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    Round Up: DC History

    by Meghan Kowalski on 2025-06-25T08:00:00-04:00 | 0 Comments

    Washington, D.C. has a rich and layered history that reflects the nation's political, cultural, and social evolution. Whether you're researching for a project or exploring out of personal interest, there's a lot of great stuff out there! In this post, we’ve gathered a list of great books, collections, and places that focus on the history of the District. Dive in to explore the people, places, and events that have shaped the capital over time.

     

    Books

    Cover Art Black Georgetown Remembered by Kathleen Menzie Lesko (Introduction by, Contribution by, Contribution by, Contribution by); Valerie M. Babb (Contribution by, Contribution by, Contribution by); Carroll R. Gibbs (Contribution by, Contribution by, Contribution by); Maurice Jackson (Foreword by)
     
    Georgetown's little-known black heritage shaped a Washington, DC, community long associated with white power and privilege. Black Georgetown Remembered reveals a rich but little-known history of the Georgetown black community from the colonial period to the present. Drawing on primary sources, including oral interviews with past and current residents and extensive research in church and historical society archives, the authors record the hopes, dreams, disappointments, and successes of a vibrant neighborhood as it persevered through slavery and segregation, war and peace, prosperity and depression. This beautifully redesigned 25th anniversary edition of Black Georgetown Remembered, first published in 1991, includes a foreword by Maurice Jackson and more than two hundred illustrations, including portraits of prominent community leaders, sketches, maps, and nineteenth-century and contemporary photographs. Kathleen Menzie Lesko's new introduction describes the impact the book and its companion documentary video have had since publication and updates readers on recent changes in this Washington, DC, neighborhood. Black Georgetown Remembered is a compelling and inspiring journey through more than two hundred years of history. A one-of-a-kind book, it invites readers to share in the lives, dreams, aspirations, struggles, and triumphs of real people, to join them in their churches, at home, and on the street, and to consider how the unique heritage of this neighborhood intersects and contributes to broader themes in African American and Washington, DC, history and urban studies.
     
    Cover Art Massachusetts Avenue in the Gilded Age by Mark N. Ozer
     
    Welcome to Millionaire's Row, where the Gilded Age mansions and clubs of high society still exude a faded elegance. It was here that fiery Martha Wadsworth--avid sportswoman and social maven--and wealthy hostess Nellie Patterson mingled with the likes of famous inventor Alexander Graham Bell and miner-turned-millionaire Thomas Walsh. From the Union Station Plaza and Embassy Row to Dupont Circle and the Washington National Cathedral, author Mark N. Ozer examines the extant Beaux-Arts architecture of Massachusetts Avenue mansions and tells the tales of socialites and politicians who lived and played behind their grand façades.
     
     
    Cover Art Washington, D. C. Protests: by Mark S. Greek
     
    From the famous marches of the civil rights movement to the struggle for local suffrage, Washingtonians have always been on the frontlines of political debate. Their lack of representation has impelled residents to make positive change through peaceful, and often creative, forms of protest. Mark S. Greek, photo archivist for the D.C. Public Library, has compiled a stunning collection of images of Washingtonians affecting change. From the images of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Clifford Berryman to scenes of sit-ins and picket lines, Greek crafts a visual narrative of triumph and continuing struggle. Washington, D.C. Protests: Scenes from Home Rule to the Civil Rights Movement is a vivid and electric portrait of the spirit of a city and its people.
     
     
    Cover Art Urban Odyssey by Francine C. Cary (Editor)
     
    The first book to focus on the migrant and immigrant experience in the District, Urban Odyssey traces the growth and transformation of ethnic and cultural communities - Native American, African American, European, Latino, and Asian American - throughout the city's history. Seventeen essays, accompanied by more than fifty photographs, challenge stereotypes and draw out common threads from the richly woven fabric that is Washington. Urban Odyssey reflects upon the changing demographics of contemporary urban America, where ethnic groups mingle and overlap in fertile and surprising ways. Identifying a common quest among all groups to establish community, to transplant cultural traditions, and to rebuild familiar social and institutional networks on unfamiliar terrain, the authors illustrate the diverse ways in which each migrant or immigrant community has reconstructed Washington's cultural and built landscape and redefined the meaning of American pluralism.
     
    Cover Art A Queer Capital by Genny Beemyn
     
    Rooted in extensive archival research and personal interviews, A Queer Capital is the first history of LGBT life in the nation's capital. Revealing a vibrant past that dates back more than 125 years, the book explores how lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals established spaces of their own before and after World War II, survived some of the harshest anti-gay campaigns in the U.S., and organized to demand equal treatment. Telling the stories of black and white gay communities and individuals, Genny Beemyn shows how race, gender, and class shaped the construction of gay social worlds in a racially segregated city. From the turn of the twentieth century through the 1980s, Beemyn explores the experiences of gay people in Washington, showing how they created their own communities, fought for their rights, and, in the process, helped to change the country. Combining rich personal stories with keen historical analysis, A Queer Capital provides insights into LGBT life, the history of Washington, D.C., and African American life and culture in the twentieth century.
     

    Places to Visit

    • DC History Center - The DC History Center supports a diverse, vibrant, and complex city by preserving, honoring, and uplifting the full range of stories that unfold in the nation’s capital. The DC History Center promotes a brighter future for all Washingtonians by shining a light on the city’s triumphs and shortcomings as well as instances of resistance, resilience, and communal cooperation. 
    • History in Washington, DC - Destination DC serves as the lead organization to successfully manage and market Washington, DC as a premier global convention, tourism and special events destination, with a special emphasis on the arts, cultural and historical communities.
    • The People’s Archive at DC Public Library - The People's Archive at DC Public Library is home to the dynamic collections that preserve and share the stories, histories, and voices of Washington, D.C.’s diverse communities, as well as the Black experience in the Unites States. It features materials—such as photographs, oral histories, documents, and more—that highlight the vibrant local, national and international history of DMV residents, grassroots movements, and cultural milestones, making it a valuable resource for researchers, historians, and anyone interested in learning more about the city’s past and present.

     

    Online Resources

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