Center Market was established in the early 1800s and for most of that century served as a central point of commerce, transportation, and entertainment for the city. Toward the end of the century, city officials, private entrepreneurs, and the federal…

Archie Alexander was an African American engineer from Iowa and the senior partner in the firm Alexander and Repass. In the 1940s, the firm was hired to build a bridge and seawall at the Tidal Basin. Alexander spearheaded the project and brought in…

Lonnie G. Bunch III is the director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. He develops exhibits and public programs and coordinates the museum's mission. Under his leadership, the Museum opened an exhibit in the…

Thomas Law was a wealthy Englishman who invested financially and ideologically in the development of the new city of Washington. In 1804 he wrote a pamphlet, published anonymously, proposing a canal from the Anacostia River to the Potomac following…

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…

The First Division Monument, funded by the Society of the First Division, was first created to remember First Division soldiers who died while serving in World War I. The Monument, designed by Cass Gilbert and Daniel Chester French, was dedicated in…

Architect Daniel Burnham was the Chairman of the Senate Park Commission, which created a comprehensive redesign of the National Mall and DC parks system in the early 1900s. At that time, he was also working for the Pennsylvania Railroad to design a…

Jeanette Rankin was the first woman member of Congress. Rankin served two nonconsecutive terms in 1916 and again in 1940, giving her the unique ability to vote against US entry into war for both World War I and World War II. Rankin continued her…

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…

From 1961 to 1971, Whitney Young was the Executive Director of the National Urban League (NUL), a civil rights organization which emphasizes economic parity and self-reliance. In March 1963, A. Philip Randolph asked Young and the NUL to participate…