Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial
LOCATION
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is a part of the National Mall & Memorial Parks. It is located in West Potomac Park on the Tidal Basin off of Independence Avenue and West Basin Drive near the DC War Memorial and the site of the Japanese Lantern & First Cherry Tree Planting. It's a very bicycle-friendly area, but if you do drive, there is some parking along Ohio Drive, SW.
HISTORY OF THE MONUMENT
In 1963, King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. After he was assassinated in 1968, his college fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, began the campaign to erect a permanent statue to honor him. In 2011, on the anniversary of the March on Washington, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial was scheduled to be dedicated, although Hurricane Irene postponed the ceremony for two months, so there was a "soft opening" instead.