For the past seven years on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, children from a Washington, D.C., elementary school have climbed the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to proclaim "I have a dream," just as Dr. King did 48 years ago.

Forty-eight years after he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Martin Luther King Jr. now has a permanent presence on the National Mall with this week's opening of…