Construction of Arlington Memorial Bridge

The Arlington Memorial Bridge is a Neoclassical masonry, steel, and stone arch bridge with a central bascule (or drawbridge) that crosses the Potomac River at Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. First proposed in 1886, the bridge went unbuilt for decades thanks to political quarrels over whether the bridge should be a memorial, and to whom or what. Traffic problems associated with the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in November 1921 and the desire to build a bridge in time for the bicentennial of the birth of George Washington led to its construction in 1932. Designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White, decorated with monumental statues depicting valor and sacrifice by sculptor Leo Friedlander, cast by Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry, Florence, Italy, Arlington Memorial Bridge defines the western end of the National Mall. The bridge's draw span was permanently closed in 1961 and replaced in 2018 by one that does not open.

The construction of the Virginia approaches to Arlington Memorial Bridge was a 16-year road construction project to connect Arlington Memorial Bridge with roads in Arlington County, Virginia, in the United States. Initial design proposals were made in 1926, but extensive political wrangling and indecision delayed the project and even the new bridge itself, which finally opened in 1932 after a connection to the Arlington National Cemetery was made via Memorial Drive. Officials with Arlington County and the state of Virginia long debated whether to build new roads, which would be far more expensive yet a boon to the local economy, or simply connect existing ones. Federal money became available for building approaches in 1933, four years into the Great Depression. The first connection with the bridge opened in October 1938; a second connection opened in 1942 to link it to the Pentagon road network.

Lady Bird Johnson Park, formerly known as Columbia Island until 1968, is an island located in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It formed naturally as an extension of Analostan Island in the latter part of the 1800s, and over time erosion and flooding severed it from Analostan, now known as Theodore Roosevelt Island. The U.S. federal government deposited material dredged from the Potomac River on the island between 1911 and 1922, and again from 1925 to 1927. The island was also reshaped by the government at this time "to serve as the western terminus of Arlington Memorial Bridge and a symbolic entrance into the nation’s capital." Located within the park are the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove, Navy – Merchant Marine Memorial, and the Columbia Island Marina. The island, park, memorials, and marina are part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway and administered by the National Park Service.

John Ericsson Memorial, located near the National Mall at Ohio Drive and Independence Avenue, SW, in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to the man who revolutionized naval history with his invention of the screw propeller. The Swedish engineer John Ericsson was also the designer of USS Monitor, the ship that ensured Union naval supremacy during the American Civil War.The memorial was authorized by Congress August 31, 1916, and dedicated May 29, 1926 by President Calvin Coolidge and Crown Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden. Congress appropriated $35,000 for the creation of the memorial, and Americans chiefly of Scandinavian descent raised an additional $25,000. Constructed on a site near the Lincoln Memorial between September 1926 and April 1927, the pink Milford granite memorial is 20 feet (6.1 m) high with a 9-foot (2.7 m) diameter base. Sculpted by James Earle Fraser, it features a seated figure of Ericsson 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) high, and three standing figures representing adventure, labor, and vision. The national memorial is managed by National Mall and Memorial Parks.

The Lincoln Memorial is a US national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in the form of a neoclassical temple. The memorial's architect was Henry Bacon. The designer of the memorial interior's large central statue, Abraham Lincoln (1920), was Daniel Chester French; the Lincoln statue was carved by the Piccirilli brothers. The painter of the interior murals was Jules Guerin, and the epitaph above the statue was written by Royal Cortissoz. Dedicated in May 1922, it is one of several memorials built to honor an American president. It has always been a major tourist attraction and since the 1930s has sometimes been a symbolic center focused on race relations. The building is in the form of a Greek Doric temple and contains a large seated sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and inscriptions of two well-known speeches by Lincoln, the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address. The memorial has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech delivered on August 28, 1963, during the rally at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Like other monuments on the National Mall – including the nearby Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and World War II Memorial – the national memorial is administered by the National Park Service under its National Mall and Memorial Parks group. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since October 15, 1966, and was ranked seventh on the American Institute of Architects' 2007 list of America's Favorite Architecture. The memorial is open to the public 24 hours a day, and more than 7 million people visit it annually.

On January 18, 2019, a confrontation between groups of political demonstrators took place near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The interaction between Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann and Native American activist Nathan Phillips was captured in photos and videos widely disseminated by major media outlets. Videos released days later showed that initial media reports had omitted key details of the incident. Reports of the incident triggered outrage in the United States, including calls to dox the students, after many stories falsely portrayed the Catholic students as the aggressors. The students received death threats and Covington Catholic High School temporarily closed due to fears for its students' safety.The short videos of the encounter that were uploaded to social media platforms received millions of views and were widely shared. At first, the anger focused on the students and the school, which, along with some of the students, received threats of violence. As more videos were released, diverging views about what had happened polarized Americans. The incident was described by The New York Times as an "explosive convergence of race, religion and ideological beliefs" and a Vox editorial called it the "nation's biggest story".In February 2019, the Covington Diocese released an investigation report of a private detective agency hired by the diocese and the high school, stating that the report exonerated the students. The American news media has been criticized for covering the incident without fully investigating what occurred and fueling controversy and outrage. Covington students have filed a number of multi-million dollar defamation lawsuits against news agencies. Nicholas Sandmann, the Covington student featured in most media coverage of the incident, settled lawsuits with CNN, The Washington Post and NBC.

"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., the speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement and among the most iconic speeches in American history.Beginning with a reference to the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared millions of slaves free in 1863, King said "one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free". Toward the end of the speech, King departed from his prepared text for a partly improvised peroration on the theme "I have a dream", prompted by Mahalia Jackson's cry: "Tell them about the dream, Martin!" In this part of the speech, which most excited the listeners and has now become its most famous, King described his dreams of freedom and equality arising from a land of slavery and hatred.Jon Meacham writes that, "With a single phrase, King joined Jefferson and Lincoln in the ranks of men who've shaped modern America". The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of scholars of public address. The speech has also been described as having "a strong claim to be the greatest in the English language of all time".

Abraham Lincoln (1920) is a colossal seated figure of the 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) sculpted by Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers. It is in the Lincoln Memorial (constructed 1914–1922), on the National Mall, Washington, D.C., United States, and was unveiled in 1922. The work follows in the Beaux Arts and American Renaissance style traditions.

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights of African Americans. At the march, final speaker Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial, delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech in which he called for an end to racism.The march was organized by A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin, who built an alliance of civil rights, labor, and religious organizations that came together under the banner of "jobs and freedom." Estimates of the number of participants varied from 200,000 to 300,000, but the most widely cited estimate is 250,000 people. Observers estimated that 75–80% of the marchers were black. The march was one of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States history. Walter Reuther, president of the United Auto Workers, was the most integral and highest-ranking white organizer of the march.The march is credited with helping to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It preceded the Selma Voting Rights Movement, when national media coverage contributed to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that same year.

The 2020 Salute to America was an event with flyovers and fireworks arranged by the Trump administration held on Independence Day, July 4, 2020. It was the second event of its kind; the first was held a year prior, in 2019. The 2020 event was especially notable for being held amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and for not requiring masks or social distancing (despite recommendations to do so from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health officials due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Although masks were handed out free of charge, few of those that attended wore one.Ten lawmakers had asked President Trump to cancel the event prior to its being held.It took place primarily at the National Mall, with Trump giving remarks at the South Lawn of the White House at the start of the event.

The 2019 Salute to America was an event arranged by the Trump administration held on Independence Day, July 4, 2019, in Washington, D.C. It took place at the National Mall and included presentations of U.S. military vehicles, an address by President Donald Trump from the Lincoln Memorial, flyovers by military aircraft, and a fireworks display. The event occurred alongside pre-existing annual Independence Day events such as the National Independence Day Parade and the PBS-televised A Capitol Fourth concert. It was the first time a U.S. president had addressed a crowd at the National Mall on Independence Day in 68 years. There was controversy leading up to the event. Trump's critics expressed concern that the celebration would be a political event reminiscent of his campaign rallies, especially in the early stages of his 2020 re-election campaign. Concerns were also raised over the involvement of the military, the distribution of VIP tickets to donors and members of the Republican Party, as well as the cost of the event. Trump's speech focused largely on praising the United States' cultural and military accomplishments and featured themes of American exceptionalism and patriotism.

Little Island is an island in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., just south of Theodore Roosevelt Island and the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge.