Inauguration of President William Henry Harrison
In February 1841 President-elect William Henry Harrison arrived during a snowstorm at the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/344">Baltimore and Ohio railway station</a> near the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/59">US Capitol</a>. The first president to arrive at an inaugural by train, his inauguration also marked the first time an official committee of citizens planned the events. At 8,445 words, Harrison delivered the longest inaugural address on record, but served the shortest time of any American president. His inaugural took place on the east side of the Capitol building in overcast, windy weather. Three weeks later, he became ill and died after only 32 days in office.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00650916/">View original</a>.
3/4/1841
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Assassination of President James A. Garfield
On July 2, 1881, a deranged <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/410">Charles Guiteau</a> shot <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/111">President James A. Garfield</a> at the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/42">Baltimore and Potomac Railway Station</a>. Guiteau was an unsuccessful lawyer, evangelist, and insurance salesman, who thought that the President owed him a government job. Garfield died from complications from the wound on September 19. Pennsylvania Railroad Company placed a plaque and a star on the location of the assassination. However the public often complained that they disliked the reminder of the crime every time they entered the waiting room, and the company removed the commemorative tablet and star in 1897. Today, Garfield's is the only unmarked presidential assassination.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003671706/">View original</a>.
7/2/1881
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Calvin Coolidge's Inaugural Address
<p class="p1">President Calvin Coolidge's inauguration was the first to be broadcast live over the radio. The microphones are visible in this photograph as a row of circles at the level of the President's head. Approximately 23 million Americans listened to the inauguration radio program, which included a description of the Capitol grounds and a history of presidential inaugurations in addition to the ceremony.</p>
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/npc2007013072/">View original</a>.
03/04/1925
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"The Grand Review" - Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Parade
After weeks of wet weather, thousands of spectators and participants trudged through the mud along <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/446">Pennsylvania Avenue </a>for President Abraham Lincoln's second Inauguration. This inaugural parade was the first to include African Americans as participants, not just spectators.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010648710/">View original</a>.
03/04/1865
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President's Levee, or All Creation Going to the White House, Washington
<p class="p1">Andrew Jackson campaigned for President as a "man of the people." In keeping with this image, he opened the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/66">White House</a> to the public following his inauguration in March 1829. The public reception unfortunately turned into a rowdy mob, breaking windows and furniture within the executive residence until the food and drink was moved outside and the people followed.</p>
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96521704/">View original</a>.
03/05/1829
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Presidential Inauguration of Ronald Reagan
On January 20, 1981 Ronald Reagan became the first President to be inaugurated facing the National Mall. Before this time Inaugurations were held on the East Portico of the US Capitol, facing the Supreme Court. When the inauguration ceremony moved to the terrace on the West Front of the Capitol facing the Mall, it meant that more citizens could easily attend and view the event.
Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. <a href="http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/media/video/video-01201981-reagan">View original</a>.
1/20/1981
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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
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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
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Removal of the Seat of Government
In August 1814, <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/320">British troops invaded Washington</a> and <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/157">set fire to many federal buildings</a>. Congress reconvened on September 19, meeting in cramped rooms at Blodgett's Hotel because <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/59">the Capitol </a>had been heavily damaged. The House of Representatives soon began to debate whether the entire federal government should leave Washington, even temporarily. This document is the first of many pages from the Congressional record detailing the arguments for and against moving the national capital. After almost a month of debate, the House voted on the measure to relocate, defeating it by only 83 yea to 76 nay votes.
<a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=United+States+House+of+Representatives">United States House of Representatives</a>
<em>Annals of Congress</em>, 13th Cong., 3rd sess., 311. <a href="http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llac&fileName=028/llac028.db&recNum=153">View original</a>.
10/26/1814
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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>