May 8, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: W. Kent Cooper, FAIA, 202-333-6210
NATIONAL MALL CONSERVANCY LAUNCHES NEW TOUR SERIES
The National Mall: What the Memorials Don't Tell You
Washington, D.C. - On April 26, 2008, the National Mall Conservancy kicked off a new series of in-depth walking tours of the National Mall entitled "The National Mall: What the Memorials Don't Tell You." The tour was attended by a receptive crowd of more than 50 people.
The purpose of this tour, subtitled "I Have a Dream: The Struggle for Freedom in America," is to provide the Mall visitor with a comprehensive view of the struggles and successes of American democracy. While other tours provide a good overview of the monuments, this tour of the Jefferson, George Mason, FDR, Korean War Veterans, and Lincoln Memorials surprised many attendees. "Inscriptions and sculptures tell a powerful story, but often there are aspects that are left out, for any number of reasons, yet reveal a great deal about American history," stated Dr. Judy Scott Feldman who led the tour.
The tour is still a pilot and will eventually be developed to be both a guided and self-guided program.
Conservancy director Kent Cooper said, "We try to take a unique approach. By designing the tours to deconstruct various aspects of our nation's history, we try to provide a real 'value-added' to a visitor's Mall tour. We also try to create interest and curiosity, so that visitors come to our web site to increase their learning after a tour. In other words, the tour is only the beginning for us; we want to create an atmosphere of intellectual stimulation that spawns more research by those who take our tours. That's the difference with our tours and mission."
The NATIONAL MALL CONSERVANCY was created in 2007 by the National Coalition to Save Our Mall to program activities and promote improvements to visitor orientation and education, filling gaps in current Mall programming. The Coalition continues to focus on day-to-day preservation and advocacy.
The National Mall Conservancy has created the first free guide to recreation and sports on the Mall, developed the first of a series of self-guided Mall walking tours, completed a survey of the state of recycling on the Mall, and is now working with Congressional offices and government agencies to develop a Mall-wide recycling program that coordinates among the Mall's many managers. The Conservancy also is developing a web-based virtual visitor center that will consolidate all attractions on the Mall into one convenient digital portal.
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