Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in the United States has come to an end! A big thank you to all contributors and judges. Check out this year's national winners here.

Welcome to

Wiki Loves Monuments 2017

in the United States

A campaign to improve our coverage of U.S. historic and cultural sites

throughout the month of September.

How to participate

Rules

To be counted for the contest, all photos must be your own work.

Entries must feature a site that is identifiable and registered as a historical or cultural site by some authoritative organization (whether on the federal, state, or local levels). See our lists below for examples, and feel free to ask if you're not sure!

All photos must be uploaded during the month of September (starting 12 AM ET), though the photos may have been taken at any time. The contest ends at 1 October at 0:00 (Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone; UTC-10).

All photos must be licensed under a free license.

Be aware of the limitations of copyright and freedom of panorama in the United States (see below).

Digital manipulations must not deceive the viewer. Correcting flaws and some color adjustments is generally acceptable, provided it is limited and well-done.

Copyright notes

In the United States, you may freely take photos of buildings, but not copyrighted artworks and sculptures. See our page on freedom of panorama for more information. Permanently installed artworks may be photographed if they were installed before 1923, or installed before 1978 without a copyright notice.

Check out Cornell's guide for more details and an easy-to-read table.

Applicable templates:

For public artwork installed before 1923 , use {{PD-US}} or {{PD-1923}}.

, use {{PD-US}} or {{PD-1923}}. For public artwork installed between 1923 and 1977 inclusive, use {{PD-US-no notice}} or {{PD-US-not renewed}}.

Finding sites to photograph

National Register of Historic Places

Click a state below to get the NRHP lists for that state:

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the federal government's official list of historic places that are deemed worthy of preservation, of which there are over 80,000. A good chunk of them already have photos, but that doesn't mean you can't take more of the same monuments - and many are still missing!

United States National Register of Historic Places listings by state

Interactive map of NRHP sites (Red marks are sites that do not already have a photo; green marks already have photos, but photos of these sites are just as welcome!)

(Red marks are sites that do not already have a photo; green marks already have photos, but photos of these sites are just as welcome!) Monumental, another interactive map to find NRHP sites

Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks

The American Society of Civil Engineers maintains a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks in the United States. There are currently 263 sites.

Daughters of the American Revolution Sites

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) organization maintains a list of historic sites and properties . These sites are of historic value and have had DAR involved in some way (erection, ownership, etc.). Their website contains lists of sites sorted by state.

State-level and local sites

In addition to nationally-designated sites, explore what your state may offer in terms of listings! Most states have their own state-wide historical societies, many of which maintain listings of historical and cultural sites. Likewise, many counties and municipalities may also have their own lists of historical and cultural sites.

The following are some guides by state and localities so that people may easily find lists of sites to photograph.

Contest and judging

See /Judging for full details on our judging process.

At the end of the month, a panel of judges (to be announced) will select their top ten best photos from the United States competition using the criteria below.

Criteria

Composition

Technical quality

Originality

Potential usefulness and value of the image to the Wikimedia projects (see project scope)

Prizes

All ten best photos will be awarded a certificate, as well as a United States Wiki Loves Monuments t-shirt. The top three contenders in the United States will also receive the following prizes:

Best image (1st): $200

Best image (First runner-up): $125

Best image (Second runner-up): $75

Organizers of this event are ineligible to win the contest. Winners of the national contest will be notified via talk page message and e-mail. If you do not have your e-mail added and/or enabled, you may do so here.

Finally, the United States' top ten photos will be submitted to the international Wiki Loves Monuments jury. The international jury will determine the winners of the international competition and award their prizes.

Other ways to contribute





Contact

Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in the United States is organized by Wikimedians from around the United States.

Questions? Press? Need to contact us for any reason?

Shoot us an email at wlmUnitedStates

Post on our talk page

Personally reach out to one of our organizers:

Information about the international organizers can be found on the official website.