51 Steps To Freedom® Trail
“One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, one nation forevermore!”
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
1
Georgetown
Steps Include:
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Emma V. Brown Home
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Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, Female Union Band Society Cemetery & Mt. Zion Heritage Center, Jerusalem Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, Herring Hill
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Rose Park, The Peters sisters, Margaret & Roumania
2
Foggy Bottom/Dupont Circle West
Steps Include:
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O Museum in The Mansion
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Lisner Auditorium, Ingrid Bergman Call Box & The Toni Morrison Bench, The Nelson Mandela Garden
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The Dr. Dorothy I. Height Bench
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Dr. Charles Drew & Dr. Rayford Logan Homes
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Kennedy Center
Her Story - A Curated Journey of Courage and Change
Across our nation women have stood at the heart of America’s ongoing fight for liberty. This experience brings together powerful trail stops that highlight the resilience, leadership, and lasting impact of women who shaped our nation’s history — often against great odds. Walk in their footsteps, feel their courage, and be inspired by the legacy they built for generations to come.
Did You Know?
Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981 — but early in her career, no law firm would hire her as an attorney. One firm offered her a job as a secretary instead.
3
Striver's Section/Dupont Circle East
Steps Include:
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Mary Church Terrell Home
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The Josephine Butler Center at Malcolm X Park
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Frederick, Charles, and Lewis Douglass Homes
Alice Paul wrote the original Equal Rights Amendment in 1923 — and spent the next five decades fighting for its passage. She believed equality needed to be protected not just by laws, but by the Constitution itself.
Did You Know?
5
U St. Corridor, Shaw & LeDroit Park
Steps Include:
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Ben’s Chili Bowl, Lincoln Theater, The Colonnade, Lee's Flower
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The African American Civil War Museum, The Grimke School
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The Howard Theatre & Chuck Brown Way
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Women's Leadership Legacy Walk, Howard University
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Griffith Stadium, Washington Senators, Redskins, Negro National League
Bonus
Special Bonus Stops
Steps Include:
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Department of Energy, Former Atomic Energy Site
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RFK Stadium
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NASA
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The Wharf
4
Anacostia/Congress Heights
Steps Include:
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Go Go Museum & We Act Radio
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Frederick Douglass Home on Cedar Hill
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United States Colored Cemetery & St., Susie King-Taylor ElizabethsHospital
Did You Know?
Mary Jackson, NASA’s first Black female engineer, started her career by challenging segregated education laws — petitioning to take advanced classes in an all-white school.
Her groundbreaking work
helped open doors for
women and minorities
across the space program.
6
Downtown & The National Mall
Steps Include:
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The Supreme Court
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The U.S. Capitol
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Constitution Park, Declaration of Independence Memorial
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The Red Summer, Slave Escape on The Pearl, The National Era Newspaper, Snow Riot, The National Council of Negro Women
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National Archives
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FDR Memorial, Eleanor Roosevelt Statue
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The Washington Monument, National Museum of African American History & Culture
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The Lincoln Memorial
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DAR Hall
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The White House,
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Liberty Plaza
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Lafayette Square Park
The "Silent Sentinels" were suffragists who protested for women's right to vote by picketing the White House during World War I.
It wasn't until In 1920, that the 19th Amendment was passed granting women the right to vote in the U.S., but many women of color were still not allowed to vote.
Did You Know?
Augmented Reality Trail in Washington DC
51 Steps To Freedom® is transforming Washington, DC into the largest outdoor museum — in the world. Spanning over eight miles, this one-of-a-kind augmented reality trail explores D.C.'s extraordinary history, culture, and its ongoing journey toward liberty and opportunity for all.