D.C. readies for one-two punch
D.C. | Milestone Lincoln birthday, Obama inauguration mean more visitors
WASHINGTON -- With Barack Obama moving into the White House and the ongoing celebration of Abraham Lincoln's life, the nation's capital and its many tourism sites have been thrust into the spotlight.
As the country installs its first black president, dozens of exhibits and attractions in early 2009 are touching on the inauguration, the nation's political and social history and its progress from the struggle for civil rights.
(AP)
Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th president one day after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and a few weeks before the 200-year anniversary of Honest Abe's birth on Feb. 12, 1809. The symbolism could draw millions of people to the inaugural and in the weeks that follow. For the city's museums and memorials, this is a key moment.
Some unique sites are in the middle of Washington yet off the beaten path for most tourists. One example, the Decatur House museum, was the first neighbor of the White House built on Lafayette Square in 1818. The house, once an unofficial residence for secretaries of state, includes slave quarters within steps of the White House -- though they usually go unnoticed amid the hustle of the city.
"It's a sensitive subject. It's an important subject, though," museum director Cindi Malinick said of an exhibit on black history in the White House neighborhood. Decatur House holds one of the few remaining examples of what urban slavery was like, Malinick said.
A 2002 renovation uncovered the original floor, walls and fireplaces of the slave quarters, which are on view in the exhibit, "The Half Had Not Been Told Me: African Americans on Lafayette Square." The show remains on view through at least March. Reservations are recommended for the $5 tour.
Obama visited the home in February to film a campaign commercial.
"Tell me about this place," Malinick recalled Obama saying while he had time to look around.
"And I said, 'Well, Senator Obama, you're actually standing in the slave quarters of Decatur House.'"
"Really?" he said.
Access on Inauguration Day will likely be limited due to security, but public tours will continue the weekend before and in the days after Obama is sworn in. For more information, visit the Decatur House Web site at www.decaturhouse.org.
Here are some highlights of other fresh sites to see in Washington.
NEW ATTRACTION: Tourists can see the new Capitol Visitor Center, an underground museum that's now the first stop for people touring Congress. It features documents from milestones such as President John F. Kennedy's 1961 speech calling for the nation to send a man to the moon. Tours of the Capitol are limited to free timed-entry tickets that should be reserved in advance online at www.visitthecapitol.gov or through a congressional office.
LINCOLN BICENTENNIAL: A citywide celebration of the 200th anniversary of Honest Abe's birth begins this month and will feature more than 80 exhibits and programs. The Smithsonian Institution will offer five exhibits on the 16th president, including "Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life," with more than 60 artifacts from Lincoln's life at the National Museum of American History. Details at www.lincolnindc.com.
In February, Ford's Theatre -- where Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 -- will reopen for tours and performances after an extensive renovation. There will be an open house Feb. 12 to mark Lincoln's birthday, and tours resume Feb. 17. The theater also commissioned a new play on Lincoln set in 1862 titled "The Heavens are Hung in Black." The play tackles the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of slavery. Details at www.fords.org.
The Peterson House across the street, where Lincoln died, remains open for tours.
CIVIL RIGHTS: Powerful images from the civil rights movement will be on display in the exhibit, "Road to Freedom," through March 9 at the Smithsonian's Ripley Center International Gallery. Nearly 200 images are on display from about 50 photographers who documented the 12 years between the time Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man in 1955 to King's assassination in 1968; http://nmaahc.si.edu.
INAUGURAL BALLS: For visitors who can't wait to attend their first inaugural ball, there will be a plethora of options during the inaugural weekend. Peace activists can gather at the "Inaugural Peace Ball," which will be hosted at the Smithsonian Postal Museum. Alumni and others connected to historically black colleges and universities will hold their own ball on the Washington Harbor. Tickets sell for $300. MTV will televise its own ball from the Ronald Reagan Building on Pennsylvania Avenue. And the Smithsonian American Art Museum will be the site of the Lincoln 2.0 Inaugural Ball. In 1865, the building also played host to President Lincoln's inaugural ball. Victorian-era attire is welcomed. Tickets are going for $375 to $500, proving that for this year, history still sells.
A listing of inaugural balls is available at www.washington.org.
AP