Articles

The Roosevelt family's roots are in New York, but they clearly had a strong connection to Washington, D.C. Having two presidents and a first lady in the ranks will do that. In that sense, it's fitting that D.C. is home to one of the largest Roosevelt archives today. No, we're not talking about the Library of Congress or the National Archives. We're talking about The Eleanor Roosevelt project at The George Washington University, which includes the digitized If You Ask Me, advice column that Eleanor wrote for Ladies Home Journal and, later, McCall's magazine.

The Peacock Room at the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery was first designed by architect Thomas Jekyll in 1876 to serve as a dining room for the wealthy British shipping magnate Frederick Leyland, who planned to make James Whistler’s painting, Princesse du pays de la porcelaine the centerpiece of the room. Whistler, however, hijacked the project and repainted the room extravagantly, covering the walls with gilded patterns and ornate peacocks. So how did this treasure find its way to Washington? Well, it’s a little complicated, but we can thank Teddy Roosevelt.

It's a foreign concept now but for many years, Arlington County did not have its own fire department. Instead, the county was served by a number of independent volunteer fire departments. These were organized locally, typically within neighborhoods where citizen leaders saw the need for some level of fire protection and established a resource right in their own neighborhood. When a fire broke out, the volunteers would leave their homes or businesses and go fight the flames. With the growth of the county, Arlington established a career fire service in July of 1940.

In 1932, amid the Great Depression, thousands of WWI veterans marched on Washington demanding early pension payments. Their encampment near the Anacostia River and protests on Pennsylvania Avenue alarmed President Hoover, who ordered their forcible removal after Congress rejected their demands. The clash, dubbed the Battle of Washington, deeply impacted Eleanor Roosevelt and shaped her resolve to prevent future injustices.

Before she topped the charts and won Grammys, Roberta Flack was a humble music teacher from Arlington, Virginia with a velvet voice and fierce perfectionism. Discover how Capitol Hill nightclub Mr. Henry’s became the launchpad for her legendary career.

In 1911, the Washington Monument faced a bizarre diagnosis: “geological tuberculosis.” Crumbling masonry, oozing lime, and alarming headlines sparked fears of its collapse. Dive into the strange saga of how nature, construction, and sensational journalism threatened D.C.’s iconic obelisk.

The annual D.C. Beer Week celebrates "good beer in the National Capital Region from conception to consumption and everyone and everything in between." The fact that (1) such a celebration exists and (2) there are events all over town; is an indication of Washington's growing reputation for quality suds. We wanted to learn more about the history of brewing in our fair city. So, we sat down with two people who should know: beer historian Garrett Peck, author of Capital Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in Washington, D.C. and Kristi Griner, head brewer at Capital City Brewing Company.

In May of 1996, the Democratic National Committee invited Williams to D.C. to perform at a party fundraiser at the old Washington Convention Center. The event was scheduled for Wednesday, May 8, but Mork came to town a day early. After dinner with Vice President Gore, the comedian made his way over to the D.C. Improv on Connecticut Ave. where he surprised the audience -- and perhaps the previously scheduled acts -- with a late-night stand up routine. 

Long before selfies and social media, the Scurlock family captured the elegance, ambition, and pride of Washington’s Black middle class. Their photography studio became a cultural cornerstone, documenting a “secret city” invisible to the white majority—but radiant in its dignity and style.

When Walt Whitman rushed to Washington in 1862, it wasn’t for poetry—it was to find his wounded brother. What began as a desperate search through Civil War hospitals became an 11-year stay, during which Whitman chronicled the quiet heroism of the injured and dying. Discover how his intimate encounters with suffering inspired some of his deepest reflections—and his conclusion that, “The real war will never get in the books.”

Ask most people about the history of professional basketball in Washington, D.C. and they’ll probably mention the NBA’s Baltimore Bullets’ move to D.C. in the 1970s. Or maybe a few old timers might remember the Washington Capitols, D.C.’s Basketball Association of America team that was coached by GW alum Red Auerbach. But, sadly most have forgotten about the true trailblazers of Washington, D.C. basketball, the Washington Bears.

In the 1940s, Jim Crow held strong in Arlington, Virginia. African-Americans encountered discrimination at segregated eating establishments, businesses and recreation facilities. Even access to medical care was divided along racial lines and African Americans were forced to travel to hospitals in Washington, D.C. or Alexandria. It was difficult – especially in a medical emergency – as many could not afford cars of their own. In 1947, three men with bright ideas and business ingenuity stepped up to fill the void.