Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister and social activist who became a notable figure during the U.S. civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until he was assassinated in 1968. He played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African American citizens in the U.S., influencing the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, and is famously known for his iconic “I Have a Dream" speech that he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington in 1963.

Located between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, along the tidal basin. Metro Stations: Foggy Bottom, Smithsonian. The memorial’s official address alludes to the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act.

King's memorial is the first to honor an African American individual on the National Mall. The space is a place to contemplate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy: a non-violent philosophy striving for freedom, justice, and equality.

The Memorial’s location along the line connecting the Thomas Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials helps to reinforce the connection between these three leaders at three important moments for civil rights in our nation’s history: from the promise that “all men are created equal,” to the freeing of slaves, to the final push for full and equal rights.