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…

Horatio Greenough is best known in Washington, DC, for his controversial sculptures titled "George Washington" and "The Rescue," which stood for a time inside the US Capitol building. Both were commissioned from Greenough by Congress, making him one…

In 1901, Charles McKim was appointed by Senator James McMillan to the Senate Park Commission, which was meant to suggest improvements to the National Mall. McKim was a dominant voice in the Commission, recommending a return to the 1791 design…

Robert Mills, an architect from South Carolina, won the competition to design the Washington Monument in 1836. Although construction began under his supervision, work stopped in 1854, a year before he died, and the monument was not completed for…

Diane Carlson Evans is a Vietnam veteran who was the driving force behind the creation of the Vietnam Women's Memorial. Motivated to include the voices of approximately 265,000 military women of the Vietnam era whose experiences were overlooked or…

James Hoban was an Irish-born architect who won a competition in 1792 to design the home of the President. He moved from South Carolina to Washington, DC, to oversee the construction of his design. A neo-classicist, Hoban's design influenced the…

Andrew Ellicott was a surveyor employed by President George Washington to survey the boundary lines of the federal Territory of Columbia, which became the District of Columbia. His survey team included his younger brother Joseph and Benjamin…

Nicholas King worked as a surveyor for the Board of Commissioners of Washington from 1796 to 1797. Named the Surveyor for the City of Washington in June 1803, he served in that position until his death in May 1812. In 1804, King helped to measure and…

In 1791, 15 landowners negotiated with President George Washington to give the government land for the creation of a new federal capital, Washington. Land from Daniel Carroll of Duddington, David Burnes, and Notley Young became the National Mall.…