Commons:Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in the United States

Notice 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.

Wiki Loves Monuments is an annual international photo competition where participants capture cultural heritage monuments and upload their photographs to the Wikimedia Commons for use on Wikipedia and other free knowledge projects.

Anyone is welcome to contribute to the project by uploading photos they've taken of registered cultural and historical sites throughout the United States. Once September is over, the best photos will win cash prizes and will be submitted to the international competition!



How to Participate  •  Rules  •  Finding Sites to Photograph  •  Contest and Judging  •  Other Ways to Contribute  •  Contact  •  Press




  How to participate

Step 1: Review the rules below.
Step 2: Don't have a Wikimedia Commons account yet? Create one - takes just a few moments!
Step 3: Find registered historical and cultural monuments in the United States. Check our guides and lists below!
Step 4: Take photos of the monuments. Try different angles!
Step 5: Classify your photos. Record the site's name, the registry it's on, the monument number/ID (if applicable), description, and date of photo.
Step 6: Upload your photos to Wikimedia Commons during the month of September. Give the photo a title that identifies the subject, and mention the site's registration in the description. Use our upload portal to be counted towards this event!
Questions? Leave a message on our talk page or shoot us an email at wlmUnitedStates@gmail.com


Quick Tips!

  • Check out our tips for photographing sites.
  • For the contest, photos must be uploaded in September, but may have been taken at any time.
  • Use our upload page to submit your photos; this ensures your photo is properly tagged for the contest.
  • Very common monuments score less; try to find monuments that are unique and less known about!
  • For the contest, photos will be judged on composition, technical quality, originality, and potential usefulness and value of the image to the Wikimedia projects.

  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.

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:

  Finding sites to photograph

National Register of Historic Places

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

 en:National Register of Historic Places listings in Alabamaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Alaskaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Arizonaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Arkansasen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Californiaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Coloradoen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Connecticuten:National Register of Historic Places listings in Delawareen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Floridaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Georgiaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaiien:National Register of Historic Places listings in Idahoen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Illinoisen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Indianaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Iowaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Kansasen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Kentuckyen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Louisianaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Maineen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Marylanden:National Register of Historic Places listings in Massachusettsen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Michiganen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Minnesotaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Mississippien:National Register of Historic Places listings in Missourien:National Register of Historic Places listings in Montanaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Nebraskaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Nevadaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in New Hampshireen:National Register of Historic Places listings in New Jerseyen:National Register of Historic Places listings in New Mexicoen:National Register of Historic Places listings in New Yorken:National Register of Historic Places listings in North Carolinaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in North Dakotaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Ohioen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Oklahomaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Oregonen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Pennsylvaniaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Rhode Islanden:National Register of Historic Places listings in South Carolinaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in South Dakotaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Tennesseeen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Texasen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Utahen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Vermonten:National Register of Historic Places listings in Virginiaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Washingtonen:National Register of Historic Places listings in West Virginiaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Wisconsinen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Wyomingen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Delawareen:National Register of Historic Places listings in New Hampshireen:National Register of Historic Places listings in New Jerseyen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Massachusettsen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Connecticuten:National Register of Historic Places listings in Marylanden:National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington, D.C.en:National Register of Historic Places listings in West Virginiaen:National Register of Historic Places listings in Vermonten:National Register of Historic Places listings in Rhode Island

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!

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

 
Add images to Wikipedia articles >>

 
Expand our state guides above >>

 
Upload a Wikivoyage banner >>


  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 gmail.com
  • 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.

Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States is organized solely by volunteers. The organizers reserve the right to modify the contest rules, prizes, and eligible entrants at their discretion. None of the rules on the official contest pages create legally binding relations or contracts with the event organizers.