1910s

Spending a Sunday afternoon at the ol’ ballpark is pretty commonplace nowadays. But 100 years ago? Notsomuch. In the early 1900s, debate raged about whether it was appropriate – or, for that matter, legal – for ballclubs to suit up on Sundays. Blue laws in many states put severe restrictions on what could and could not be done/consumed/enjoyed/observed on the traditional day of rest.

In 1914 Arlington National Cemetery unveiled a towering Confederate monument. At the time, advocates framed it as an effort toheal a divided nation but at the same time, the memorial was steeped in Lost Cause imagery. A century later its presence—and removal—became a flashpoint in America’s reckoning with race and memory.

In March 2013, the National Museum of American History opened a special exhibit commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the National Women’s Suffrage Parade held in D.C. It was quite a memorable occasion and not all for good reasons.

It seems that predicting the weather in Washington has always been a little bit of a crapshoot. Check out this cartoon that ran on the front page of the Washington Evening Star newspaper on January 17, 1913.