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On Saturday, January 21, the day after Donald Trump is sworn in as President of the United States, over 200,000 Americans have pledged to join the Women’s March on Washington.
But that’s not all: Over 600 “sister marches” have been planned for the same day in cities all over the world, which may attract as many as 1.5 million people—more than the estimated 800,000 people who are expected to attend the inauguration itself (and that figure already includes protesters).
Although the Women’s March began as a feminist message that went viral on social media, organizers have broadened the platform to one of civil rights, encompassing a diverse coalition of 200 groups representing interests as varied as immigration, gender equality, and universal healthcare. It may well be one of the largest coordinated demonstrations in U.S. history. (Read my colleague Megan Barber’s story on the largest marches of all time, and why it’s so hard to count crowds.)
Here’s a look at some of the public spaces, historical sites, and prominent urban corridors in U.S. cities where Women’s Marches will be taking place this Saturday, including the main march in D.C.
Washington D.C.
At least 2000 chartered buses will bring attendees from all over the country to D.C.’s National Mall, the site of many marches, protests, and demonstrations in U.S. history.
Saturday’s event may echo a similar rally in 1913, when suffragists protested the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson by marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. The Women's March isn’t the only group that has permission to demonstrate during and after the inauguration: At least two dozen groups have been granted permits, a “considerable uptick,” from prior inaugurations, according to a National Mall spokesperson.
Atlanta
The march through Atlanta is steeped in civil rights history. In Centennial Olympic Park, attendees will congregate at the Center for Civil and Human Rights, a striking structure designed by Phil Freelon and HOK that houses Martin Luther King, Jr.’s papers. Marchers will head south through Atlanta’s downtown along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, ending at the Georgia State Capitol, a popular destination for civil rights marches of the 1960s.
Philadelphia
Marchers will begin the day at the city’s Logan Square and walk to Eakins Oval for a rally. Along the way, marchers will travel along the grass-fringed, tree-lined linear park of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway—known as Philadelphia’s Champs-Élysées—which has served as a key venue for events and demonstrations since it was built 100 years ago. Saturday’s event will follow part of the route of the Million Woman March, a 1997 demonstration organized by African-American women.
New Orleans
Since New Orleans is known for mixing its demonstrations with the music and spectacle of its legendary jazz parades, the march on Saturday will likely be a colorful affair. The route begins in the Marigny neighborhood and travels through the heart of the French Quarter before ending at Duncan Plaza. The public space in front of City Hall has long been a home for protests, but is in need of a major revamp.
Los Angeles
LA’s march begins in Pershing Square, which recently held a competition to completely overhaul the historically significant site. The march will travel near the former site of Blanchard Hall, which hosted speakers from the national suffrage movement and end outside LA’s City Hall, echoing the path of many suffragist rallies during the early 1900s. The adjacent Grand Park was specifically designed as a “front lawn” for the city to host such gatherings.
Seneca Falls, New York
The birthplace of the suffrage movement will hold a march that’s also a historical walk. The march starts with a rally at the Women’s Rights National Historic Park, where the first woman’s rights convention was held in 1848, and ends at the church where civil rights activist Alice Paul made a speech in 1923 that laid the foundation for the Equal Rights Amendment. In keeping with suffragist tradition, marchers are asked to wear white, purple, or gold.
Boston
Although Boston is known more for its founding fathers, the city has a rich suffragist tradition as well, with a dedicated Women’s Heritage Trail to complement the Freedom Trail. Saturday’s march will start in Boston Common, which hosted some of the darkest chapters in the equal rights movement: Women who fought for religious freedom were hanged in the common during the Colonial Era.
San Francisco
The San Francisco Women’s March will begin in the afternoon with speakers at the city’s Civic Center Plaza, built as a government facility and public gathering space after the 1906 earthquake. At twilight, attendees will embark upon a candlelit march along Market Street, which also hosts the city’s legendary San Francisco LGBTQ Pride festival. There will also be marches held in Oakland and San Jose.
Chicago
Saturday’s march will start with a Lake Michigan backdrop at Grant Park, which suffragists once used as a training ground for marches. The route then travels down Jackson Boulevard, ending at the Mies van der Rohe-designed Federal Plaza at the Chicago Federal Center. The plaza, which is known for its Alexander Calder sculpture, also hosted a large pro-choice rally earlier this week.
Seattle
The march through Seattle will begin in Judkins Park and travel through downtown to Seattle Center, the large civic plaza that’s home to museums and the Space Needle. 16 speakers will be stationed at regular intervals along the way, but organizers have asked that marchers remain silent for the entire route. The silent march is meant to echo the NAACP’s famous Silent Protest Parade, held in New York City in 1917 to protest black lynchings.
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