The DC Latino Festival first began in 1970 as a neighborhood celebration of the diverse Latino community within Washington. Growing each year, the Festival moved to the Mall in 1989 and has also been held on Pennsylvania Avenue. Today the festival,…

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.…

The first teahouse in Hains Point, the southernmost tip of East Potomac Park, was a refreshment stand opened in 1920 and run by local Girl Scouts. It was very popular, and in 1922 construction began on a permanent structure with restrooms, which…

First Lady Lady Bird Johnson was a conservationist and lover of nature. She believed that the environment could help shape people's lives by improving their health and attitudes. In 1964, she established the Society for a More Beautiful National…

When President Truman moved in in 1945, the White House was showing its age. Burned by British troops in 1814, renovated in 1902 and 1927, and expanded several times, the piecemeal and constantly incomplete renovations to the White House had left the…

In October 1945, World War II Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was honored with a parade in Washington, DC, before being presented with a Gold Star by President Truman for his service as the Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean…

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 grounds surrounding the National Museum of the American Indian are an extension of the exhibit space within. Representing what local Chesapeake Bay landscapes would have been like before European contact, the space pays tribute to indigenous…

Also known as the Tulip Library, the Floral Library was established in 1969 as part of Lady Bird Johnson's Capital Beautification Project. The 'library' has 93 flower beds maintained by the National Park Service. These beds feature either tulips or…

The Enid Haupt Garden was created in the 1980s as part of a redesign of the area around the Smithsonian Castle. It sits to the south of the Castle and above the underground galleries and offices of the National Museum of African Art, Arthur M.…