Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Project proposal

The memorial originated with Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, which King joined in 1952. In 1996, Congress authorized the fraternity to establish a memorial on Department of Interior lands, requiring $100 million raised and groundbreaking by 2003. In 1998, Congress approved a nonprofit foundation to manage fundraising and design, and approved the National Mall site. The Commission of Fine Arts and National Capital Planning Commission approved the location in 1999.

The design by ROMA Design Group was chosen from 900 candidates across 52 countries. A dedication plaque was laid on December 4, 2000. Ceremonial groundbreaking occurred on November 13, 2006. In August 2008, leaders estimated 20 months to complete at $120 million.

By December 2008, about $108 million had been raised from donors including General Motors, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and filmmakers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, plus $10 million in matching congressional funds.

Description

The memorial's address, 1964 Independence Avenue SW, references the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It occupies a 4-acre site in West Potomac Park bordering the Tidal Basin, near the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and aligns visually with the Lincoln Memorial and Jefferson Memorial. The centerpiece, the Stone of Hope, is a 30-foot-high relief of King carved from pale pink granite from China's Fujian Province, based on the speech line "Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

Two granite pieces represent the mountain of despair; visitors pass through them to reach the Stone of Hope, symbolizing movement through struggle. A 450-foot crescent-shaped inscription wall contains fourteen quotes from King's sermons and speeches, from the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott to his final 1968 sermon at Washington National Cathedral. The relief appears to look over the Tidal Basin, with cherry trees blooming annually near the anniversary of King's death.

This is the first memorial to an African American on or near the National Mall, though not the first African American memorial in Washington, D.C.

Opening, dedication, and administration

The memorial opened to visitors on August 22–25, 2011, before its planned dedication. The official dedication was scheduled for August 28, the 48th anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" speech, but was postponed to October 16 due to Hurricane Irene. President Barack Obama was expected to speak, with performances by Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder. Participants included King family members, civil rights leaders John Lewis, Jesse Jackson, and Andrew Young, actor Jamie Foxx, and filmmaker George Lucas.

An interfaith prayer service scheduled for August 27 at Washington National Cathedral was moved to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception after the August 23 Virginia earthquake damaged the Cathedral. Although the dedication did not occur on August 28, the memorial became a national park that day. The National Park Service administers the memorial as part of its National Mall and Memorial Parks unit.

Reception

In 2001, foundation efforts stalled when Intellectual Properties Management Inc., run by King's family, sought licensing fees for using King's name and likeness in marketing. The foundation, facing delays and slow donations, opposed paying an onerous fee. Joseph Lowery questioned why anyone should receive a fee if no profit was made. Historian David Garrow stated that King would have been scandalized by his children's profiteering; the family pledged any money would go to the King Center's charitable efforts.

The foundation paid a $71,700 management fee in 2003, and in 2009 the Associated Press reported an $800,000 licensing deal for use of King's words and image in fundraising. Further delay occurred in 2008 when the National Park Service rejected the approved design over security concerns, insisting on a vehicle barrier. The Commission of Fine Arts and National Capital Planning Commission rejected the barrier as contrary to King's philosophy. A compromise using landscaping to make barriers less intrusive was approved in October 2009, allowing construction to begin.

Did You Know?

• King was initiated into Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity on June 22, 1952, while completing his doctoral studies at Boston University.
• The memorial's dedication was rescheduled to October 16, 2011, the 16th anniversary of the 1995 Million Man March.
• A 17-foot-tall bronze statue of Mary McLeod Bethune in Lincoln Park preceded the King Memorial as an African American memorial in Washington, D.C.