DC History Center

DC History Center An educational nonprofit that deepens understanding of DC's past to connect, empower, and inspire.

Let’s give a warm welcome to our 2025-26 Totman fellows: Emma O’Neill-Dietel and Morgan Forde. 👏 🌈 Emma O’Neill-Dietel...
07/01/2025

Let’s give a warm welcome to our 2025-26 Totman fellows: Emma O’Neill-Dietel and Morgan Forde. 👏

🌈 Emma O’Neill-Dietel, a Master’s student in History at UMass Amherst, explores the experiences of women federal workers in DC during the Lavender Scare of the 1950s. While much of the existing scholarship focuses on white gay men, Emma highlights how gender, race, and sexuality uniquely shaped women’s access to jobs, housing, and community. Drawing on resources from the DC History Center and her work with the , she examines the vital role of women workers’ leadership in the LGBTQ+ movement through a labor studies lens. Emma first shared her research at the 2024 DC History Conference with her poster, “Signs of Pride: Deaf LGBTQ+ Activism in DC.”

🪧 Morgan Forde, a doctoral candidate at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, is researching Resurrection City, the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign encampment, as both an architectural experiment and a form of civil rights activism. Her dissertation explores how the six-week community on the National Mall challenged ideas of urban space and sovereignty. At the Kiplinger Library, she’ll focus on its ties to DC’s urban renewal. Morgan debuted this research at the 2023 DC History Conference with her paper, “Plywood Dreams.”

About the Totman Fellowships
The Totman Fellowships, made possible by generous donor support, provide stipends, resources, and mentorship to support new public-facing research on Black Washington and LGBTQ+ DC. Following summer research, fellows submit a fall project proposal and continue working with the DC History Center throughout the academic year, culminating in a final deliverable such as an article, conference presentation, or public program.

🔗 Learn more about our 2025-26 fellows in our recent blog post: https://dchistory.org/news-and-insights/meet-our-2025-2026-totman-fellows/

📸 2025-26 Totman fellows, Emma O’Neill-Dietel and Morgan Forde, at the DC History Center. Photo by Anne McDonough.

Join us for grand opening of our new exhibit: “Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital.” The exh...
06/24/2025

Join us for grand opening of our new exhibit: “Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital.” The exhibit opens to the public this Saturday, June 28. From 2 to 6 pm, you can:

📚 Be among the first to explore the exhibit.
🗣️ Chat with the folks who made it happen.
🎯 Play classic recess games (for kids and grown-ups!)
🎨 Design your own button.
🛍️ Shop the revamped DC History Center store.
📸 Take home duplicate copies from the Capitol Photo Service collection (with a suggested donation).

Bring your curiosity, your friends, and your love for DC history—we’ll bring the celebration!

📢 Help us spread the word—history class has never been this fun! Learn more: https://bit.ly/4k2D0wk

About the Exhibit:
“Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital” features stories of dedicated teachers, school leaders, parents, students, and activists who have worked to protect and strengthen DC’s tradition of Black educational excellence. Class photos and yearbooks along with playful vintage furniture and costumes invite hands-on exploration of what it means to grow up and go to school in the nation’s capital.

Community members built and ran their own schools until the end of slavery, when Congress created DC’s separate Black school system. Over the course of the next century, racism prevented many African American scholars from pursuing their chosen careers. Instead, they became teachers in the nation’s capital, helping the city earn a national reputation for its outstanding Black schools.

The exhibit also highlights Black Washingtonians’ fight for their fair share of resources, even after the Supreme Court finally desegregated DC’s “separate but equal” schools. The stories of people who lived this history, along with class photos, yearbooks, and more, are evidence of how local activism created lasting change.

A look back at DC Pride parades of the 1990s. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🪧✊ 📸 “D**es on Bikes” contingent in the Gay Pride parade 1993....
06/20/2025

A look back at DC Pride parades of the 1990s. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🪧✊

📸 “D**es on Bikes” contingent in the Gay Pride parade 1993. Photo by Arnold Selvala, Asians and Friends of Washington Photo Collection, archives
📸 Asians/Pacific contingent at D**e March in 1993. Patrick T. Gertschen Collection, archives.

Happy Juneteenth, DC! 🎉 On June 19, 1865, over two years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Union troops finally...
06/20/2025

Happy Juneteenth, DC! 🎉 On June 19, 1865, over two years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Union troops finally brought the news of freedom to enslaved people in Texas.

But freedom came earlier here in DC. On April 16, 1862, the DC Compensated Emancipation Act freed over 3,000 people—making DC the first place in the nation where the federal government ended slavery. That’s why we celebrate DC Emancipation Day every April 16.

Our neighboring states followed:
📍 Maryland abolished slavery on November 1, 1864
📍 Virginia (the part under Union control) did so on April 7, 1864

And finally, the 13th Amendment officially ended slavery across the U.S. on December 6, 1865. Do you know when emancipation came to your home state?

📸 Dancers and marchers take part in the 2020 Juneteenth Celebration on Black Lives Matter Plaza in front of the White House, June 19, 2020. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith. Courtesy, Library of Congress

The Great Flood of 1889 in DC 🌊 In late May and early June 1889, a massive storm swept through the eastern U.S., bringin...
06/18/2025

The Great Flood of 1889 in DC 🌊 In late May and early June 1889, a massive storm swept through the eastern U.S., bringing record rainfall to the District. The Potomac River overflowed its banks, and parts of Pennsylvania Avenue were submerged under 1–4 feet of water. The flood was worsened by clogged sewers, turning streets into rivers and making travel between the east and west sides of the city possible only by boat.

This historic event remains the worst flood ever recorded in the nation’s capital—a reminder of how weather can reshape the city’s landscape and community.

📸 Group of men on Chain Bridge during the flood, c. June 1889 (General Photograph Collection, CHS 01417H)

📸 The Flood on the Potomac. Woodcut prints from the June 15, 1889 issue of "Harper's Weekly." (1) Scene between Missouri and Maine Avenues, Washington, DC (General Print Collection, 1991.124.01A). (2) Exterior of Pennsylvania R.R. Depot on 6th Street NW and Pennsylvania Ave (General Print Collection, 1991.124.01B)

It’s been 50 years since DC’s first Pride celebrations! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ In 1974, Deacon Maccubbin made history by opening Lamb...
06/07/2025

It’s been 50 years since DC’s first Pride celebrations! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

In 1974, Deacon Maccubbin made history by opening Lambda Rising, the first gay and le***an bookstore in DC. But he didn’t stop there.

Although DC had diverse gay activity, it did not have any large-scale events to celebrate Pride, like its major city neighbors New York and Philadelphia. Deacon Maccubbin wanted to change that, so he hired his friend Bob Carpenter to help organize a Gay Pride Day Block Party to both educate and entertain the local gay community.

On June 22, 1975, DC’s first Gay Pride Day Block Party happened right in front of Lambda Rising on 1724 20th Street NW in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. The celebration was complete with a kissing booth, live music, food, and community spirit. Around 2,000 people came together to celebrate, connect, and demand visibility. Gay associations had information booths and longtime activist Frank Kameny read a proclamation from the DC Council. To protect anonymity, the media was only allowed to photograph in one area of the street.

Learn more about the history of DC's Pride at Rainbow History Project's free outdoor exhibit, "Pickets, Protests, and Parades" on Freedom Plaza through July 6th!

📸 Flier for the first “Gay Pride Day Block Party” in DC, c. 1975, from the Frank Kameny Papers. Courtesy, Library of Congress

We’re dribbling down memory lane because it’s game 1 of the Finals tonight! 🏀 📸 Boys posed with basketballs outside th...
06/05/2025

We’re dribbling down memory lane because it’s game 1 of the Finals tonight! 🏀

📸 Boys posed with basketballs outside the houses in the 1100 block of Sursum Corda Court NW, c. May 1971 (Emil A. Press slide collection, PR 1842B)

Me, far away from the Sunday scaries. 🍃 📸 Two women sit on large boulder in Rock Creek Park, c. 1885-1890 (William H. Se...
06/01/2025

Me, far away from the Sunday scaries. 🍃

📸 Two women sit on large boulder in Rock Creek Park, c. 1885-1890 (William H. Seaman photograph collection, SE 004)

Drop a 🍉 if you’re ready for summer! 📸 Boys in a watermelon wagon (aka “Heaven on Earth” according to the photographer) ...
05/31/2025

Drop a 🍉 if you’re ready for summer!

📸 Boys in a watermelon wagon (aka “Heaven on Earth” according to the photographer) in Southwest Washington, c. 1910-1919. (General Photograph Collection, CHS 08717)

Tomorrow! Join us for our Hillcrest Neighborhood Celebration. Enjoy FREE, family-friendly fun! ⏰ Saturday, May 31, 10:3...
05/30/2025

Tomorrow! Join us for our Hillcrest Neighborhood Celebration. Enjoy FREE, family-friendly fun!

⏰ Saturday, May 31, 10:30am - 2:30pm
📍 Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library (Hillcrest)

What’s in Store:
🔎 Collaging, chess, bingo, and library scavenger hunt
🚶‍➡️ Neighborhood history
🍕 Pizza, fruit, and light snacks available!

As DC’s demographics shift, the DC History Center is working to preserve the city’s cultural legacies by documenting neighborhood histories and engaging longtime residents. Through a partnership with the DC Public Library and the DC Public Library Foundation the Hillcrest x Woodridge Neighborhood History Project brings together personal stories and archival materials to celebrate and interpret the rich, local histories that define these communities.

In the first five months of the project, archival research led to the creation of two guides: “Teaching Hillcrest” and “Teaching Woodridge.” The research highlighted the pivotal role of the Hillcrest and Woodridge Civic Associations, which emerged in the mid-20th century to counteract earlier citizens associations that enforced racial segregation. Both neighborhoods had been developed as racially exclusive, as revealed in archival materials.

Engagement with civic associations and longtime residents, like James Byers and Jeremiah Montague Jr., uncovered two main concerns: cultural erasure (Hillcrest is often mislabeled as Anacostia and Woodridge is grouped with Brookland) and the loss of neighborhood identity as longtime residents leave and newcomers struggle to connect.

To address these issues, the project recommended programming to unite residents, share histories, and celebrate the unique identities of Hillcrest and Woodridge, ensuring their legacies endure.

Stay tuned for more programming soon!

Learn more from Mariana Barros-Titus, Senior Manager of Community Engagement, in our blog post: https://bit.ly/4dxsITe

📸 Hillcrest neighborhood shops on the 2800 block of Alabama Ave SE, east of Naylor Road (Emil A. Press slide collection, PR 1040B)

in 1930 Congress passed the Capper-Cramton Act, paving the way for the George Washington Memorial Parkway—a scenic rou...
05/29/2025

in 1930 Congress passed the Capper-Cramton Act, paving the way for the George Washington Memorial Parkway—a scenic route designed to honor our first president and preserve the natural beauty along the Potomac River.

The Act allocated $13.5 million to build the George Washington Memorial Parkway along the Virginia shoreline from Mount Vernon to Great Falls (excluding Alexandria), and a companion parkway on the Maryland side from Fort Washington to Great Falls (excluding DC), including a planned bridge at Great Falls and preservation of Patowmack Canal and a portion of the C&O Canal.

📸 Aerial view of Washington-Hoover Airport and the George Washington Parkway under construction, c. 1930 (Kiplinger Washington Collection, KC4223.PH.BV.L.U.)

👀 I spy with my little eye... What's the first thing you spot in this snap taken in 1963? 📸 Northeast Corner of 9th & ...
05/28/2025

👀 I spy with my little eye... What's the first thing you spot in this snap taken in 1963?

📸 Northeast Corner of 9th & E St NW, C and G Company Uniforms Store, c. May 28, 1963 (Kiplinger Washington Collection Barrett collection, KC2371.PH.WB.U.)

Address

801 K Street, NW
Washington D.C., DC
20001

Opening Hours

Thursday 12pm - 7pm
Friday 12pm - 7pm
Saturday 12pm - 6pm
Sunday 12pm - 6pm

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when DC History Center posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Museum

Send a message to DC History Center:

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Our Story

@DCHistory and the DC History Center in the Carnegie Library are managed by the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. The Historical Society of Washington, D.C., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community-supported educational and research organization that collects, interprets, and shares the history of our nation’s capital. Founded in 1894, it serves a diverse audience through its collections, public programs, exhibitions, and publications. Washington is known throughout the world as a monumental federal city. Less well-known are the stories of Washington’s many diverse and vibrant communities. The Historical Society helps make this local history readily available to the public to promote a sense of identity, place, and pride in Washington and to preserve this heritage for future generations. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram! @DCHistory