Coalition Newsletter and Yearly Appeal

December 18, 2021 at 12:13 pm

Dear Friends of the National Mall,

We depend on your continuing support to help us raise public awareness of the Mall’s role in American democracy, of challenges to its future resiliency, and of the need for forward-looking, comprehensive solutions to ensure the Mall’s continued vitality in the 21st century.

Please consider, once again, a tax-deductible gift of $50, $100, or more to help sustain our all-volunteer National Mall Coalition. Donate here or to:

National Mall Coalition
P.O. Box 4709
Rockville, MD 20849.

Our strong advocacy continues. On November 26th, The New York Times published “Saving History With Wet-Vacs in Washington” — front page, above the fold — about the flooding threat at the Smithsonian museums on the Mall. On December 7th, The Times published the Coalition’s letter that points out there is a possible solution in the National Mall Underground, but that government agencies refuse to take it seriously. Isn’t the (inevitable) resistance to any new idea for the Mall the starting ground — not the burial chamber — for the public consultation process? The Coalition has always been open to revising and improving the concept.

It was two years ago that our op-ed in The Washington Post asked “If someone has a better idea, then speak up, the sooner, the better.” What do we hear? Silence.

Read more below about latest news, including our appreciation of Washington Post editorial board editor Fred Hiatt, our presentation of the Underground proposal to the Commission of Fine Arts in October, and our tribute to Coalition Board member Albert H. Small, who died in October.

And please make a donation here.

An Appreciation of Fred Hiatt of The Washington Post

On June 24th, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts reviewed the Smithsonian Institution’s much-reduced plan for its museum buildings on the south side of the National Mall. The National Mall Coalition submitted testimony supporting this simpler plan. . — READ MORE

Coalition Presents National Mall Underground to Commission of Fine Arts

The CFA is one of several federal agencies that have authority over development on the National Mall, so it was one of the agencies to whom two members of Congress wrote on August 18 of this year, requesting review of the National Mall Coalition’s National Mall Underground proposal. — READ MORE

Albert Small (right) with fellow National Mall Coalition Board members Arthur Cotton Moore and Judy Scott Feldman at the November 2013 opening of our National Mall Underground Exhibition in downtown Washington.

A Tribute to Albert H. Small (1925 – 2021)

Our National Mall Coalition lost a visionary Board member and enthusiastic champion of the National Mall with the death of Albert H. Small on October 3, 2021. — READ MORE