Pennsylvania Avenue lighthearted celebrations, including a series of day- and nighttime Shriner's parades in the 1920s and 1930s. Thomas and Concepcion Picciotto are the founders of the White House Peace Vigil, the longest running anti-nuclear peace vigil in the US, at Lafayette Square on the 1600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the Secret Service closed the portion of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to all vehicular traffic. Pedestrian and bicycle traffic, however, was still permitted on the sidewalk. After 9/11 this policy was made permanent. Near the White House traffic is redirected to
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site in American history have occurred within the boundaries of the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. Pennsylvania Avenue in particular is the focal point for a great many politically important parades and protests. A number of these historic events have been assassinations or funerals. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in 1865. President James A. Garfield was shot in the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Passenger Terminal on July 2, 1881, by Charles J. Guiteau; he died 79 days later on September 19. Prior to its designation as a historic site, six presidential funeral processions had traversed Pennsylvania Avenue, the