A rainy visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial connects a father’s Navy service with an examination of America’s objectives and the war’s wider Southeast Asian legacy.

Photographed beneath the Lincoln Memorial, historic copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and Thirteenth Amendment reveal how emancipation unfolded through wartime strategy, military service, state action, Confederate debate and constitutional change.

Building the Lincoln Memorial required more than a plan for a statue and columns. Through photographs from her June 28 visit, Rebecca Canales explores the alternative designs, stone from across the country, deep foundations and craftsmanship that shaped the monument—and the people who brought it to life.

Three days after the Lincoln Memorial undercroft opened, I explored the new museum beneath the monument, where exposed foundations, interactive exhibits, statue models, and historical displays reveal a side of the memorial most visitors had never seen.

After walking through the rain and passing a small protest near the Reflecting Pool, Rebecca Canales reached the Lincoln Memorial while waiting for Great American State Fair media credentials. The visit became a bucket-list moment and a closer look at Lincoln’s words, the memorial’s history, and its continuing role as a place of remembrance and public expression.

Whittier 360 News Network will be reporting from Washington, D.C., during the nation’s America 250 celebrations after receiving approved press access to cover Freedom 250 Presents: The Great American State Fair on the National Mall. Because of this national reporting opportunity, Whittier 360 will focus its Independence Day coverage this year on events in Washington, D.C., rather than the local Fourth of July celebration in Whittier. The Great American State Fair is being hel

Whittier 360 News Network is filing Articles of Incorporation with the State of California — the first step toward 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. We are also seeking board of directors members to help build the future of civic journalism in the greater Whittier region.