Lincoln Memorial Undercroft to Open as 50,000-Square-Foot Museum in June 2026

Visitors will be able to enter a 50,000-square-foot museum beneath the Lincoln Memorial beginning in June 2026. The space, known as the Undercroft, had remained closed to the public since the memorial’s construction. The Undercroft contains 120 concrete pillars that extend 50 feet into the bedrock.

The area is almost twice the size of the memorial above it. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said stalactites continue to form as rainwater seeps through cracks in the granite and picks up calcium. One column still carries graffiti left by the original construction workers.

Philanthropist David Rubenstein donated a quarter of the $69 million required for the project. ” Planning for the memorial began in the early 1910s. Builders encountered swampy ground and installed the pillars to prevent sinking.

The museum will cover both the memorial’s engineering and its place in civil rights history. In 1939, contralto Marian Anderson performed there after being barred from indoor venues by segregation policies. Martin Luther King Jr.

Spoke from the steps in 1963. Howard University historian Edna Greene Medford said the memorial has become “a symbol of freedom for various groups” who interpret its meaning in their own way. ” The Undercroft will show both the marble structure above and the concrete supports and imperfections below.