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(website for visuals, as well as presentation)
1. What the historical site is (give a description of what you would find at your site and what it is all about).

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial is located in Washington D.C. The memorial opened in 2011, the year of the
48th anniversary of the March on Washington. It is located near several other memorials, Lincoln Memorial, the
Roosevelt memorial and WWII Memorial just to name a few, and is also next to the national mall, it covers four acres
and the main part of the memorial is made up of three pieces: the mountain of despair, the stone of hope, and an
inscription wall. The Mountain of Despair the entrance to the memorial is a passageway through to stone
mountainsides. The Stone of Hope is a 30-foot statue made of solid granite that includes the civil rights leader. It
appears this stone of hope is cut from the mountain of despair. The final part of the memorial is the inscription wall
that has fourteen quotes from Dr. King that encompass four main ideas, Democracy, justice, hope and love.

2. What is the historical context of this site (in other words what else was happening at this same time frame)

This site contains a lot of historical context in that Martin Luther King Jr. was alive during World War II, Vietnam War
and was an active participant of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. The reverend himself gave a speech,
entitled Beyond Vietnam. Where he goes on how he disagrees the whole idea of war, violence, and a step back with
the peace speeches he was saying in the United States. The year after MLK Jr. gave the Beyond Vietnam speech
he was assassinated.

3. Why is it historically important (why did the US think it was so important that they created a historical park/site)?

Historically this is important because it helped African Americans have full rights, end racial segregation and
discrimination against African-Americans. It helped African-Americans in securing legal recognition and federal
protection of the citizenship rights that are enumerated in the constitution and in the federal laws. This lead to the
Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act and overall helping the African-Americans in becoming more American.

4. Why is it economically important?

MLK really was fundamental to the civil rights movement, as well as Rosa Parks, Malcolm X just to name
some other main contributors. This led to desegregation and allowed African-Americans to actually participate fully in
the U.S. economy. For example they, African-Americans, could go to any store, restaurant, or anywhere they wished
to go freely. Although some of the citizens took time to get accustomed to the fact that segregation was illegal, it was
still a rough time for the African-Americans, they hated all the hate and racial terms thrown at them after this law was
passed. With the passing of this law it allowed increased in trade and overall economic growth in the United States by
having the African-Americans play more actively in the economy of the U.S.

5. Why should you and I care about this place?

We should care about this place on account of that Martin Luther King Jr. represented a lot of the Civil Rights
Movement in the United States. He also acknowledged the fact that sometimes peace and love will triumph over
violence and blood. He was an avid speaker and was a master with his words, whether it be on paper, or through his
voice. We should also care about this memorial for its historical importance in the United States, for the African-
Americans, for Americans as a whole, to set an example towards the world that every man is created equally.

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial opened in 2011, it is located in Washington D.C. It is next to the national mall
overlooking the tidal basin. It is next to the Lincoln Memorial and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.
There are three pieces to the memorial, the mountain of despair, the stone of hope and the Northern and southern
inscription wall.

The Mountains of despair is the entrance to the memorial. It is two huge boulders that is separated by a pathway that
goes into the memorial. It represents the struggles Dr. King went though during his life.
The next part of the memorial is the Stone of Hope; this appears to be cut from the Mountain of Despair on the side is
a quote Out of the Mountain of Despair, a Stone of Hope. This comes from Rev. Kings I have a Dream Speech that
he gave during the march on Washington 48 years before the memorial was completed. The statue itself stands 30
feet tall, with Martin Luther King Jr. craved out, he is overlooking the tidal basin toward the Jefferson Memorial.

The final piece of the memorial is the 450 ft. inscription wall that contains fourteen quotes from Dr. King. It is a
crescent shape that extends around the memorial and is broken up by the mountain of despair. The quotes focus on
four main themes: Democracy, Justice, Hope, and Love.

Born Jan. 15, 1929 in Atlanta Georgia, MLK was a civil rights activist during the 1950s through 60s. He fought
against racial discrimination and segregation. He wasnt the only person fighting against injustice. There was
Malcolm X, where King preached nonviolence; Malcolm thought that violence was an answer to the injustice. Rosa
Parks was also a figure of the civil rights movement. She wouldnt give up her seat to a white man on a bus, this
kicked off the Montgomery Bus boycotts.

Segregation started in the south because of a Supreme court case, Plessy Vs. Ferguson, which held segregation was
legal if it was separate but equal This lead to discrimination of African Americans. Dr. King fought against these Jim
Crow laws.

Dr. King rose to prominence because of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts. This was a yearlong boycott of the buses in
Montgomery Alabama by African Americans. This shows how boycotts can bring about the change of a system.
Nonviolence protests.

In 1963, King was part of a mass protest on the National Mall, the location of his future memorial. They were trying to
change the system through nonviolence. He gave his most famous speech here, his I have a dream speech. A
speech that spoke to the very core of Americanism that hoped for a better tomorrow. The next year the civil rights act
of 1964 was passed and the voting rights act was passed in 1965.

In 1964, President Johnson escalated the War in Vietnam, getting the country into a war that would become quite
unpopular. Sending young men across the world to fight communists.
Not only did King protest the injustices at home he also protested the Vietnam War. He gave a speech beyond
Vietnam that was very critical of the war. One of his quotes is enshrined in the memorial I oppose the war in
Vietnam because I love America. I speak out against it not in anger but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart,
and above all with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as a moral example of the world.

Conclusion

I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.

We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do
that."
"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right,
temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."
"Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better
person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."
If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties
must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world
perspective."
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies,
education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits."
"It is not enough to say 'We must not wage war.' It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must
concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but the positive affirmation of peace."
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where
he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
"Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in
their individual societies."
"We are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs 'down like water, and
righteousness like a mighty stream.'"
"We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its
conscience."
"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."