YOU DECIDE: Should Temporary Displays Be a Feature of the National Mall?
The National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington, D.C., is home to some of the most beloved American monuments. These include the Lincoln Memorial, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. About 35 million people visit the National Mall every year to view these permanent structures of granite and marble. […]
Women’s History Month: A Women’s Suffrage Memorial on the National Mall
In 1920, Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which granted white women the right to vote in the United States. The journey to get there was long and difficult–and often unrecognized. But that’s about to change, as Congress begins the process of creating a monument honoring women’s suffrage, or the right to vote, on […]
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Colombia’s New President Gustavo Petro was sworn in as Colombia’s new president on August 7, 2022. This inauguration was historic because Petro is Colombia’s first leftist president and he was a former member of M-19, an urban guerilla group which fought against the nation’s past authoritarian government. For more than fifty years, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of […]
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McBride Makes History In 2018, Danica Roem became the first openly transgender person to serve in a state legislature. This year, that ceiling was further broken by Sarah McBride, who has just become the first openly transgender state senator. This makes McBride the highest-ranking transgender person to hold political office in the United States. McBride, […]
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Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month It’s Hispanic Heritage Month! Originally established in 1968 by Rep. Edward R. Roybal and President Lyndon Johnson, this time was created to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Hispanics. Back then, it was called Hispanic Heritage Week. Now, it lasts a full month: from September 15 to October 15. September 15 […]
YOU DECIDE: Controversial Monuments
You may remember the 2017 tragedy in Charlottesville, Virginia, when an anti-racism protestor was killed by a white supremacist. That incident began over the city’s attempt to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Afterwards, the country began to debate the role of controversial historical monuments in our public spaces. Hundreds of statues, […]
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Barr Faces Senate Hearing Donald Trump has chosen a replacement for Jeff Sessions, who resigned from his job as attorney general in November. His pick is William Barr, who served as attorney general from 1991 to 1993 under the George H.W. Bush administration. Barr has also been a private attorney and served in the CIA […]
A 9/11 Tale of Hope
So many stories that originated from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 are sad stories of loss. But there are also some stories of human kindness and changed hearts. Today, before the annual remembrance of that sad day, let us hear and think about a positive story, in which a group of American travelers were fortunate […]
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Close Up on Pluto Back in 2006, NASA launched New Horizons, a mission to explore the Kuiper belt. This is the region of our solar system that lies beyond our planets and includes Pluto. On July 14, the unmanned spacecraft made its closest approach, getting within 7,800 miles of the former planet (downgraded to dwarf […]
We Will Never Forget: Oklahoma City, 20 Years Later
On April 19, 1995 the Afred E. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was destroyed by a homemade bomb. The bomb was set off by Timothy McVeigh, who at 9:01 am drove a rented moving truck and parked it in front of the building’s main entrance before creating the detonation. The bomb exploded […]