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Black History

DC
Alice Dunnigan Left Her Mark as the First Black Female White House Reporter

Alice Dunnigan Left Her Mark as the First Black Female White House Reporter

02/10/2023 in DC by Jenna Furtado

In 1948, Black journalist Alice Dunnigan put the first of many accomplishments under her belt when she became the first Black female reporter to join the White House press pool and the first Black reporter to go on a campaign trip with a president. Doubted by many reporters due to her gender and race, Dunnigan had to fight for even a smidgeon of the recognition that her male journalist colleagues got, though it never stopped her from doing what she loved. 

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DC
"Say your say, do your thing, stand up and be counted": The First National Black Deaf Advocates Conference

"Say your say, do your thing, stand up and be counted": The First National Black Deaf Advocates Conference

11/04/2022 in DC by Emma O'Neill-Dietel

In June 1981, Black Deaf leaders gathered in Washington to sew the seeds of an organization that would have a profound impact on the Black Deaf community. After centuries of exclusion in both Black and Deaf spaces, organizers came together to make a space of their own. With goals to educate, empower, and strengthen the community, this conference led a call for Black inclusion and leadership in Deaf organizations locally and nationally.

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DC
Game, Set, Match: How Arthur Ashe Made Tennis Accessible in Washington

Game, Set, Match: How Arthur Ashe Made Tennis Accessible in Washington

10/14/2022 in DC by Emma Tanner

In the 1960s, Arthur Ashe paid a visit to inner-city Washington to participate in a “block party” tennis demonstration. The experience left a lasting impact on him. He would return to Washington and, with the help of friends, create a professional tournament in D.C. which would make the sport more accessible to inner-city African Americans.

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DC
Ethel Payne: First Lady of the Black Press

Ethel Payne: First Lady of the Black Press

09/30/2022 in DC by Jenna Furtado

One of just two Black women in the White House Press Corps during the 1950s and 1960s, Ethel Payne repeatedly demonstrated her determination to deliver the truth to her readers -- informed by her experience. Responding the criticism that she should be more objective, Payne responded, “I stick to my firm, unshakeable belief that the black press is an advocacy press, and that I, as a part of that press, can’t afford the luxury of being unbiased…when it comes to issues that really affect my people, and I plead guilty, because I think that I am an instrument of change.” 

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DC
The Cost of Urban Renewal in Southwest DC

The Cost of Urban Renewal in Southwest DC

07/21/2022 in DC by Meaghan Kacmarcik

After World War II, Southwest Washington, DC, underwent a bout of complete urban renewal to clean up the blighted neighborhood. But was it worth it? New buildings went up, but a community was torn apart, economic segregation ensued and the project failed to deliver on many of the promises that were made.


 

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DC
Howard University's First Dean of Women Had to Fight to Keep Her Brookland Home

Howard University's First Dean of Women Had to Fight to Keep Her Brookland Home

04/18/2022 in DC by Fontana Micucci

Returning to campus for the new school year in 1937, Howard University’s students received grim news: one of their deans, Lucy Diggs Slowe, was “reputed critically ill with pleurisy. Her condition was such on Tuesday that relatives were called to her bedside.” After 15 years at the university, Slowe was a staple to the campus and its students – many of the women enrolled at the college saw her has a mentor and advocate for their education at Howard. 

What the headline didn’t mention was what some believed was the cause of her declining health. There were rumblings that it was the efforts of key Howard University staff that had caused her illness, and they wouldn’t stop until Slowe left the school for good. 

Who was Lucy Diggs Slowe, and what led to such harsh conflict between her and the university?

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Virginia
Reston's Roots: Black Activism in Virginia's New Town

Reston's Roots: Black Activism in Virginia's New Town

03/31/2022 in Virginia by Charlotte Muth

Around the same time that Walt Disney envisioned a futuristic alternative to urban living—EPCOT (The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow)—a man named Robert E. Simon Jr. dreamed of a better way to live in the suburbs. It was an era of hope when many were asking: “Through careful planning, innovate design, and high ideals, can we manufacture a better way to live?”

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DC
"We Want 504!"

"We Want 504!"

10/12/2021 in DC by Dominique Mickiewicz

When anti-discrimination legislation was delayed for four years, activists occupied Federal buildings in protest, placing Washington at the heart of the rising disability rights movement.

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Maryland
"Will We Let the Ballot Be Taken From Us?": Black Marylanders Fight to Keep the Vote

"Will We Let the Ballot Be Taken From Us?": Black Marylanders Fight to Keep the Vote

09/09/2021 in Maryland by Ben Miller

In 1910 Maryland Democrats planned to bar all African Americans from voting, forever. But Black men and women were ready to fight for their place in the state.

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DC
Juvenile Justice on Trial

Juvenile Justice on Trial

07/29/2021 in DC by Ben Miller

In 1936, D.C. officials hired Carrie Weaver Smith to reform the National Training School for Girls. 18 months later, they fired her. But Smith was not going away without a fight.

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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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