women, often communicating the opinions of civil rights leaders to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration. Roosevelt resigned from Daughters of…
Rustin was a crucial force driving civil rights activism, especially in organizing protests on the National Mall. The first March on Washington movement emerged in 1941 when African American activists, including Rustin, successfully pressured…
A prominent sculptor of memorials and monuments since the 1880s, Saint-Gaudens was a member of the Senate Park Commission. Formed in 1901, this commission was charged with developing the National Mall and other areas of Washington, DC. Saint-Gaudens…
Decorated Vietnam veteran Jan Scruggs is the founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. He conceived the memorial as a tribute to all who served during one of the longest wars in American history. He started the project with $2,800…
As a member of the DC Board of Public Works and later as Governor of the District of Columbia, Alexander Robey "Boss" Shepherd managed a number of public works programs in the 1870s. He oversaw the project to fill in the part of the Washington City…
Margaret Bayard Smith was a writer and a vital figure in the early social life of Washington, DC. Her letters and diaries provide some of the best descriptions of early Washington. In 1837 she recorded what the Mall looked like when she and her…
British scientist James Smithson provided the funding necessary to create the Smithsonian Institution. Born in France and educated at Oxford University in England, Smithson was a wealthy chemist and mineralogist. He never married or had any children.…
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor, best known for his military marches, which school, professional, and military bands still play today. He served as Director of the United States Marine Band, based in Washington, DC, from…
