Washington, DC
Lincoln Park
12th St. NE and East Capitol St. NE
GPS coordinates: 38.88980,-76.99024
Take a photo of your rally flag and motorcycle with the above image.*

A quiet park pays tribute to the nation’s most revered president. Lincoln Park is also home to the original Lincoln Memorial – the Emancipation Monument. Erected by freed slaves just 11 years after his death and 116 years before their descendants raised the new Lincoln Memorial, the memorial highlights the conflict of the Emancipation Proclamation.

While Lincoln’s order freed the slaves in the South (he had freed those in Washington DC nearly a year earlier), Lincoln is depicted here as “The Great Emancipator” freeing an African American Slave. The statue shows Lincoln awakening the slave to his new freedom and the realization that his shackles are gone. Behind the men stands a whipping post, covered now with vines overgrowing the ring that once held the slave. Like much about this period in our history, there are complications and nuance in every detail.

Originally facing the Capitol, when a statue celebrating African American educator Mary McLeod Bethune was erected in the eastern half of Lincoln Park, the Emancipation Memorial was rotated 180 degrees to face it, letting “Father Abraham” see what he wrought.

Also in the area: Nearby, at Vermont and U streets NW, the African American Civil War Memorial, honors the African Americans who served in the War, their names inscribed on panels surrounding the monument. 209,145 names, not forgotten or ignored.

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*If motorcycle, rally flag and above image can't be in the same photo, submit two photos: one with rally flag and above image, and another with rally flag and motorcycle nearby. If the site is CLOSED or inaccessible, submit a photo with rally flag and motorcycle nearby, along with an explanation.

Tour of Honor, Mid-Atlantic Region is sponsored by Jim Hatch.