Abernathy was a civil rights activist and close advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Abernathy helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. After King's assassination, Abernathy led the 1968 Poor People's Campaign in…

Civil rights leader and labor organizer A. Philip Randolph built coalitions of African Americans who pressured presidents, Congress, and local governments to end racial discrimination. In 1941, he organized a proposed march on Washington by African…

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…

John Lewis was a civil rights activist who helped plan the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. At age 23, Lewis was the youngest speaker at the March. His strongly-worded speech criticized lawmakers and the President for not doing…

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.…

Carl Browne helped Jacob S. Coxey lead the first march on Washington. In the spring of 1894, Coxey and Browne set out from Massillon, Ohio, and marched to Washington, DC, with a few hundred unemployed people. Together they advocated for a public jobs…

Diana lived with her father and stepmother at the White House from 1940-1943, when her father, Harry Hopkins, served as a close adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Diana participated in the Easter Egg Roll each year that she lived in the…

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister and African American civil rights leader. On August 18, 1963, he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. A plaque…

Douglas Cardinal (Blackfoot), Johnpaul Jones (Cherokee/Choctaw), Lou Weller (Cado), Donna House (Diné/Oneida), and Ramona Sakiestewa (Hopi) were consultants on the concept and design of the National Museum of the American Indian. They represented a…

McMillan was a US Senator from Michigan who led the Senate Park Commission in creating a new design plan for Washington's public spaces, including the National Mall. The work and plan of the Senate Park Commission is often referred to by McMillan's…