A memorial dedicated to American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Junior opens to the public Monday in a preview ahead of Sunday's official dedication ceremony.
The King memorial is located on the National Mall in Washington between memorials honoring iconic presidents Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. This is the first memorial on the mall dedicated to someone other than a president or a war.
The 9-meter tall statue and long granite wall inscribed with key quotations from the slain civil rights leader will be officially dedicated Sunday - the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington and Reverend King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak at the dedication ceremony.
The King Memorial is located at 1964 Independence Avenue, a reference to the year the Civil Rights Act was passed into law by the late president Lyndon Johnson.
The King Memorial is the latest in a series of additions to the National Mall in the past two decades. The Korean War Memorial was built in 1995. A monument honoring president Franklin Roosevelt was dedicated in 1997 followed by the World War Two Memorial in 2004.