Places

This four-foot-high shaft of pink granite stands on the north and south meridian of the District of Columbia. It is symbolically the official starting point for measurement of highway distances from Washington, DC. On July 7, 1919, the first transcontinental military motor convoy, destined for San Francisco, California, started from this spot.

Participants in the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights marched across E Street in front of the South Lawn of the White House on October 14, 1979. The 1979 march is seen as the birth of a national movement for LGB rights that helped small, local organizations unite, know that they were not alone, and bring their issues to a national stage showcasing their collective power.

The first-ever picket for gay rights in Washington, DC took place outside the White House in April 1965. One of the first protests of its kind in United States history, this moment stands alongside better-known protests and uprisings like Stonewall in New York as one of the origins of the American LGB rights movement. What would you picket for? Text what would be on your protest sign to someone you’d want to join your picket line.

In 1992, protestors came to the White House to scatter the ashes of their loved ones who passed away from AIDS onto the White House Lawn. Acting out of grief, anger and love, these protesters demanded that President George H. W. Bush and the United States government take action to end the AIDS epidemic.

Rainbow colors lit up the White House on the evening of June 26, 2015, in celebration of the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision. The decision, which was announced that same day, legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. On December 13, 2022, the White House was lit up in rainbow colors again, this time the south portico to celebrate the Respect for Marriage Act being signed into law by President Biden.

This fountain memorializes Archibald Butt and Francis Millet, two men who died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Butt and Millet were most likely involved in a romantic relationship, but because of the intense social stigma around homosexuality during their life there is no explicit confirmation of the nature of their relationship. This memorial, planned by their friends and approved by Congress, honors the two of them together, inseparable in memory as in life.

This statue memorializes Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben as Inspector General of the Continental Army of the United States. The Prussian born general was skilled in the ways of military tactics and standards. While never explicitly stated, it is assumed that Baron von Steuben was gay. This memorial not only honors von Steuben’s military accomplishments, but also his closest intimate relationships.

Bernard Baruch (1870-1965), a financial advisor from New York City, made his fortune on Wall Street. His greatest satisfaction, however, was his service to his country as an economic advisor during World War I and World War II and as a confidante to six presidents. The story is told that Mr. Baruch disliked being driven to the White House to confer. He preferred to sit on a bench and wait for a signal light from the White House indicating that the president was ready to meet.

In November 1923, First Lady Grace Coolidge gave permission for the District of Columbia Public Schools to erect a Christmas tree on the Ellipse south of the White House. The organizers named the tree the "National Christmas Tree." That Christmas Eve, at 5 p.m., President Calvin Coolidge walked from the White House to the Ellipse and "pushed the button" to light the cut 48-foot Balsam fir, as 3,000 enthusiastic spectators looked on.

This monument consists of a bronze equestrian statue of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820-1891) and a square platform with a bronze soldier at each corner, representing the four branches of the U.S. Army: infantry, artillery, cavalry, and engineers. President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the monument on October 15, 1903. This site was chosen because General Sherman was reported to have stood here while reviewing returning Civil War troops in May 1865.