Standing in the shape of the Smithsonian Institution sunburst, close to 4,000 Smithsonian staff, interns, fellows, and volunteers gathered on the National Mall in front of the Smithsonian Castle on Thursday, July 1, for this group portrait. This was…

Diana Hopkins lived in the White House in the early 1940s with her father Harry, who was a special assistant to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This article reports on the victory garden she was allowed to have on the White House grounds during…

Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, established the People's Garden on the site of a former parking lot outside the Department of Agriculture in 2009. The garden is maintained by volunteers from the Department. All of the produce grown in the…

Since 1979, the National Symphony Orchestra has played a concert, called "A Capitol Fourth," on the west front of the Capitol, facing the National Mall. Fireworks are also launched from near the Washington Monument. This article describes the 1993…

John Philip Sousa wrote this march in 1883 for the unveiling of the statue of Joseph Henry, first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, on April 19, 1883. At that event, the piece was played by the Marine Band, directed by Sousa. The sheet music…

Since 1979, the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) has performed on the west front of the Capitol on the fourth of July. The concert is aired by PBS stations as "A Capitol Fourth" and features musicians and vocalists as well as the NSO and the Marine…

Ten public tennis courts stood on the Mall between 3rd and 4th street by 1940 and remained until 1972, when they were removed to make way for the National Gallery of Art's east wing. Although these courts were free to use, they were very popular and…

This newspaper article describes the recreational activities which were free or low-cost in the area today known as East and West Potomac Park. In the 1920s, the part of Independence Avenue which stretches into West Potomac Park was called the…

This excerpt from a video about daily life in Washington, DC, shows people engaged in sports activities on and around the Mall. A section of West Potomac Park, near the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, has been used as a polo ground since the…

In the 1930s and 1940s, the National Park Service operated a bicycle rental service near the Tidal Basin Boat House. Starting in 1942, bicycles were rationed items, making it difficult to buy one. Washington residents and war office workers could…