Nation building and myth building go hand-in-hand. Through research completed during a NEH Institute: “Toward a People’s History of Landscape,” this session focuses on place-based narratives of Black and Indigenous residents of Washington, DC, overridden and hidden by the grandeur of marble monuments. Washington, DC, serves as a model study of the lasting impact of hidden narratives on national understanding of place; and as a model for unearthing critical place-stories.