Artworks commemorating African-Americans in Washington, D.C. is a group of fourteen public artworks in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, 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 ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

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

List

Trescott reported that the following works commemorate African Americans. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Octavius_Catto Octavius Valentine Catto (February 22, 1839 – October 10, 1871) was an educator, intellectual, and civil rights activist in Philadelphia. He became principal of male students at the Institute for Colored Youth, where he had also been educated ...

* '' A. Philip Randolph bust'', by

Ed Dwight Edward Joseph (Ed) Dwight Jr. (born September 9, 1933) is an American sculptor, author, and former test pilot. He is the first African American to have entered the Air Force training program from which NASA selected astronauts. He was controve ...

, in

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

* ''

Emancipation Memorial The Emancipation Memorial, also known as the Freedman's Memorial or the Emancipation Group is a monument in Lincoln Park in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was sometimes referred to as the "Lincoln Memorial" before the mor ...

'', by Thomas Ball featuring

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

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 Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 – January 20, 1947) was an American baseball catcher primarily in the Negro leagues. Baseball historians consider Gibson among the best power hitters and catchers in baseball history. In 1972, he became the se ...

'', full-size statue, Omri Amrany and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany.

Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Home to Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals since its completion in 2008, it was the first LEED-certified green major profe ...

* '' Lady Fortitude'', by James King, at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

* '' Dr. King bust'' by John Wilson, in the

United States Capitol Rotunda The United States Capitol rotunda is the tall central rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. It has been described as the Capitol's "symbolic and physical heart". Built between 1818 and 1824, the rotunda is located below the ...

*''

Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial ''Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial'' is a bronze statue honoring educator and activist Mary McLeod Bethune, by Robert Berks. The monument is the first statue erected on public land in Washington, D.C. to honor an African American and a woman. The sta ...

'', by

Robert Berks The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, life-sized statue, Lincoln Park * ''

Negro Mother and Child ''Negro Mother and Child'' is a 1934 sculpture by American artist Maurice Glickman (1906–1981). The New Deal artwork was produced under the early Public Works of Art Project and later installed in a courtyard at the Main Interior Building in W ...

,'' by

Maurice Glickman Maurice Glickman (January 6, 1906 – May 1981) was an American sculptor noted for his New Deal-era sculpture for public buildings. He was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 1934. He founded the School of Art Studies in New York and was its director ...

, in the basement courtyard of the

Interior Department An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

, C Street and 18th Street, N.W. * ''Spirit of Freedom: African American Civil War Memorial'', by

Ed Hamilton Edward Norton Hamilton, Jr. (born February 14, 1947) is an American sculptor living in Louisville, Kentucky, who specializes in public art. His most famous work is ''The Spirit of Freedom'', a memorial to black American Civil War, Civil War vetera ...

, at 10th Street and U Street, N.W. * Bust of Sojourner Truth, by

Artis Lane Artis Lane (born Artis Shreve) is a Black Canadian sculptor and painter. Her bronze bust of Sojourner Truth is on display in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. It was unveiled in 2009, and was the first statu ...

, in the Capitol Visitor Center * ''

Saint Martin de Porres Martín de Porres Velázquez (9 December 1579 – 3 November 1639) was a Peruvian lay brother of the Dominican Order who was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is the patron saint of mixed-r ...

'' statue, by Thomas McGlynn, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, 1600 Morris Road, S.E. * '' The Progress of the Negro Race,'' by

Daniel Gillette Olney Daniel Gillette Olney (August 24, 1909 - July 2, 1980), was an American sculptor active in Washington, D.C. in the 1930s. A native of New York, he is primarily known for his bas-relief panels at the Langston Terrace Dwellings, one of only fourte ...

, a terra cotta frieze, Langston Terrace Dwellings, 21st Street and

Benning Road Benning Road is a major traveled street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland. The street's western terminus is at the "Starburst intersection" in the northeast quadrant of the city at Bladensburg Road, Florida Avenue, Marylan ...

N.E. * '' The Shaw Memorial,'' by

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trav ...

, patinated plaster cast for a sculpture, National Gallery of Art. The cast's inscription reads: 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 additional representations of African Americans. *The

Vietnam Veterans Memorial The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a U.S. national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The site is dominated by two black granite walls engraved with the names of those ...

, by Frederick E. Hart. *The

Korean War Veterans Memorial The Korean War Veterans Memorial is located in Washington, D.C.'s West Potomac Park, southeast of the Lincoln Memorial and just south of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall. It memorializes those who served in the Korean War. History The Ko ...

, by

Frank Gaylord Frank Chalfant Gaylord II (March 9, 1925 – March 21, 2018) was an American sculptor best known for "The Column", a sculptural tableau of United States soldiers and sailors which is part of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. C ...

II. *The

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington D.C., dedicated to the memory of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, and to the era he represents. The memorial is the second of two ...

, overall design by

Lawrence Halprin Lawrence Halprin (July 1, 1916 – October 25, 2009) was an American landscape architect, designer and teacher. Beginning his career in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, in 1949, Halprin often collaborated with a local circle of modernist a ...

. *The Vietnam Women's Memorial, by

Glenna Goodacre Glenna Maxey Goodacre (August 28, 1939 – April 13, 2020) was an American sculptor, best known for having designed the obverse of the Sacagawea dollar that entered circulation in the US in 2000, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial in Washington, ...

Photo gallery

Image: Emancipation Memorial 1900.jpg,

Image: Statue of Mary McLeod Bethune.jpg, Mary McLeod Bethune sculpture Image: Robert Gould Shaw Memorial - detail.jpg, Shaw Memorial Image:MLK Bust Capitol.jpg, Martin Luther King, Jr. bust in Capitol Rotunda

References

External links

Flickr photo of "Lady Fortitude"Photos of and information regarding Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial (info from Smithsonian)Flickr photo of Josh Gibson statuePhotos 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
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120127083901/http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/best-bets/artifacts-black-history,100680.html 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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Artworks Commemorating African Americans, Washington, D.C. African-American history of Washington, D.C. African American-related lists Commemorating African Americans Outdoor sculptures in Washington, D.C.

List

Additional representations of African Americans

Photo gallery

See also

References

External links