Lincoln Memorial Steps

The steps of the Lincoln Memorial

National Park Service image

The steps of the Lincoln Memorial form a grand, ascending approach that has become both a symbolic pathway and a stage for American history. These broad granite and marble steps have served as the setting for major historic moments, most famously Marian Anderson’s 1939 open-air concert, performed here after she was denied a segregated venue, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered from the upper landing during the March on Washington. The combination of their physical prominence and their role in the nation’s collective memory makes the steps a powerful place of reflection, gathering, and civic expression. Incidentally, visitors climb 87 steps – that’s right, four score and seven—from the edge of the Reflecting Pool to the memorial chamber. But that number is purely coincidental – nothing in Henry Bacon’s writings or architectural plans indicate it was intentionally symbolic.