Lincoln Memorial

WASHINGTON - More than 2,000 people gathered yesterday at the Lincoln Memorial for a concert honoring the 70th anniversary of Marian Anderson's historic performance there in 1939. Because of the color of her skin, Anderson was denied the opportunity to perform at nearby Constitution Hall and a local high school. So instead, the opera singer sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in April 1939 to a 75,000-person crowd of blacks and whites standing together. In yesterday's afternoon sunshine, African-American opera star Denyce Graves performed three of the same songs Anderson sang...

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s spiritual journey passed through Boston when he studied for a doctorate in theology at Boston University, and his legacy was honored yesterday in speeches, concerts, and service projects across the region. "I am proud that Dr. King's personal history is rooted in our city," Mayor Thomas M. Menino said at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in South Boston, where organizers estimated that about 800 people filled the ballroom for the annual King Day breakfast filled with song, prayer, and praise.

WASHINGTON -- The National Park Service sought out footage of "conservative right-wing demonstrations" to revise the video shown to visitors at the Lincoln Memorial after being pressured by conservatives who contended that the display implied that Abraham Lincoln supported abortion, homosexuality, and liberal causes. Park Service documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show officials purchased video of President Bush, pro-gun advocates, and pro-Iraq war rallies, and also considered the removal of images of Bill Clinton at the memorial.

Casting about for a summer job as a 17-year-old high school student, Tish Hopkins began mowing lawns at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in her hometown of Concord. She loved working outside and admired the camaraderie among the town's public works employees. Her father, uncle, and cousin also worked for Concord, so she asked her father to see whether the town could use her. He found her a spot. Twenty-four years later, she is still there, still loving it. "I had never mowed a lawn before," said Hopkins, who has long served as cemetery supervisor.

After her concert in D.C. earlier this week, country star and apparent student of history Taylor Swift paid a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, where she quietly walked the grounds and laid bouquets of flowers at the graves of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy . Swift, who played two sold-out shows at Gillette Stadium in June, was also spotted at the Lincoln Memorial. "After the show, we went to see Abe !! Pretty magical," she tweeted. "It was my first time seeing the Lincoln Memorial up close (missed the school trip in 8th grade cause I had a show)

A nonprofit group that raises money for the National Mall has selected a jury of architects, preservationists and other experts who will judge the first phase of a design competition to overhaul three sites on "America's front yard. " The competition focuses on redesigning Union Square at the foot of the Capitol, the Washington Monument grounds and Constitution Gardens near the Lincoln Memorial. The Trust for the National Mall announced Wednesday that the jury includes Los Angeles architect Thom Mayne, former Howard University architecture...

WASHINGTON - Twenty-five culturally significant recordings, including a 70-year-old radio broadcast of Marian Anderson's recital at the Lincoln Memorial, Dylan Thomas reading of "A Child's Christmas in Wales," and Winston Churchill's post-World War II speech that coined the term Iron Curtain, will be preserved in a special sound archive. Every year the Librarian of Congress selects sound recordings to include in the National Recording Registry. This year's batch, being announced today, also includes signature performances from several artists such as Etta James's "At Last!

NEW YORK - A handwritten manuscript of an 1864 Abraham Lincoln speech sold for $3.44 million on the bicentennial of his birthday yesterday, setting a new auction record for an American historical document. The manuscript was sold to an anonymous phone bidder after spirited bidding in a crowded Christie's auction house room. Proceeds from the sale will help pay for a new wing for a library in New York's Finger Lakes region, where the document has been since 1926. Yesterday's price was just slightly higher than the previous record of $3.40 million set last year at Sotheby's ,...

PICK OF THE DAY It’s all uphill Harrison Gray Otis, the third mayor of Boston, lived with his wife, Sally, in a Federal-era mansion designed by Charles Bulfinch. The north slope of Beacon Hill was home to Boston’s working class. See how both sides lived at Magnificent and Modest: Beacon Hill Walking Tour . May 28 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (Saturdays through October). $12 ( reservations recommended). Tour starts at Otis House Museum, 141 Cambridge St., Boston.

When a young Aretha Franklin accompanied the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to churches in the early days of the civil rights movement, he usually made a special request for her to sing one song in particular: "Take My Hand, Precious Lord. " On Aug. 28, when a memorial in his honor is dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, Franklin will again sing the song for her mentor and friend. "I'm really looking forward to this moment. It's going to be another great, great moment in American history, and in African-American history," Franklin said in a phone interview Tuesday.

A nonprofit group that raises money for the National Mall has selected a jury of architects, preservationists and other experts who will judge the first phase of a design competition to overhaul three sites on "America's front yard. " The competition focuses on redesigning Union Square at the foot of the Capitol, the Washington Monument grounds and Constitution Gardens near the Lincoln Memorial. The Trust for the National Mall announced Wednesday that the jury includes Los Angeles architect Thom Mayne, former Howard University architecture dean Harry Robinson and former...

When a young Aretha Franklin accompanied the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to churches in the early days of the civil rights movement, he usually made a special request for her to sing one song in particular: "Take My Hand, Precious Lord. " On Aug. 28, when a memorial in his honor is dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, Franklin will again sing the song for her mentor and friend. "I'm really looking forward to this moment. It's going to be another great, great moment in American history, and in African-American history," Franklin said in a phone interview Tuesday.

After her concert in D.C. earlier this week, country star and apparent student of history Taylor Swift paid a visit to Arlington National Cemetery, where she quietly walked the grounds and laid bouquets of flowers at the graves of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy . Swift, who played two sold-out shows at Gillette Stadium in June, was also spotted at the Lincoln Memorial. "After the show, we went to see Abe !! Pretty magical," she tweeted. "It was my first time seeing the Lincoln Memorial up close (missed the school trip in 8th grade cause I...

PICK OF THE DAY It’s all uphill Harrison Gray Otis, the third mayor of Boston, lived with his wife, Sally, in a Federal-era mansion designed by Charles Bulfinch. The north slope of Beacon Hill was home to Boston’s working class. See how both sides lived at Magnificent and Modest: Beacon Hill Walking Tour . May 28 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (Saturdays through October). $12 ( reservations recommended). Tour starts at Otis House Museum, 141 Cambridge St., Boston.

STOCKBRIDGE — Here’s a daunting, but irresistible challenge: Stage an exhibition of contemporary figurative sculptures on the estate of one of the great American sculptors of the human form, Daniel Chester French. Just about every American recognizes French’s best known work: the pensive, giant Abraham Lincoln seated at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. French also crafted several monuments around Boston, including a statue of Civil War General Joseph Hooker on the State House lawn.

The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most glorious moment, the occasion of his celebrated “I Have a Dream’’ speech. But the march, like all historical moments, also belonged to much lesser-knowns. Jerome Smith, for example, was a Freedom Rider from Mississippi who had been invited to a meeting on race relations at Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’s Manhattan apartment a few months before the march. The secret huddle, arranged by the writer James Baldwin, featured committed celebrities such as Lena...

The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s most glorious moment, the occasion of his celebrated “I Have a Dream’’ speech. But the march, like all historical moments, also belonged to much lesser-knowns. Jerome Smith, for example, was a Freedom Rider from Mississippi who had been invited to a meeting on race relations at Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’s Manhattan apartment a few months before the march. The secret huddle, arranged by the writer James Baldwin, featured committed celebrities such as Lena Horne and Harry Belafonte.

Casting about for a summer job as a 17-year-old high school student, Tish Hopkins began mowing lawns at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in her hometown of Concord. She loved working outside and admired the camaraderie among the town's public works employees. Her father, uncle, and cousin also worked for Concord, so she asked her father to see whether the town could use her. He found her a spot. Twenty-four years later, she is still there, still loving it. "I had never mowed a lawn before," said Hopkins, who has long served as...

WASHINGTON - Twenty-five culturally significant recordings, including a 70-year-old radio broadcast of Marian Anderson's recital at the Lincoln Memorial, Dylan Thomas reading of "A Child's Christmas in Wales," and Winston Churchill's post-World War II speech that coined the term Iron Curtain, will be preserved in a special sound archive. Every year the Librarian of Congress selects sound recordings to include in the National Recording Registry. This year's batch, being announced today, also includes signature performances from several artists such as Etta James's "At Last!

WASHINGTON - More than 2,000 people gathered yesterday at the Lincoln Memorial for a concert honoring the 70th anniversary of Marian Anderson's historic performance there in 1939. Because of the color of her skin, Anderson was denied the opportunity to perform at nearby Constitution Hall and a local high school. So instead, the opera singer sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in April 1939 to a 75,000-person crowd of blacks and whites standing together. In yesterday's afternoon sunshine, African-American opera star Denyce Graves performed three of the same...