Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool facts for kids

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

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.

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.

Images for kids

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  Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, 2006

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  Pool looking toward Lincoln Memorial

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  Anti-Vietnam War protesters gather at the pool for the October 21, 1967 March on the Pentagon

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  Ice covering the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after the February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard

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  Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool before reconstruction (April 2010)

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  Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool undergoing reconstruction (June 2011)

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  The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool undergoing reconstruction (December 2011)

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  Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool after reconstruction (May 2016)

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  The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool at sunset (August 2015)

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  The Washington Monument is seen in full in the Reflecting Pool, from the roof of the Lincoln Memorial. (June 2010)

See also

In Spanish: Estanque reflectante del monumento a Lincoln para niños