This memorial, dedicated in 2004, honors the 16 million Americans who served in the armed forces during World War II (1939-45).
Construction began in 1914, and the memorial was opened to the public in 1922. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to a crowd by the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 .
The memorial currently consists of three separate parts: the Three Soldiers statue, the Vietnam Women's Memorial & the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, where over 58,000 names are engraved.
President Roosevelt asked the Commission of Fine Arts about the possibility of erecting a memorial to Thomas Jefferson. Construction went from 1938-43, & Roosevelt laid the first cornerstone himself.
TeamTRI Tip: there are 2 FDR memorials in DC. The original is easy to miss...it's on the grounds of the Nat'l Archives. The other is this magnificent tribute. Find a park ranger and get the full scoop
Visit the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial and help bring his vision to life: “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” Read more.
The Washington Monument was formally dedicated on February 22, 1885, and at the time of its construction, it was the tallest building in the world; it remains the tallest stone structure in the world.
19 Statues: 14 Army, 2 Marines, 1 Navy, 1 Air Force. Each weighs~1,000 lbs. Reflected on the wall it creates the image of a total of 38 statues, symbolic of the 38th Parallel & 38 months of the war. Read more.
The Smithsonian Institution was founded for the "increase and diffusion" of knowledge from a bequest to the United States by the British scientist James Smithson, who had never visited the US himself.
Opened in 1993, this museum is devoted to the history of the Holocaust, the state-sponsored murder of 6 million Jews in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.
