Nov. 6th National Mall & the Design of DC
October/29/2010 03:22 PM Filed in: Mall history | Education
Dear Coalition Friends:
This year's Washington, DC Historical Studies Conference taking place November 5th and 6th includes a session, with three speakers, dedicated to the National Mall:
Saturday, November 6, 9:30-11:00 am The National Mall and the Design of DC
Judy Scott Feldman – "Competing Preservation Visions for the National Mall"
Mark Levitch – “Colossal Failure: The National World War I Memorial That Almost Was”
John Gorney – “Riding a Hobby Horse, George Washington’s Influence on the Plan of the Federal City”
For more information on the conference, speakers and topics, and related activities, click here.
What: 37th Annual Conference on Washington, DC Historical Studies
When: November 5th & 6th, 2010
Where: Charles Sumner School Museum & Archives, 1201 17th Street, NW
Registration at the door or in advance. $15; students and seniors, $10
My talk analyzes the "competing preservation visions" at play during the 4-year public consultation process for the National Park Service’s new “National Mall Plan." The NPS divides up the Mall into separate parcels (Lincoln Memorial grounds, Washington Monument grounds, Mall), each with its individual design history, cultural associations, and planning goals and priorities. Only NPS-managed portions of the Mall are included in this Mall Plan. The nonprofits participating in the public consultation, by contrast, argued for planning that treats the Mall as a design and symbolic whole -- the legacy of the L'Enfant and McMillan planning visions and including areas managed by the Smithsonian, National Gallery, White House, Capitol, US Department of Agriculture, and District government -- in which the parts, however disparate, are integrated into a coherent unity. I discuss how these conflicting approaches played out in discussions during the public consultation process, in the final Mall Plan, and in current Mall proposals and projects.
This year's Washington, DC Historical Studies Conference taking place November 5th and 6th includes a session, with three speakers, dedicated to the National Mall:
Saturday, November 6, 9:30-11:00 am The National Mall and the Design of DC
Judy Scott Feldman – "Competing Preservation Visions for the National Mall"
Mark Levitch – “Colossal Failure: The National World War I Memorial That Almost Was”
John Gorney – “Riding a Hobby Horse, George Washington’s Influence on the Plan of the Federal City”
For more information on the conference, speakers and topics, and related activities, click here.
What: 37th Annual Conference on Washington, DC Historical Studies
When: November 5th & 6th, 2010
Where: Charles Sumner School Museum & Archives, 1201 17th Street, NW
Registration at the door or in advance. $15; students and seniors, $10
My talk analyzes the "competing preservation visions" at play during the 4-year public consultation process for the National Park Service’s new “National Mall Plan." The NPS divides up the Mall into separate parcels (Lincoln Memorial grounds, Washington Monument grounds, Mall), each with its individual design history, cultural associations, and planning goals and priorities. Only NPS-managed portions of the Mall are included in this Mall Plan. The nonprofits participating in the public consultation, by contrast, argued for planning that treats the Mall as a design and symbolic whole -- the legacy of the L'Enfant and McMillan planning visions and including areas managed by the Smithsonian, National Gallery, White House, Capitol, US Department of Agriculture, and District government -- in which the parts, however disparate, are integrated into a coherent unity. I discuss how these conflicting approaches played out in discussions during the public consultation process, in the final Mall Plan, and in current Mall proposals and projects.