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    John Denver
     
     
    "Country Roads" led to Maryland
    In 1970, a gig at the Cellar Door, a broken thumb and a drive through rural Montgomery County led to the creation of the song we know today.
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    World War I
     
     
    African American Women at War
    As the U.S. entered World War I, the Navy created a single unit of African-American Yeomanettes in Washington, who paved the way for others to follow in military service.
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    Margaret Gorman
     
     
    First Miss America was D.C.'s Own
    Over the course of just a few weeks in 1921, Margaret Gorman went from a teen playing marbles in her D.C. neighborhood to the most famous beauty queen in the country.
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    Sir Henry Tizard
     
     
    The Briefcase That Changed World War II
    The outlook of the allies effort in World War II changed dramatically when British Scientist Sir Henry Tizard came to Washington in 1940.
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    Clara Barton
     
     
    Angel of the Battlefield
    "I’m well and strong and young - young enough to go to the front. If I can’t be a soldier, I’ll help soldiers." -- Clara Barton
Maryland
In the 1850s, Maryland Courts Considered Whether Freeing Slaves was Proof of Insanity

In the 1850s, Maryland Courts Considered Whether Freeing Slaves was Proof of Insanity

09/15/2023 in Maryland by Isabel Sans

In 1847, seventy slaves went to the Maryland courts to enforce a deed of manumission granting them their freedom. What should have been a simple matter exploded into a nine-year court case that spun furiously around the ominous question at its core: if a man frees his slaves on moral conviction, does that make him insane?

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Maryland
President Harding and The Vagabonds

President Harding and The Vagabonds

08/30/2023 in Maryland by Isabel Sans

Warren G. Harding, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone were some of the biggest names of the early 1920s. You'd expect these men to meet at some point, but when they finally did, it was in an unexpected place: in the remote hills of western Maryland! Read about the President's camping trip in the summer of 1921.

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Virginia
The Evolution of Arlington House: From Plantation to Military Camp and Freedperson Settlement, to National Cemetery

The Evolution of Arlington House: From Plantation to Military Camp and Freedperson Settlement, to National Cemetery

08/18/2023 in Virginia by Aliyah Thompson

For those who have visited the Arlington National Cemetery, or simply know a lot about its origins, Arlington House is a recognizable feature of the historic site. However, before it became a dedicated national cemetery, it served multiple purposes once it was no longer a plantation both during and after the Civil War.

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DC
“Vindictiveness, Vexation, and Blackmail”: Victorian Washington’s Prelude to #MeToo

“Vindictiveness, Vexation, and Blackmail”: Victorian Washington’s Prelude to #MeToo

08/11/2023 in DC by Isabel Sans

A woman accuses a powerful man of manipulating and taking advantage of her for years in a secret relationship. Sensational accusations emerge, causing a media frenzy. Lawyers on both sides prepare a protracted case which is followed in its every detail by the press and public. A popular Congressman faces a fall from grace. But this isn't a modern scandal—it happened a century ago in DC, and the woman at its center wanted only to see justice done.

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DC
The Federal Government's $15 Million Cat

The Federal Government's $15 Million Cat

07/26/2023 in DC by Isabel Sans

It's no secret that the CIA sometimes thought more about whether it could and less about whether it should. Project Acoustic Kitty was one of those times. Does "trained cat" sound like an oxymoron to you? It should, but it cost the CIA $15 million to find out the same thing!

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DC
When the Smithsonian Sent Alexander Graham Bell Gravedigging

When the Smithsonian Sent Alexander Graham Bell Gravedigging

07/21/2023 in DC by Isabel Sans

Victor Frankenstein wasn't the only scientist to raise the dead! In 1903, Alexander Graham Bell departs for Italy to escort the Smithsonian's founder back to the United States. The only problem? James Smithson has been dead for almost 75 years. How exactly do you declare THAT at customs?

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DC
How Washington's Modern Art Movement Became Cold War Artillery

How Washington's Modern Art Movement Became Cold War Artillery

07/14/2023 in DC by Jane Winik Sartwell

Alma Thomas, the African-American abstract artist and the subject of a recent WETA Arts episode, had many fans in Washington, D.C., but was her biggest fan the CIA?

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DC
Mumbo Sauce: Is It Really 'Quintessential' D.C.?

Mumbo Sauce: Is It Really 'Quintessential' D.C.?

07/07/2023 in DC by Aliyah Thompson

As Washington, D.C. has become more gentrified, leaving much of its former history and culture behind, mumbo sauce is one aspect of D.C.'s homegrown culture that has managed to stick around. However, even mumbo sauce's place in the shifting scene of D.C. has been challenged in recent years. 

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DC
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once: Franklin W. Smith’s Attempt to Bring the Ancient World to DC

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once: Franklin W. Smith’s Attempt to Bring the Ancient World to DC

06/23/2023 in DC by Isabel Sans

Where can you see lacy Arabic architecture, the tombs of ancient Romans, and artifacts from medieval France? Why, in Washington DC, of course! Read about one man's dream to crown America's capital with all the centuries that came before it: by building the biggest, most audacious museum the world had ever seen.

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DC
The Bizarre Adolescence of the Washington Monument

The Bizarre Adolescence of the Washington Monument

06/08/2023 in DC by Isabel Sans

The Washington Monument we know today is iconic, but it was never really planned to look that way. Before it grew up, the monument went through many, many proposed designs. After decades in limbo and a construction mired in drama, one engineer's vision triumphed over artists, politicians, and critics.

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Categories

  • DC (577)
  • Maryland (110)
  • Virginia (151)

Latest Posts

In the 1850s, Maryland Courts Considered Whether Freeing Slaves was Proof of Insanity

09/15/2023

In the 1850s, Maryland Courts Considered Whether Freeing Slaves was Proof of Insanity

President Harding and The Vagabonds

08/30/2023

President Harding and The Vagabonds

The Evolution of Arlington House: From Plantation to Military Camp and Freedperson Settlement, to National Cemetery

08/18/2023

The Evolution of Arlington House: From Plantation to Military Camp and Freedperson Settlement, to National Cemetery

Most Popular

The Less-Known Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

11/13/2012

The Less-Known Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

D.C.'s Own "Brown vs Board"

12/13/2012

D.C.'s Own "Brown vs Board"

Visit F. Scott Fitzgerald in Rockville -- And Don't Forget a Bottle of Gin

02/05/2013

Visit F. Scott Fitzgerald in Rockville -- And Don't Forget a Bottle of Gin

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Boundary Stones explores local history in Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland and northern Virginia. This project is a service of WETA and is supported by contributions from readers like you.

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