Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
A 'Stone of Hope' split from the 'Mountain of Despair' on the northwest shore of the Tidal Basin, with a 9-meter granite statue of Dr. King and a wall of his quotations.
Unveiled in 2011, it was the first monument on the National Mall to honor an African American and a non-president. Its design draws on Dr. King's 'I Have a Dream' speech and the line about carving a stone of hope out of a mountain of despair. A passage opens between two giant boulders, with the statue projecting outward ahead. Two curved walls, each 137 meters long, carry 14 quotations. It is free and open 24 hours, and it pairs well with the Jefferson Memorial and the FDR Memorial as a walking loop around the Tidal Basin.
Opening hours
All day
Nearby sights
- National World War II Memorial
- Tidal Basin Cherry Blossoms
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- National Mall & Lincoln Memorial
- Thomas Jefferson Memorial
- Washington Monument
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- National Museum of African American History and Culture