Artworks commemorating African Americans in Washington, D.C.

Artworks commemorating African-Americans in Washington, D.C. is a group of fourteen public artworks in Washington, D.C., including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial dedicated in 2011, that commemorate African Americans. When describing thirteen of these that predate the King Memorial, Jacqueline Trescott wrote for The Washington Post:

In a city crowded with memorials and monuments, few represent the individual struggles of African American pioneers or salute the contributions of black citizens.

Trescott reported that four additional commemorative works also include representations of African Americans.

List

Trescott reported that the following works commemorate African Americans.

• A. Philip Randolph bust, by Ed Dwight, in Union Station
• Emancipation Memorial, by Thomas Ball featuring Abraham Lincoln and a newly freed slave, in Lincoln Park
• (Here I Stand) In the Spirit of Paul Robeson, by Allen Uzikee Nelson, Petworth neighborhood, at the intersection of Georgia Avenue, Varnum Street, and Kansas Avenue
• Josh Gibson, full-size statue, Omri Amrany and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany. Nationals Park
• Lady Fortitude, by James King, at Howard University
• Dr. King bust by John Wilson, in the United States Capitol Rotunda
• Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial, by Robert Berks, life-sized statue, Lincoln Park
• Negro Mother and Child, by Maurice Glickman, in the basement courtyard of the Interior Department, C Street and 18th Street, N.W.
• Spirit of Freedom: African American Civil War Memorial, by Ed Hamilton, at 10th Street and U Street, N.W.
• Sojourner Truth bust, by Artis Lane, in the Capitol Visitor Center
• St. Martin de Porres statue, by Thomas McGlynn, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, 1600 Morris Road, S.E.
• The Progress of the Negro Race, by Daniel Olney, a terra cotta frieze, Langston Terrace, 21st Street and Benning Road N.E.
• The Shaw Memorial, by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, patinated plaster cast for a sculpture, National Gallery of Art. The cast's inscription states: "ROBERT GOULD SHAW - KILLED WHILE LEADING THE ASSAVLT ON FORT WAGNER JVLY TWENTY THIRD EIGHTEEN HVNDRED AND SIXTY THREE".

Additional representations of African Americans

Trescott reported that the following memorials contain addtitional representations of African Americans.

• The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, by Frederick E. Hart.
• The Korean War Veterans Memorial, by Frank Gaylord II.
• The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, overall design by Lawrence Halprin.
• The Vietnam Women's Memorial, by Glenna Goodacre.

Photo gallery

• Emancipation Memorial 1900.jpg

  Emancipation Memorial

• Mary McLeod Bethune.jpg

  Mary McLeod Bethune sculpture

• 

  Shaw Memorial

• MLK Bust Capitol.jpg

  MLK, Jr. bust in Capitol Rotunda

See also

• List of public art in Washington, D.C.

African American:

• List of museums focused on African Americans
• List of streets named after Martin Luther King, Jr.

External links

• Flickr photo of "Lady Fortitude"
• Photos of and information regarding Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial (info from Smithsonian)
• Flickr photo of Josh Gibson statue
• Photos of and information regarding the sculpture, "Negro mother and child" (info from Smithsonian)
• Photos of and information regarding St. Martin de Porres sculpture (info from Smithsonian)
• Photos of and information regarding the sculpture, "The progress of the Negro race" (info from Smithsonian)
• Flickr photo of A. Philip Randolph bust
• Fifteen photographs of Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial by Jennifer Rosenberg, About.com
• Ramanathan, Lavanya, "Eye Opening Artifacts of Black History", The Washington Post, January 27, 2012
• Helm, Joe, "On Emancipation Day in D.C., Two Memorials Tell Very Different Stories", The Washington Post, April 15, 2012