1920-1949 Items (105 total)

Over 35,000 people attended the dedication ceremony for the Lincoln Memorial in 1922, ten years after construction began. At the ceremony, President Warren G. Harding, former president and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Howard Taft, and Robert…

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On July 9, 1931, Senator Hiram Bingham boarded an autogiro at Capitol Plaza for a quick ride to the golf course. Bingham, a former pilot in World War I and supporter of the unique aircraft, used the opportunity to promote the safety and efficiency of…

In December 1928, Harold F. Pitcairn piloted an autogiro from Philadelphia to Washington, DC to introduce this new aircraft to Americans. It was reportedly the first extended autogiro flight in the US. Pitcairn was an airplane manufacturer. Paramount…

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In May 1921, two local American Legion posts held a funeral at the Sylvan Theater to honor men from the District of Columbia who died overseas during World War I. The remains of Hiram F. Cash and Vincent B. Costello were present at the funeral.…

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On December 24, 1923, President Calvin Coolidge lit the first National Christmas Tree on the grounds of the Ellipse. Community volunteers and civic leaders, worked together with local schools and the Society of Electrical Development to organize the…

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In 1922, Congress received a proposal from the Washington, DC, chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy to create the "Faithful Slave Mammies of the South" memorial recognizing the supposed loyalty of enslaved women to their owners during…

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In June 1939, carpenters and laborers working on construction projects throughout Washington went on strike, including many building the Jefferson Memorial. Work on the Memorial and other public projects stopped for nearly 3 weeks due to the strikes.…

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French was a sculptor whose best-known work in Washington, DC, is the statue of President Abraham Lincoln inside the Lincoln Memorial. He also sculpted the statue of Victory which tops the First Division Monument in President’s Park. From 1910-1915,…

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In 1930, the US Army landed an open gondola blimp at the Lincoln Memorial, on a special trip to honor Lincoln's Birthday. Upon landing, the blimp's pilots placed a wreath at the Memorial. US Army blimps occasionally flew over Washington during…

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In the 1920s, the land on the western end of the Mall was transformed from a field into the planned landscape surrounding the newly-built Lincoln Memorial, designed by architect James Greenleaf. In this photo, a two-person team tills the land near…
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