When Andrew Mellon donated his collection to form the National Gallery of Art in the 1930s, he asked Congress to reserve land near to the Gallery for future expansion. By the 1960s, the Gallery needed that expansion. With funding from the Andrew…

The southern boundary of Washington, DC, is bordered by two rivers: the Potomac and the Anacostia. The rivers have long had problems with pollution from human and industrial waste. In the 1860s, President Lincoln used to complain of the smell of the…

The Executive Stables, which held the horses, carriages, and later automobiles of the President, were built, rebuilt, and relocated several times. The first stables were built in 1800 by the Jefferson administration and sat just off the White House…

The Organization of American States (OAS) Building was completed in 1910. Its style is meant to be a fusion of some of the major architectural elements from its participating members, with Spanish, Native American, French, Portuguese, and English…

General Jose Gervasio Artigas was a military and political leader in Uruguay in the 1800s. Influenced by the Enlightenment ideas which also sparked the American Revolution, Artigas' revolutionary movement was part of the Spanish American wars for…

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…

This statue of Simon Bolivar was donated to the United States by the Venezuelan government and installed in 1955. Bolivar was a revolutionary Latin American military and political leader from the 1810s to the 1830s. He led the nations of Venezuela,…

The National Museum of African American History and Culture was established by an Act of Congress in 2003 and is the only national museum devoted to African American life. The goals of the museum are: to educate about African American history and…

This small plaque along the walking path on the Mall at Fourth Street and Madison is the only private monument on the Mall, dedicated on September 9, 1951. It commemorates the founding of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, a…

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum serves as a memorial to the thousands of people murdered during the Holocaust, and to teach about the need to prevent genocide worldwide. Suggested by the President’s Commission on the Holocaust in 1979,…