Skip to main content
RETURN TO Return to WETA website Donate
Boundary Stones logo

Main navigation

  • Washington, D.C.
  • Maryland
  • Virginia
  • Video
  • About

1850s

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?

  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email

Read More

DC
Who Stands Atop the Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building?

Who Stands Atop the Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building?

04/28/2023 in DC by Katherine Brodt

Even though most Washingtonians know that there is a statue atop the U.S. Capitol dome, many don’t actually know what it’s a statue of. Can you blame us? It’s hard to get a good look at it. Let's take  a closer look!

  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email

Read More

DC
A Tale of Two Photographers: Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner

A Tale of Two Photographers: Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner

04/17/2020 in DC by Katherine Brodt

If you lived in nineteenth-century D.C. and wanted your picture taken, you couldn’t just whip out your own camera — you’d visit Pennsylvania Avenue NW, known locally as “photographer’s row.” This stretch of the avenue, between the White House and the nearly-finished Capitol building, was home to a cluster of photography studios and galleries. Between 1858 and 1881, the most fashionable and famous was Brady’s National Photographic Art Gallery. It was run by Mathew Brady and his manager, Alexander Gardner, whose partnership endured its own civil war. 

  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email

Read More

Maryland
"Not Fiction, but Fact": Josiah Henson and the Real Uncle Tom's Cabin

"Not Fiction, but Fact": Josiah Henson and the Real Uncle Tom's Cabin

02/25/2020 in Maryland by Katherine Brodt

Josiah Henson is not a well-known name in American history—or even in the Washington area, where he was enslaved for many years. Born into bondage in Maryland, he lived in Montgomery County before eventually escaping to Canada—there, he served in the army, became a preacher, and established a prosperous settlement for escaped slaves. He was immortalized in Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, serving as the inspiration for the titular character. But though the novel made him a well-known and popular figure in the nineteenth century, Henson was determined to tell his own story. As he says, the truth is stranger than fiction. 

  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email

Read More

DC
Impressions of Washington: Sarah Pryor, 1859 - 1861

Impressions of Washington: Sarah Pryor, 1859 - 1861

01/17/2018 in DC by Claudia Swain

Sarah Pryor (1830-1912), the daughter of a wealthy Virginian family, lived in Washington from 1859 until the outbreak of the Civil War. In her memoirs written in 1909, she recounts the grand society of antebellum D.C. and the shift to war tensions.

  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email

Read More

DC
The Election Day Riot of 1857

The Election Day Riot of 1857

02/28/2017 in DC by Richard Brownell

Those who look at the sorry state of politics in modern America can take solace in the fact that we do not face the savagery that took place in the name of democracy in 1850s Washington, D.C. During those tumultuous days leading up to the Civil War, Washington, and much of the country was in the grip of heated debates over slavery and immigration that often turned violent.

  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email

Read More

DC
The Michelangelo of the Capitol

The Michelangelo of the Capitol

02/13/2015 in DC by Patrick Kiger

In the U.S. Senate's sculpture collection, there are plenty of busts of instantly recognizable historical figures such as Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. But enshrined alongside them, there's also the lushly-bearded, bowtie-wearing likeness of an obscure 19th Century Italian-American artist. While Brumidi, who signed his work "C. Brumidi Artist Citizen of the U.S.," isn't a famous name, he left a lasting mark on the U.S. Capitol, by creating striking frescoes and murals that add charm and grace to the building's interior.

Brumidi's work, which can be found throughout the Capitol, includes the fresco The Apotheosis of Washington in the Rotunda canopy. But his masterwork is the hallways on the first floor of the Senate wing, an assortment of frescoes and murals known as the Brumidi Corridors. Inspired by Raphael's Loggia in the Vatican, Brumidi's art is distinguished by his blending of classical imagery with patriotic American themes. The Washington Post once described Brumidi as "the genius of the Capitol," and noted that "so many of its stateliest rooms bear the touch of this tireless brush that he shall always be associated with it." Art historian Francis V. O'Connor has called him "the first really accomplished American muralist." A journalist of his time went even further, labeling him "the Michelangelo of the U.S. Capitol."

  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email

Read More

DC
A Five Star Malady

A Five Star Malady

09/11/2013 in DC by Claudia Swain

What better treat for a president-elect waiting to move into the White House than to stay in one of the swankiest hotels in the capital? Well, as it turns out, James Buchanan would have done better to have found less plush accomodations in the spring of 1857. He and hundreds of others fell victim to a mysterious ailment after staying at the luxurious National Hotel.

This sickness, because it came at the end of a harsh campaign against the victorious Buchanan, was thought by many to arise from a poison. Fingers were pointed at various political opponents; even the Spanish government in Cuba was blamed.

  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email

Read More

DC
Impressions of Washington: “An overgrown, tattered village”

Impressions of Washington: “An overgrown, tattered village”

08/01/2013 in DC by Ariel Veroske

Not surprisingly, our nation’s capital has undergone some pretty radical changes since its beginning. One hundred and sixty years ago, the landscape of the National Mall and surrounding streets looked vastly different than it does today. We’re talking an armory, one museum, the Washington Monument, and not much else.

Speaking to the Historical Society in 1901, Presbyterian minister and Chaplain of the Senate Byron Sunderland described the Washington he remembered in the mid-19th century.

  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email

Read More

DC
The Mystery of the Pope's Stone

The Mystery of the Pope's Stone

07/16/2013 in DC by Ariel Veroske

On the evening of March 5, 1854, nine men associated with the Know-Nothing party snuck up to the base of the Washington Monument and made off with a rather hefty hunk of stone. The men carried the stone to a boat waiting on the tidal basin, smashed it into pieces and dumped it in the middle of the Potomac.

You may be curious as to why they (or we!) were interested in an old — and probably really heavy — rock. Where exactly did this stone come from and why was it such a big deal when it was stolen and destroyed? Maybe it was the fact that it came from the Pope... Just a guess.

  • Share by Facebook
  • Share by Twitter
  • Share by Email

Read More

Pagination

  • Current page 1
  • Page 2
  • Next page ››
  • Last page »
Surprise Me!

Not sure where to start reading? Let us pick a story for you!

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

Elkton, Maryland: The Quickie Wedding Capital of the East Coast

02/14/2013

Elkton, Maryland: The Quickie Wedding Capital of the East Coast

Happy Emancipation Day, DC!

04/16/2013

Happy Emancipation Day, DC!

Mary Custis Lee Challenges Streetcar Segregation

06/13/2013

Mary Custis Lee Challenges Streetcar Segregation

Tags

1860s1870s1890s1900s1910s1920s1930s1940s1950s1960s1970s1980s1990sAlexandriaArlingtonArtBlack HistoryBygone DCCivil WarGeorgetownSports HistoryWhite HouseWomen's HistoryWorld War IWorld War II
More
Historical D.C. Metro Map
WETA

Footer menu

  • Support WETA
  • About WETA
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • RSS
  • Accessibility

Contact Us

  • 3939 Campbell Avenue
    Arlington, VA 22206 | Map
  • 703-998-2600
  • boundarystones@weta.org

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

About Boundary Stones

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.

DONATE

Copyright © 2023 WETA. All Rights Reserved.

Bottom Footer

  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Guidelines