Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is the biggest reflecting pool in Washington, D.C. It is right next to the Lincoln Memorial. The reflecting pool is long and can be seen in many photographs of the Washington Monument. There are paths and trees on both sides, and many people exercise around it. It reflects both the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, which means that you can see both if you look into the water.

Looking out over the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool towards the Washington Monument

It is on the west side of the National Mall, and is about 2,029 feet (618 m) long and 167 feet (51 m) wide. It is about 18 inches (46 cm) deep on the sides and 30 inches (76 cm) deep in the middle. It holds approximately 6,750,000 U.S. gallons (25,500,000 L) of water.

Events

Because the reflecting pool is right in front of the Lincoln Memorial, many famous events have happened there.

In 1939, singer Marian Anderson was not allowed to sing in the Constitution Hall in Washington, because of her race. Instead, she sang on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday. Over 75,000 people went to the Reflecting Pool area to listen to her. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, helped make her concert at the Lincoln Memorial possible.

In 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom held a large Civil Rights rally around the reflecting pool. This was where Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech to a quarter million people standing around and in the Reflecting Pool.