Participants at the “Rally to Restore Sanity/and or Fear,” hosted by comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, 2010Photograph by David Parrish

Anti-war demonstrators rally on the grounds of the Washington Monument, 1968Reprinted with permission from the DC Public Library, Star Collection, © Washington Post

Fourth of July “Cavalcade of Freedom” on the Monument grounds, 1947Courtesy DC Public Library, Washingtoniana Division

Civil rights demonstrators at the March on Washington, 1968Reprinted with permission from the DC Public Library, Star Collection, © Washington Post

Tents at Resurrection City, 1968Reprinted with permission of the DC Public Library, Star Collection, © Washington Post

Protest and Activism

Tidal Basin bathing beach, 1922Courtesy the Albert H. Small Collection

Baseball diamonds on the shadow of the Monument, 1947 Library of Congress

Yoga on the Mall at Cherry Blossom Festival, 2011Courtesy Carolina Franco (carolinafranco.com)

Wartime Footbridges break Washington Monument’s image in Reflecting Pool, 1943Courtesy DC Public Library, Washingtoniana Division

Ice skating in front of the Monument, between 1909 & 1932 Library of CongressAbove

Celebration and Commemoration

Maru Montero Dance Company performs during the Cinco de Mayo Festival, 2007Courtesy Gary Jean photoworks

AIDS Memorial Quilt,1992 Smithsonian Institution Archives, Image #92-15051

Boy Scout National Jamboree Opening Ceremonies, 1937Library of Congress

Armistice Day illumination of the Monument, 1921Courtesy DC Public Library, Washingtoniana Division

Flag Day at the Sylvan Theater, 1937 Library of Congress

In the Park with GeorgeCourt

esy

Car

olin

a Fr

anco

(ca

rolin

afra

nco

.com

)

Court

esy

the

Alb

ert

H.

Sm

all Colle

ctio

n

Court

esy

DC P

ublic

Lib

rary

, W

ashin

gto

nia

na

Div

isio

n

Play and Recreation

“Change keeps the monuments alive.” Historian Kirk Savage, 2010

Planners, architects, and landscape designers cannot always foresee how the buildings, parks, and monuments they design will be used and interpreted. The Mall, including the grounds of the Monument, has become a living landscape that people use in different ways. It is a dynamic, evolving place that has changed along with the needs of the American people.

The grounds have been used as a place of recreation and play, whether for a game of baseball in 1942 or a performance at the Sylvan Theater. Today, the Cherry Blossom Festival and the Kite Festival are among the grounds’ most popular annual activities.

The Mall draws people from near and far for Fourth of July fireworks and other commemorations. The Monument grounds have also become a platform for expressing freedom of speech—a defining characteristic of American identity. Notable moments of activism and protest have played out in part on the grounds—from anti-war protests during the Vietnam War to Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity in 2010.

Over the course of the Washington Monument grounds’ long history, the public has stood together and stood apart, engaged with others and reflected alone, been moved by history, and helped shape the future.