WASHINGTON 鈥� A U Street fixture got cleaned ahead of its 20th anniversary celebration in D.C. on Saturday.
About a dozen volunteers gathered at the with cloths, orange buckets, cleaning solutions and their muscles to help restore the memorial鈥檚 shine.
鈥淎bout two weeks from now, we鈥檙e going to celebrate our 20th anniversary,鈥� Frank Smith, founding director of the ,聽told the group before they got to work. 鈥淚 would like to think you all are helping us kick off this 20th anniversary program.”
Vince Patton聽said everyday cleaning solutions were sufficient to restore the memorial鈥檚 luster.
鈥淎 little bit of Windex to make it shine just a little bit, but that鈥檚 about all you need,” he said.
Volunteers gather to spruce up ahead of 20th anniversary.
鈥� Liz Anderson (@PlanetNoun)
After wiping the memorial down with Windex and gently washing it with water, the panels gleamed in the sunlight.
They contain the 209,145 names of the United States Colored Troops, the name for regiments of the Army that had black soldiers.
鈥淭his monument not only represents [black people] who were in the war, white officers who commanded these soldiers, but also [there are] 1,500 Hispanic surnames on our wall out here,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚t tells a story about a great odyssey of America, which is coming out of slavery into freedom.鈥�
鈥� Liz Anderson (@PlanetNoun)
In addition to tidying the panels, volunteers also scooped dirt that had clustered in the memorial鈥檚 gutters.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e taking the dirt that goes into the gutters and using what鈥檚 called bamboo pixie sticks to get out the dirt,鈥� National Park Services ranger James Pierce said.
Pierce said projects like this are important to him.
鈥淎s a veteran, I like to continue to serve 鈥� so I want to keep our nation鈥檚 most iconic memorials beautiful for everyone to enjoy,” he said.
Gary Morrison said this project has been an eye-opener.
鈥淓verybody that鈥檚 volunteered has been digging around on the internet to see, you know, what is the story behind these 209,000 people? And it鈥檚 nothing I ever learned in school,鈥� Morrison said.
After the cleanup, volunteers walked across the street to tour the African American Civil War Memorial Museum.
