World War I US Army veteran Eric Carlson joined the 1932 Bonus March to seek early payment of pension money promised veterans by the government. He was shot during a confrontation between marchers and DC police, who were trying to evict the marchers…

The Tidal Basin serves several purposes on the National Mall. Primarily, it is a reservoir for the Potomac River and Washington Channel. In the past, it has also served as a recreational area for swimming, ice skating, or boating. Built by Alexander…

In the 1920s, art collector and financier Andrew Mellon decided that the city needed a proper museum of art to rival those in Europe. With construction funds, a sizable endowment, and art all donated from Mellon, construction on the National Gallery…

Located within President's Park on the National Mall, the Second Division Memorial is dedicated to those members of the Second Infantry Division of the US army who have died while in service. Originally dedicated in 1936 by President Franklin…

Harold L. Ickes was the longest serving Secretary of the Interior to date, holding the post for 13 years from 1933 until 1946. He supported civil rights for African Americans, desegregating the Department of the Interior, including the National…

Memorial Lodge is a small, flat-roofed, one-story building less than 500 feet east of the Washington Monument. It serves as an information station where tickets can be retrieved to visit the top of the Washington Monument. Originally constructed in…

Levees for flood control were first constructed on the National Mall after the Great Potomac Flood of 1936. They were north of the Reflecting Pool, extending from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument. This early levee system did not…

Diana Hopkins lived in the White House in the early 1940s with her father Harry, who was a special assistant to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This article reports on the victory garden she was allowed to have on the White House grounds during…

The original botanic gardens in Washington were built in line with the Capitol building, where the Capitol Reflecting Pool is today. The new design proposed for the Mall in the early 1900s called for an open green space from the Capitol to the…

In the late 1920s, Congress and Washington city planners debated moving the Botanic Garden from the Mall to a larger location elsewhere in the District. This map shows a proposed plan for the Botanic Garden on a much larger site than is possible on…