Skip to main content

D.C. leaders unveil Chuck Brown Memorial Park

WASHINGTON – On Chuck Brown Day in D.C., in honor of the Godfather of Go Go, hundreds made their way to a Northeast neighborhood to see the new memorial to the musician.

“I’m witnessing history,” says Judy Lundy who came all the way across the city on a rainy day for one purpose.

“I’m here to honor Chuck. I’m a big fan from all the way back in the ’60s,” she says.

Mayor Vincent Gray and other officials welcomed fans to the unveiling of Chuck Brown Memorial Park near Franklin and 20th streets NE.

“So many of our monuments are to nationally renowned figures, former presidents. This is a monument to a genuine, local hero, Gray says.

A photo wall borders a walkway with a timeline of Brown’s career. It sits adjacent to a metal sculpture featuring the musician.

“I love the guitar in the middle. I love ‘Wind me up Chuck’ around the back. It’s beautiful, just beautiful,” says fan Eva Graham.

She has five of Brown’s albums and considers herself one of his biggest fans. She was in good company Friday.

Related Story:

Follow @WTOP on Twitter and on Facebook.

A year after crash of an iconic Lisbon streetcar, a memorial but no promises for restored service

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Lisbon inaugurated a memorial Thursday to the 16 people killed in a funicular derailment a year ago, as questions persist about the safety of the city's iconic hillside streetcars, which remain at a standstill. Near the crash site, a 150-year-old olive tree stood at the center of a ring of limestone blocks laid into the ground featuring the names of the victims. Foreign ambassadors laid wreaths and the Patriarch of Lisbon, a senior Catholic church official, offered a blessing. The accident was one of the Portuguese capital’s worst tragedies in recent memory and cast a shadow over the city’s ongoing tourism boom. The picturesque yellow streetcar, called a funicular because it travels up and down a steep hill in tandem with a second car, is a popular tourist attraction. Authorities said that 11 of those killed were foreigners, likely tourists who stand in long lines to board it.
Read Next Story