Black Panther Rally
In June 1970, the Black Panther Party held a rally on the steps of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/33">Lincoln Memorial</a> promoting the proposed "Revolutionary People's Constitutional Convention," to be held that September in Philadelphia. The goal of the Convention was to rewrite the US Constitution to ensure equal rights for oppressed groups, including African Americans, women, and young people. The organizers of the rally chose June 19, or Juneteenth, for its significance as the day in 1865 when enslaved peoples living in Texas were finally freed. Roughly 1,000 people attended the Mall rally.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Thomas+J.+O%27Halloran+%28photographer+%29">Thomas J. O'Halloran (photographer )</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Warren+K.+Leffler+%28photographer%29">Warren K. Leffler (photographer)</a>
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003688170/">View Original</a>.
06/19/1970
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1950-1979">1950-1979</a>
Disability Rights Protests at the Capitol
In March 1990, disability rights activists gathered at the west front of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/59">Capitol</a> to pressure the House of Representatives to pass a disability rights bill. The bill passed in the Senate the year before, but it stalled in the House. Nearly 1,000 people attended the rally. To protest the lack of accessibility inside the building, 60 people discarded their mobility devices and crawled up the 83 stone steps to the Capitol. Some Congressmen responded negatively to the protest, but it was successful: President George H. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law on July 26, 1990.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=William+Eaton">William Eaton</a>
"Disabled Persons Rally, Crawl Up Capitol Steps," <em>Los Angeles Times, </em>March 13, 1990.
3/12/1990
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1980-1999">1980-1999</a>
The National Black Family Reunion
The National Black Family Reunion is a cultural event held annually on the Mall. Sponsored by the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), the event celebrates black community, church, and family values. It was first established by Dr. Dorothy I. Height, former chair of the NCNW and longtime activist, to combat negative stereotypes about the African American family. The event features food, entertainment, education, and cultural activities.
National Council of Negro Women, National Black Family Reunion Flyer. <a href="http://www.ncnw.org/images/sponsorship_opps.pdf">View original</a>.
1986
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1980-1999">1980-1999</a>
Million Man March
<p class="p1">This march on the National Mall for African American civil rights was proposed by Louis Farrakhan and organized with the support of the National African American Leadership Summit, the Nation of Islam, and various civil rights organizations. The March organizers wanted to challenge what they perceived as growing racism in the United States, particularly in government policy, and to present a new definition of black manhood to the nation. The main focus of the event was sessions held on a stage near the west front of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/59">Capitol</a>. Estimates for attendance vary, ranging from 400,000 to 870,000 people.</p>
Joacim Osterstam, Flickr.com. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/yoke_mc/12469525/in/set-304421">View original</a>.
10/16/1995
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1980-1999">1980-1999</a>
Harold L. Ickes
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 Parks, during his time in office. He helped facilitate <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/76">Marian Anderson’s</a> 1939 <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/101">concert at the Lincoln Memorial</a> on Easter Sunday, arranged after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to allow the African American opera singer to perform in their segregated concert hall.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Harold+L.+Ickes">Harold L. Ickes</a>
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007684151/resource/">View original photograph</a>.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1920-1949">1920-1949</a>
Solomon Brown
Solomon Brown was likely the first African American employee at the Smithsonian Institution. He began work there in 1852 as a maintenance worker, building exhibit cabinets, cleaning, and moving specimens. He advanced to serve as clerk to Secretary <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/150">Spencer Baird</a>, who relied on him to serve as his eyes and ears in the Smithsonian. During the Civil War, Brown kept Baird informed about possible Confederate attacks and the status of work in the Museum. He worked closely with Baird as a naturalist and became an illustrator, lecturer, and philosopher.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Solomon+Brown">Solomon Brown</a>
Smithsonian Institution Archives. <a href="http://www.siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_5597?back=%2Fsearch%2Fsia_search_collections%2FSolomon%2520Brown">View original photograph</a>.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1830-1859">1830-1859</a>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1860-1889">1860-1889</a>
Marian Anderson's Performance
<p class="p1">On Easter Sunday, 1939, celebrated African American opera singer <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/76">Marian Anderson</a> gave a <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/101">free concert</a> on the steps of the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/33">Lincoln Memorial</a>. She had been denied the opportunity to sing at the Daughters of the American Revolution concert hall because of her race. The first song she performed at the concert was "America (My Country 'Tis of Thee)," but she changed the words from "of thee I sing" to "to thee we sing," making it an inclusive expression of patriotism.</p>
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Marian+Anderson">Marian Anderson</a>
National Archives at College Park. <a href="http://research.archives.gov/description/1729137">Listen to original</a>.
04/09/1939
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1920-1949">1920-1949</a>
March of Mourning Set for Nation's Capitol
Plans for a March on Washington, organized by civil rights activist and labor leader <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/97">A. Philip Randolph</a>, gained momentum in 1941. African Americans were frustrated by racial discrimination in the defense industry, one of largest industries at the time. African American leaders envisioned tens of thousands of marchers parading through the city and ending at the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/33">Lincoln Memorial</a>. That Randolph choose the Lincoln Memorial as a rallying point was not surprising: the site had served as focal point for civil rights since segregated audiences participated in the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/542">memorial dedication</a> in 1922.
<em>The Chicago Defender</em> (National edition).
5/17/1941
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1920-1949">1920-1949</a>
Executive Order 8802
On June 25, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 which prohibited racial and other discrimination in the defense industry. The Executive Order was a partial response by the White House to a <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/329">planned march by African American activists on the National Mall to protest discrimination in the defense industry</a>. Defense jobs were a major source of employment even though the United States was not yet at war.
National Archives at Washington, DC. <a href="http://research.archives.gov/description/300005">View original</a>.
6/25/1941
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1920-1949">1920-1949</a>
Eleanor Roosevelt
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 American Revolution in 1939 when they refused to allow <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/76">Marian Anderson</a> to sing in Constitution Hall because she was African American; she then helped organize Anderson's <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/101">concert at the Lincoln Memorial</a>. Roosevelt was also an ally to <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/97">A. Philip Randolph</a>, particularly in the early 1940s when <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/329">civil rights leaders were protesting discrimination in the defense industry</a>. Roosevelt encouraged her husband to meet with Randolph and others in 1940, and again in 1941.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Eleanor+Roosevelt">Eleanor Roosevelt</a>
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. <a href="http://research.archives.gov/description/195319">View original photograph</a>.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1920-1949">1920-1949</a>