Freedom Plaza

Freedom Plaza. Civil War to Civil Rights.

"I have a dream." , The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., August 1863

, The block-long plaza at 13th and Pennsylvania Avenue to your left is named Freedom Plaza to honor Civil Right leader the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King completed his historic "I Have a Dream" speech in the Willard Hotel adjacent to the plaza before delivering it to a crowd of 200,000 at the Lincoln Memorial., Inscribed on the surface of Freedom Plaza is a partial image of the 1791 L'Enfant Plan for Washington, D.C., honoring its author Pierre (also known as Peter) C. L'Enfant. The city planner envisioned Pennsylvania Avenue as a great ceremonial street, the symbolic link between the Capitol (which he called Congress's House) and the White House (President's House)., Directly across Freedom Plaza is the John A. Wilson Building, home of the government of the District of Columbia. The building was constructed in 1904, when the city was governed by three presidentially appointed commissioners. In 1974, after a vigorous campaign for "home rule," the city regained the elected mayor and city council that had run the city until just after the Civil War. The Wilson Building is named for the late Council Chair John A. Wilson, a champion of civic rights for Washingtonians., The National Theatre, whose marquee is visible straight ahead, has presented live theater on this spot since 1835. Rebuilt to meet the tastes of each generation, the historic "Theatre of Presidents" has entertained every First Family since its doors first opened. President Lincoln and his family attended the National many times, and on the evening of the president's assassination at Ford's Theatre, his son, Tad, was attending a performance here.