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The Memorial sits on both the geographical and temporal axis of American history, between the Washington Monument, in honor of the slave-owning “Father of our Country,” and the Lincoln Memorial, in honor of the embattled President and “Great Emancipator.” Between and including the terms of these two presidents is the history of African-American slavery since the establishment of our republic. The Memorial is also directly to the east of the World War II Memorial, honoring those who died in the Second World War, soon after which the modern Civil Rights Movement began. Likewise, the Memorial sits on the axis addressed by Martin Luther King near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.