Commemorate DC
Commemorate DC
The Office of Planning (OP) invites you to help plan new monuments and memorials in your community!
Welcome to Commemorate DC!
Welcome to Commemorate DC's community platform! This site is dedicated to guiding you through the process of participating in our commemortive works initiative! Here you'll find resources on the process to take a commemorative work from an idea to a built piece of public art! Our goal is to make it easy for you to engage, share your ideas, and help shape our public spaces with meaningful works that honor the people and stories that matter most to our communities. Join us in celebrating our history and impact and honoring the stories of our shared past!
A Look Ahead:
NEW DATES!
March 29th & April 12th: Walking Through History: A Community Commemoration Tours
Join us Saturday, March 29th in Ward 8 and Saturday, April 12th in Ward 5 for an inspiring journey through our communities as we explore potential sites for future commemorative works! At each stop, you'll learn about incredible individuals and stories behind the leaders, activists, and change makers who shaped our neighborhoods. We will conclude our event at the future site of this year’s commemorative works where you will have the chance to share your vision for what these commemorations should look like. This is your chance to be a part of something meaningful, creative, and community-driven! Register at the events tab for your Ward specific event!
Announcing our 2025 Subjects:
Thank you to everyone that participated in Commemorate DC’s voting process! Your voice has helped shape the future of Commemoration in the District and we are delighted to share the results with you.
After receiving 54% of the votes from community members, Sterling Allen Brown was selected and will represent our Ward 5 Commemorative Work! Sterling Brown was a DC Native who was DC's first Black Poet Laureate. Brown had a career of research, teaching, literary writing and advocacy in asserting the validity of Negro spirituals and Black art/music as valid art forms. He also challenged the portryals of African American life, experiences and culture. As a long time Howard University professor, he influenced generations of writer, leaving a lasting impact on American literature.
After receiving 38% of the vote, Wilhelmina and Calvin Rolark was selected and will represent our Ward 8 Commemorative Work! Wilhelmina and Calvin Rolark were influential figures, known for their dedication to civil rights, journalism, and community empowerment. Calvin founded The Washington Informer, a vital Black newspaper, while Wilhelmina was a passionate attorney and politican. Together, they championed social justice, Black economic advancement, and education, leaving a lasting legacy in the city.
We appreciate everyone who took the time to vote, engage, and support this initiative. Your participation makes a difference, and we look forward to bringing their stories to life through public art!
Why Commemorative Works:
Commemorative works are symbols of our shared past and values that can create distinct identities for neighborhoods, inspire us to live better lives, and remind us of the people and events that shaped the world we live in. Washington, DC is a city full of monuments and memorials to subjects associated with our nation’s history – some with a controversial past. There are few dedicated to Washingtonians that tell the story of our residents, neighborhoods, and local history. Residents shared with the Office of Planning (OP) that they value the sense of community pride created by commemorative works, as well as how they educate new residents or children in their neighborhoods. Eighty-eight percent of residents expressed interest in having a commemorative work in their neighborhood.
To learn more about the people, places, and events currently honored in DC neighborhoods, check out featured commemorative works posted on OP's website.
About the Initiative:
Commemorate DC will support local partners participating in the program to increase commemoration of Black Washingtonians and other leaders of color in all Wards of the District. After subjects and sites have been identified, a design team and public artists provided by OP and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities will prepare concept designs.
As the Nation’s capital, monuments and commemorative works have typically been focused on or reserved for commemoration to individuals or subjects of national importance within the monumental core, the original L’Enfant City, and mostly in Wards 1, 2, 3, and 6. Many of these subjects participated in slavery, systemic racism, and the mistreatment of, or took actions that suppressed equality for, persons of color, certain groups of people, and women.
DC's Commemorative Works Program reviews proposals submitted by sponsors, but since the program was established in 2001 has received only a handful of applications for local subjects. OP's Commemorate DC work includes technical assistance to community partners in all Wards to identify commemorative subjects and sites before supporting efforts. The Office of Planning's partners are convening meetings with community groups and residents to discuss subjects to commemorate, appropriate sites, and concept designs of commemorative works. Concept designs will be reviewed by the Commemorative Works Committee who will make a recommendation on each proposal to the Mayor and District Council, who have final review and approval.
Contact Us:
Zhetique Gunn, Program Manager, Urban Design
Marvin Hodges, Community Planner, Urban Design
Email: CWTAP@dc.gov
Phone: (202) 442-7600
We look forward to hearing from you!