The
Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is the largest of
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
's
reflecting poolA reflecting pool or reflection pool is a structure often used in memorials. It generally consists of a shallow pool of water, usually quite calm. A design with edges being slightly deeper than the center of the pool is often used to suppress wave formation...
s. Located directly east of the
Lincoln MemorialThe Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and was dedicated on May 30, 1922. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French,...
, it is a long, rectangular pool visible in many photographs of the
Washington MonumentThe Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington. The monument, made of marble, granite, and sandstone, is both the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest...
. It is lined by walking paths and shade trees on both sides. It reflects both the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.
Located in the
Constitution GardensConstitution Gardens is a National Park in Washington, D.C., United States, popularly understood as part of the National Mall though actually adjacent to its officially designated area. The park is located in between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, bounded on the north by...
, the reflecting pool is approximately 2,029 feet (618
mThe metre or meter is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units . Historically, the metre was defined by the French Academy of Sciences as the length between two marks on a platinum-iridium bar, which was designed to represent one ten-millionth of the distance from the Equator...
) long and 167 feet (51 m) wide.
The
Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is the largest of
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
's
reflecting poolA reflecting pool or reflection pool is a structure often used in memorials. It generally consists of a shallow pool of water, usually quite calm. A design with edges being slightly deeper than the center of the pool is often used to suppress wave formation...
s. Located directly east of the
Lincoln MemorialThe Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and was dedicated on May 30, 1922. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French,...
, it is a long, rectangular pool visible in many photographs of the
Washington MonumentThe Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington. The monument, made of marble, granite, and sandstone, is both the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest...
. It is lined by walking paths and shade trees on both sides. It reflects both the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.
Located in the
Constitution GardensConstitution Gardens is a National Park in Washington, D.C., United States, popularly understood as part of the National Mall though actually adjacent to its officially designated area. The park is located in between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, bounded on the north by...
, the reflecting pool is approximately 2,029 feet (618
mThe metre or meter is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units . Historically, the metre was defined by the French Academy of Sciences as the length between two marks on a platinum-iridium bar, which was designed to represent one ten-millionth of the distance from the Equator...
) long and 167 feet (51 m) wide. It has a depth of approximately 18
inchAn inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
es (46 cm) on the sides and 30 inches (76 cm) in the center. It holds approximately 6,750,000 U.S.
gallonA gallon is a measure of volume of approximately four litres. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use. These are the U.S. liquid gallon and the lesser used U.S...
s (25,500,000
L
) of water. It was designed by
Henry BaconHenry Bacon , an American Beaux-Arts architect, is best remembered for his severe Greek Doric Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C...
and constructed in 1922 and 1923, following the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial.
Events
Directly in front of the Lincoln Memorial steps, the Reflecting Pool area has been the site of many historic events.
In 1939, singer
Marian AndersonMarian Anderson was an American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century. Music critic Alan Blyth said "Her voice was a rich, vibrant contralto of intrinsic beauty." Most of her singing career was spent performing in concert and recital in major music venues and...
was denied permission to perform in the Constitution Hall in Washington, because of her race. An open air concert was arranged on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday, with a crowd of over 75,000 people around the Reflecting Pool area.
In 1963, the
March on Washington for Jobs and FreedomThe March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C. on August 28 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr...
used the area for its
Civil RightsCivil and political rights are a class of rights and freedoms that protect individuals from unwarranted government action and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression....
rally. It was there that Martin Luther King gave his "
I Have a Dream"I Have a Dream" is the popular name given to the public speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., in which he called for racial equality and an end to discrimination...
" speech, delivered to a crowd of a quarter million people standing around (and in) the Reflecting Pool.
In 2009,
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln MemorialWe Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial was a public celebration of the then forthcoming inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States at the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on January 18, 2009. By some...
was held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. An estimated 400,000 attendees watched from around the pool.