WASHINGTON – Almost as soon as the towering black fencing was erected last week to seal off Lafayette Park, the barrier became an art gallery and a sounding board for the demonstrators protesting years of black deaths at the hands of police officers.
Now, with much of the temporary fencing around the White House coming down, there's an effort to preserve hundreds of pieces of instant American history.
Both the Washington, D.C., government and several museums in the Smithsonian network have expressed an interest, but for now volunteers on the scene are working to gather up the items and keep them safe. “We're trying to be as gentle as we can with everything,” said Natalie Casey-Sanger, a D.C.