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NEWSV_130512_011.JPG: Pennsylvania Avenue:
From the Capitol to the White House, Pennsylvania Avenue is "America's Main Street," a ceremonial avenue that for more than 200 years has provided a setting for the free expression that embodies the First Amendment. The 1.2 mile corridor has played host to the inaugural celebrations as well as the funeral processions of presidents. Triumphant parades and angry demonstrations also have made their way down the nation's most historic street.
Thomas Jefferson called the street Pennsylvania Avenue in a 1791 letter, the earliest known reference to the name. But there is no definitive explanation of why the name was chosen or when it became official.
NEWSV_130512_018.JPG: 1800-1860: The Federal City:
"Once crossing the avenue at 7th Street, our young druggist lost a shoe, which sank into the ooze and was with some difficulty recovered."
-- Dr. William Gunton, 1807
Moving to Washington:
French-born architect Pierre L'Enfant, who was hired by George Washington in 1791 to design the new federal city, had big plans for the city's main street: "The grand avenue connecting both the palace and the federal house will be most magnificent and most convenient." But Pennsylvania Avenue was just a dirt road in 1800, when the federal government official moved the nation's capital from Philadelphia to Washington. The avenue soon began to fill with houses, hotels, and shops. Oil street lamps were added in the 1840s, and for several years Pennsylvania Avenue was the only illuminated street in the city. But pigs and cows roamed the street while carriages lurched through ruts and sank in the mud.
NEWSV_130512_023.JPG: A Well-Known Early Newspaper:
The National Intelligencer, which was located for a time on Pennsylvania Avenue near Sixth Street, was among the most influential of the many newspapers published during the early years of the nation's capital. During the 1814 attack on Washington, when the newspaper was located closer to the Capitol, British Adm. George Cockburn ordered the Intelligencer's office demolished and its contents burned. He told his troops to be sure to destroy all of the type for the letter "C" so the anti-British newspaper could never again criticize him by name.
Benjamin Banneker:
A self-taught free-black, Benjamin Banneker assisted chief surveyor Andrew Ellicott in laying out the avenue based on Pierre L'Enfant's plan. President George Washington appointed Ellicott and Banneker to survey the boundaries of the new city. Nearly one-quarter of Washington's population in 1800 was black, and though most were slaves, there was a growing population of free blacks who bought their own freedom or who were set free.
1800:
Central Market:
Central Market, built in 1802, was the city's biggest shopping area for produce and meat. Slave auctions were held here until outlawed in 1850. Later rebuilt and expanded along the avenue between Seventh and Ninth streets, the market eventually had more than 1,000 vendors, including the women above. The market was demolished in 1931 for the construction of the National Archives, one block from the Newseum.
NEWSV_130512_029.JPG: The Indian Queen Hotel:
One of a number of popular hotels on the avenue, the Indian Queen often played host to the chiefs of American Indian tribes when they visited Washington. The hotel, located between Sixth and Seventh streets, boasted of its excellent site, "about midway between the Capitol and the President's House."
First Inaugural Procession:
1805: At the beginning of his second term, Thomas Jefferson started the presidential tradition of inaugural processions on Pennsylvania Avenue.
1820:
First Parade Honoring a Foreigner:
1824: The Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the Revolutionary War, is believed to be the first foreigner honored with a parade down the avenue.
Slave Pens on the Avenue:
The Saint Charles Hotel at Third Street and Pennsylvania Avenue had below-ground pens where slaves were held while their owners stayed at the hotel.
NEWSV_130512_036.JPG: Race Riot:
1835: Beverly Snow, a free black man, owned a restaurant at Pennsylvania Avenue and Sixth Street. In 1835, tensions exploded over an alleged attack on a white woman by her slave. A mob of mostly Irish manual laborers descended on Snow's restaurant after hearing a rumor that he had used disrespective language about their wives and daughters. Snow escapes, but Washington's first race riot ensued. Rioters destroyed the restaurant along with black churches, schools and houses.
1840:
First Presidential Funeral Procession:
1841. William Henry Harrison was the first president to die in office. His body was escorted down Pennsylvania Avenue by his Cabinet, the diplomatic corps and militia companies. Below, Vice President John Tyler receives news of the president's death.
Business Boom on the Avenue:
By the mid-1800s, Pennsylvania Avenue was the center of lively commerce. These were some of the avenue's retailers during that period.
NEWSV_130512_043.JPG: First Inauguration to be Telegraphed:
1845. James K. Polk's inauguration was the first to be reported by telegraph. Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph, transmitted news of the ceremony to Baltimore from a telegraph set up on the inaugural platform at the U.S. Capitol.
1850:
The Napier Ball (insert), held at the Willard in 1859 in honor of the British ambassador, drew more than 1,800 people and was one of the last great pre-Civil War social events.
The Willard Hotel:
The Willard Hotel, which has occupied the northwest corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street since 1850, was where Julia Ward Howe wrote "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and Martin Luther King, Jr. penned his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. The hotel played host to many famous public gatherings and social events. The term "lobbyist" is said to have been coined by President Ulysses S. Grant at this site.
The Evening Star:
The Evening Star, founded in 1852, was the major evening newspaper in Washington for more than a century. In the late 1800s, it moved to a building on Pennsylvania Avenue and 11th Street that is a landmark today.
NEWSV_130512_050.JPG: 1861-1865: Civil War Years:
Command Center for War:
The Civil War turned Washington into the command center of a national war effort. The population soared as military troops, military workers, and journalists poured into town. Saloons, gambling houses, and other kinds of entertainment prospered. After the Western Union telegraph office moved to a building on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street, news bureaus soon filled what became known as "Newspaper Row." The year 1865 witness three extraordinary processions on the avenue -- Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural, his funeral procession, and the grand review of the troops that celebrated the Union's victory in the Civil War.
President Lincoln's Inaugural Parade:
1861. Tight security surrounded Abraham Lincoln's inaugural parade amid mounting tensions over the looming Civil War.
NEWSV_130512_056.JPG: Mathew Brady:
Abraham Lincoln sat for an official portrait by society photographer Mathew Brady at Brady's Pennsylvania Avenue studio, located between Sixth and Seventh streets. Brady went on to oversee the documentation of one of the biggest stories of the 19th century; the U.S. Civil War, paving the way for modern photojournalism. Brady fell into debt after the war and was seriously injured by a horse-drawn streetcar on Pennsylvania Avenue. He died in poverty in 1896.
From a Washington Evening Star report about Brady's photograph of Lincoln: "Some of the ladies say he is almost good-looking."
First lady Mary Todd Lincoln was criticized for overspending. This invoice (above) from a Pennsylvania Avenue store shows goods and services [costing $1,000] that she bought for the White House.
"I can get a decent office on 14th Street in the 'row' exclusive for $30 pr month."
-- Boston Journal correspondent Ben: Perley Poore
NEWSV_130512_072.JPG: Newspaper Row:
The area around Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street became known as "Newspaper Row" because of the many out-of-town newspapers having offices along 14th Street, including the New York Herald, New York Times, New York Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Cincinnati Gazette. "Rum Row," another journalistic institution, was nearby. Today, the National Press Club on 14th Street houses out-of-town news bureaus and international news media. The J.W. Marriott Hotel occupies the northeast corner of Pennsylvania and 14th.
Ben: Perley Poore:
The Boston Journal's Ben: Perley Poore (his adopted byline) became one of the first well-known Washington correspondents. After covering Congress, Poore roamed Pennsylvania Avenue hotels collecting news from politicians and military officers. Most nights, he wrote stories from his Newspaper Row officer, as members of Congress came by for gossip or conversation. Poore, one of several newspaper correspondents who doubled as clerks for congressional committees, was a longtime clerk of the Senate Printing Committee and edited the annual Congressional Directory (right). He also was the first president of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization. He died at the Ebbitt Hotel on Newspaper Row, on the site now occupied by the National Press Building.
The Palace of Fortune was a fancy gambling house on Pennsylvania Avenue. Poore wrote that its patrons included "candidates for the Presidency, Senators and Representatives, members of the Cabinet, editors and journalists, and the master workmen of the third house, the lobby."
The National Hotel:
The site of the Newseum was occupied until 1942 by the National Hotel, one of the most famous hotels of its era, which opened in 1826. The office of the federal censor reportedly was located in the hotel during the Civil War because the telegraph offices were nearby. "Every line of wire copy had to go through his hands," reported the Washington Post.
NEWSV_130512_074.JPG: John Wilkes Booth:
Actor John Wilkes Booth hated Abraham Lincoln and longed to avenge the Confederate cause. In April 1865, Booth took a room at the National Hotel, which was his favorite place to stay in Washington. On the evening of April 14, Booth shot and mortally wounded President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, several blocks away. While Lincoln lay dying, investigators searched Booth's room at the National Hotel and found a letter that seemed to connect him to a plot against the president. Booth died in a shootout with federal agents 12 days after the assassination.
From the testimony of G.W. Bunker, clerk of the National Hotel:
Q: Had [Booth] a room there at the time the President was assassinated?
A: He did.
From a letter Booth's brother wrote to President Andrew Johnson in 1869:
"There is also (I am told) a trunk of his at the National Hotel... it may contain relics of the poor misguided boy--which would be dear to his sorrowing mother, and of no use to anyone."
President Lincoln's Funeral Procession:
1865. Abraham Lincoln was the first U.S. president to be assassinated. Black mourning cloth was draped on Pennsylvania Avenue's buildings on April 19, 1865, and his body was escorted down the avenue by a large procession.
Grand Review of the Armies:
1865. Called the greatest parade ever held on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Army of the Potomac (the largest of the Union armies) marched down the avenue on May 23 and 24, 1865, to celebrate the end of the Civil War.
NEWSV_130512_081.JPG: Emancipation Day Parade:
African Americans marched on Pennsylvania Avenue in 1866 to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the freeing of the District of Columbia's slaves. Many Emancipation Day parades were to follow. President Abraham Lincoln signed the act abolishing slavery in the nation's capital on April 16, 1862, nearly nine months before he signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
1866-1912: Enterprising Era:
Growth of Communications:
Washington was bustling in the years after the Civil War as a new age of invention and business swept the country. New wood-block pavement was laid on Pennsylvania Avenue in 1871. Two new newspapers set up shop on or near the avenue -- the Washington Post in 1877 and the Washington Bee, which covered news of interest to the black community, in 1878. The phone number assigned to the White House was 1, the U.S. Capitol was 2, and the Washington Post was 28. The National Museum, now known as the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building, was built on the Mall in 1881; the Washington Monument was dedicated in 1885.
NEWSV_130512_085.JPG: Stilson Hutchins:
On December 6, 1877, journalist Stilson Hutchins began publishing a new "Democratic daily" at 914 Pennsylvania Ave. Its name: The Washington Post. It had four pages and cost 3 cents. The Post solicited "correspondence on live topics" but "to have attention, must be brief" and offered to pay for valuable news items. Hutchins later sold the newspaper to pursue his interest in the hot new technology -- the Linotype machine. The Post was sold again in a bankruptcy auction in 1933 to financier Eugene Meyer, whose daughter, Katharine Graham, and grandson, Donald Graham, later served as publishers. The newspaper occupied several sites along the avenue before moving to its current location on 15th Street, NW in 1972.
"The Post, which has sometimes been very naughty, has always been enterprising and is the first real newspaper Washington ever had."
-- The Philadelphia Times, 1878
1880:
"The view of the Capitol down the Avenue is becoming obscured by telegraph wires."
-- Joaquin Miller, 1883
President Cleveland's Inauguration:
1885: Grover Cleveland, the first Democrat to be elected president in nearly 30 years, watched his inaugural parade from a flag-draped grandstand outside the White House.
NEWSV_130512_091.JPG: 1900:
First Inaugural Parade to Be Filmed:
1897: William McKinley's inaugural parade was the first to be recorded on movie film.
First First Lady to Ride in Parade:
1909: William Howard Taft's wife, Helen, became the first first lady to ride in an inaugural parade with her husband from the Capitol to the White House.
1913-1945: Washington in Wartime and Recovery:
Center of Action:
Washington was transformed by America's entry into World War I, as the city's population and federal employment grew. The suffrage movement also boomed, and women paraded on the avenue to promote their cause. In 1919, nearly a year after the war ended, Washington welcomes the troops home with a huge parade and victory arch on the avenue. In the postwar years, America's Main Street hosted a variety of parades of demonstrations, from frenzied baseball fans celebrating the Washington Senators' World Series victory in 1924 to "Bonus Army" war veterans seeking aid during the Depression. Major redevelopment in the 1930s created new federal buildings known as the Federal Triangle. World War II spurred another population boom, and thousands of people celebrated war's end in 1945 with a giant party on the avenue.
NEWSV_130512_097.JPG: Inez Milholland:
The day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration in 1913, more than 5,000 suffragists marched through hostile crowds on Pennsylvania Avenue demanding the right to vote for women. Astride a white horse at the head of the march was 26-year-old lawyer Inez Milholland. Suffrage leader Alice Paul used Milholland's beauty to help get attention for the cause; her image as "the Woman on the Horse" became an enduring symbol of the women's movement. Milholland died three years later. Women won the right to vote in 1920.
"Miss Milholland, herald of the procession, distinguished herself by aiding in riding down a crowd that blocked the way and threatened to disrupt the parade."
-- The Washington Post, March 4, 1913
World War I Victory Parade:
1919. Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, led the victory parade. Below right,a soldier on a stretcher watches the parade.
1920:
First President to Ride in a Car in Inaugural Parade:
1921. Warren G. Harding became the first president to ride in an automobile to and from his inauguration.
NEWSV_130512_103.JPG: Baseball Parade:
1924. The Washington Senators were feted with a celebration on Pennsylvania Avenue on the eve of the 1924 World Series. The Senators defeated the New York Giants to win the series, and fans snake-danced down the avenue.
First Inauguration Broadcast on Radio:
1925. Calvin Coolidge's inaugural was the first to be broadcast nationally over radio. Some 25 million Americans listened; the Associated Press called it "the greatest audience ever addressed by any man."
Ku Klux Klan March:
1925. Thousands of Ku Klux Klan members displayed American flags and departed from their usual practice of covering their faces with hoods. The Baltimore Afro-American called the parade "the greatest demonstration of intolerance ever held in a land dedicated to tolerance."
1930:
Bonus Army:
1932. During the Great Depression, thousands of unemployed World War I veterans came to Washington to seek early payment of promised wartime bonuses. The marchers, known as the "Bonus Army," flooded the avenue, camping out in vacant buildings, some of which were near the site of the current Newseum. Police and federal troops evicted them with a heavy show of force, killing two.
President Roosevelt's Third Inaugural:
1941. As the war in Europe intensified, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented third term as president. He used his inaugural parade to stress national defense. Before the year ended, the U.S. officially entered World War II.
NEWSV_130512_108.JPG: World War II Victory Celebration:
1945. In August 1945, Washingtonians gathered in Lafayette Square, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, to await news of the surrender of Japan. When the official announcement came on Aug. 14, thousands of people poured onto the avenue to celebrate the victory.
1946-1971: Time of Turmoil:
"As a colored woman I may walk from the Capitol to the White House ravenously hungry and supplied with money to purchase a meal without finding a single restaurant in which I would be permitted to take a morsel of food if it was patronized by white people, unless I were to sit behind a screen."
-- Mary Church Terrell
Push for Civil Rights:
Washington was a segregated city in the first half of the century, but a powerful push for equality by local activists mirrored the growing national civil rights movement. A 1953 Supreme Court ruling had the effect of ending most segregation in restaurants, theaters, and similar establishments in Washington. Two great demonstrations, the giant March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 and the Poor People's Campaign in 1968, brought the national civil rights movement to Washington. As the country became more divided over social and economic issues, Pennsylvania Avenue drew numerous national demonstrations.
NEWSV_130512_115.JPG: First Inauguration Broadcast on Television:
1949. Harry S. Truman's inauguration and parade were the first to be televised. An estimated 10 million people watched the events. "Home Viewers Get All of Color, Pomp," headlined the Chicago Daily Tribune.
1960:
Astronaut's Parade:
1961. Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., one of the original Project Mercury astronauts, accompanied by his wife, Louise, was honored with a parade after he became the first American to journey into space.
First Inauguration Televised in Color:
1961. John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, in the inaugural parade. Kennedy's inauguration was the first to be broadcast in color.
Poor People's Campaign:
1968. The Poor People's Campaign marched on Pennsylvania Avenue, calling for economic opportunity and equality.
NEWSV_130512_120.JPG: 1970:
Anti-War Marches:
1969-1971. The "Mobilization" peace demonstration in 1969 drew more than 250,000 people. It was one of many protests against the Vietnam War.
A "Spring Offensive to End the War" was held by anti-Vietnam War groups in 1971. Though smaller protests continued, this was the last of the massive anti-Vietnam War protests in Washington. Left, a poster promoting one of the demonstrations.
1972-Present: The Modern Avenue:
Rebirth of Main Street:
In 1972, Congress created the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corp., which used millions of dollars from private and government sources to renew Pennsylvania Avenue. Dilapidated historical structures such as the Willard Hotel and the Evening Star building were renovated, and more than a dozen new businesses were built. Today, the historic street is part of the rejuvenated Penn Quarter and continues to serve as an avenue of celebration and free expression.
NEWSV_130512_127.JPG: Daniel Patrick Moynihan:
Daniel Patrick Moynihan began working on the revitalization of Pennsylvania Avenue during the Kennedy administration after the new president noticed how run-down the street looked during his inaugural parade. Working in the White House and Congress, where he served nearly 25 years as senator, Moynihan helped establish the President's Advisory Council on Pennsylvania Avenue. He set into motion a commitment to history and architecture that was nurtured over the years by other groups. After his death in 2003, Congress designated a plaza near the Ronald Reagan as Daniel Patrick Moynihan Place.
"Pat Moynihan presided over the public works that saw to it that Pennsylvania Avenue was turned into the kind of memorial avenue that the world's greatest power deserves."
-- U.S.Sen. Robert Bennett of Utah, 2003
First President to Walk In Inaugural Parade:
1977. Jimmy Carter was the first president to walk from the Capitol to the White House after taking the oath of office.
1980:
First Inauguration on the Capitol's West Front:
1981. Ronald Reagan's inaugural ceremony was the first to be held on the West Front of the Capitol, rather than the East Front.
Parade of the Hostages:
1981. Seven days after President Reagan's inauguration, 52 Americans who had been held hostage in Iran for 444 days were welcomed home with a parade on Pennsylvania Avenue.
NEWSV_130512_136.JPG: 1990:
Gulf War Protest:
1991. Thousands marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House to protest the Persian Gulf War.
2000:
"Now, 40 years later, we come to this wonderful culmination: the last site on the avenue.... President Kennedy would be very proud, as are we."
-- Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, at the unveiling of the Newseum design, 2002
The Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue:
2007. The Freedom Forum purchased the last available space for development on Pennsylvania Avenue from the District of Columbia. Construction of the Newseum was completed here in 2007.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Description of Subject Matter: Hank Greenspun Terrace on Pennsylvania Avenue
America’s Main Street
This terrace offers a panoramic view of one of the most famous streets in the United States. The view encompasses landmarks and monuments of American history, including the U.S. Capitol, the National Gallery of Art, the National Archives and the Washington Monument.
The exhibit rail tells the rich history of the events that played a role in shaping Pennsylvania Avenue, the site of presidential parades and funeral processions, joyful celebrations and raucous demonstrations.
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2013 photos: Equipment this year: I mostly used my Fuji XS-1 camera but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000 and Nikon D600.
Trips this year:
three Civil War Trust conferences (Memphis, TN, Jackson, MS [to which I added a week to to visit sites in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee], and Richmond, VA), and
my 8th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including sites in Nevada and California).
Ego Strokes: Aviva Kempner used my photo of her as her author photo in Larry Ruttman's "American Jews & America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball" book.
Number of photos taken this year: just over 570,000.
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