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Event
Information:
Memorial Day is also marked in
Washington DC by the Memorial Day
Concert, taking place this year live
on PBS from the West Lawn of the
U.S. Capitol on Sunday, May 27th,
from 8:00 to 9:30 pm ET. The program
is co-hosted for the seventh year by
Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise,
two acclaimed actors who have
dedicated themselves to veteran’s
causes and supporting troops in
active service. They will be joined
by an all-star line-up including:
distinguished American leader Colin
L. Powell, Natalie Cole, Trace
Adkins, Jessica Sanchez; Ellen
Burstyn, Dennis Franz, Selma Blair
and tenor Russell Watson.
Begun as a ritual of remembrance and
reconciliation after the civil war,
by the early 20th century, Memorial
Day was an occasion for more general
expressions of memory, as ordinary
people visited the graves of their
deceased relatives, whether they had
served in the military or not. It
also became a long weekend
increasingly devoted to shopping,
family get-togethers, fireworks,
trips to the beach, and national
media events such as the
Indianapolis 500 (since 1911) and
the Coca-Cola 600 (since 1960) auto
races. Capitol Hill, aside from
being a metonym for the United
States Congress, is the largest
historic residential neighborhood in
Washington D.C., stretching easterly
in front of the United States
Capitol along wide avenues. It is
one of the oldest residential
communities in Washington, and, with
roughly 35,000 people in just under
two square miles, it is also one of
the most densely populated.
Capitol Hill's landmarks include not
only the United States Capitol, but
also the Senate and House office
buildings, the Supreme Court
building, the Library of Congress,
the Marine Barracks, the Washington
Navy Yard, and Congressional
Cemetery. It is, however, largely a
residential neighborhood composed
predominantly of rowhouses of
different stylistic varieties and
periods. Side by side exist early
19th century manor houses, Federal
townhouses, small frame dwellings,
ornate Italianate bracketed houses
and the late 19th century press
brick rowhouses with their often
whimsical decorative elements
combining Richardsonian Romanesque,
Queen Anne, and Eastlakian motifs.
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