This urn was erected by Congress in memory of Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852), a landscape architect who landscaped the Mall in the mid-1850s. At that time, the Mall still was covered with trees and low hills. Downing added graceful carriage ways and rare American trees. When the Fine Arts Commission redesigned the Mall in the early 1900s, most of Downing's work was destroyed.

The urn originally stood on the grounds of what is now the National Museum of Natural History and was moved to this location in 1972.