Carousel on the Mall, Washington, D.C.

On August 28, 1963, as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, segregation ended at Baltimore’s Gwynn Oak Amusement Park after nearly a decade of protests there. The first African American child to go on a ride at Gwynn Oak that day was 11-month-old Sharon Langley. With her father Charles Langley, Jr. by her side, she took a spin on the park’s carousel as news reporters snapped photos. In 1981, the Gwynn Oak carousel S.N. 105948, a classic built by the Allan Herschell Co., was relocated to the National Mall, where it has always been open to everyone and stands as a symbol of the harmony of which Dr. King dreamed.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States