The National Mall: Geography and America’s Front Yard

Home to monuments, memorials and marches, the National Mall is the United States’ most important public space. In her book, Professor Lisa Benton-Short looks at the Mall as a symbol of the American story. “The book is an exploration of the power of place, and for that reason it is very much geographical,” said Benton-Short. “‘Place’ is for geographers what ‘time’ is for historians. We look at the layers of changes, the developments of physical artifacts and the meaning and symbolism of places.”