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Charlotte Muth

Charlotte Muth is embarrassed to admit that she doesn’t have a background in history or the D.C. area. In fact, she studied English and Linguistics at the University of California Berkeley and had only visited the nation’s capital twice before joining the Boundary Stones team. Passionate about words and storytelling, Charlotte likes to think of history as the archeological study of words and stories from the past: a good discovery requires digging, close scrutiny and a pinch of luck. While she hails from sunny Los Angeles, she has greatly enjoyed weathering Washington’s rich history, come rain, snow, hell or high water. In college, she edited a fashion magazine and volunteered as a radio DJ. In her spare time, she enjoys wearing outfits that are too fancy or outlandish for the circumstances, listening to podcasts at 1.5 speed and investigating the etymology of words.

Posts by this Author

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
Thrice Uprooted: The U.S. Botanic Garden

Thrice Uprooted: The U.S. Botanic Garden

11/11/2021 in DC by Charlotte Muth

The U.S. Botanic Garden—located adjacent to the Capitol in a triangle between Maryland Ave SW, Washington Ave SW, and First Street—is rooted in the earliest planning of the capital city. Many of the Founding Fathers believed that a living repository for plants would have countless benefits, from the production of food and medicine to the scientific study of international specimens to the enjoyment of aesthetic beauty. George Washington himself wrote an impassioned letter in 1796 about how a botanic garden should be included in the city plan, even suggesting a few feasible locations.

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DC
We'wha Visits the Capital

We'wha Visits the Capital

07/28/2021 in DC by Charlotte Muth

Before 1885, We’wha had never seen a city, and the city of Washington, D.C. had never seen a person quite like We’wha. Alongside being a pottery maker and cultural ambassador, We’wha was a lhamana, who in the Zuni tradition are male-bodied people who also possess female attributes. Existing outside of the Western gender binary, lhamana have always inhabited a special role in Zuni society, as intermediaries between men and women, who perform special cultural and spiritual duties. More recent scholarship coined the term Two Spirit "as a means of unifying various gender identities and expressions of Native American / First Nations / Indigenous individuals."

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DC
Dr. Loguen-Fraser's Solemn Vow

Dr. Loguen-Fraser's Solemn Vow

03/29/2021 in DC by Charlotte Muth

To close off Women's History Month, learn about Sarah Marinda Loguen Fraser, the first woman to receive an M.D. from the Syracuse University College of Medicine, and the fourth Black woman to become a licensed physician in the United States. While her extraordinary life took her all around the world, including New York, the Dominican Republic and France, some of the most important landmarks of her life happened in Washington, D.C.

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DC
Statuary and Dignitaries: A Meridian Hill Ceremony Helps Heal a Diplomatic Crisis

Statuary and Dignitaries: A Meridian Hill Ceremony Helps Heal a Diplomatic Crisis

03/15/2021 in DC by Charlotte Muth

If you take a stroll through Meridian Hill Park in Columbia Heights, you will find two noteworthy statues: on the lower level, a standing figure of the Italian poet, Dante Alighieri; on the upper terrace, an equestrian statue of the French saint, Jeanne d’Arc, or, Joan of Arc, anglicized. Interestingly enough, these two artworks were unveiled at the park within one month of each other—Dante on Dec. 2, 1921, and Jeanne following on Jan. 6, 1922. Walking past these serene bronze monuments, few would guess their pivotal role a century-old saga when rumored remarks in Washington led to riots in Europe.

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DC
"Our Neighbor" Bill Clinton

"Our Neighbor" Bill Clinton

02/05/2021 in DC by Charlotte Muth

In 1993, then President-elect Bill Clinton’s choice of location for his inaugural morning prayer service was certainly a departure from precedent. For the first time in history, this time honored tradition took place at a historically Black church: Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal on M Street in downtown Washington. Church officials and clergy were pleased -- as Metropolitan administrator Roslyn Stewart Christian said: “He picked a neighborhood church … 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is right around the corner. He intends to be our president, our leader and our neighbor.”

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DC
A Christmas Benefit at the Height of an Epidemic

A Christmas Benefit at the Height of an Epidemic

12/21/2020 in DC by Charlotte Muth

In December of 1986, parents were rushing to the stores to snatch a Cabbage Patch Kid, G.I. Joe or Teddy Ruxpin off the shelf before they were all gone. That same month, the generosity of a local benefactor was a touching reminder of what the holiday season is really about. On Dec. 21, 1986, Robert Alfandre welcomed 30 people infected with AIDS into his home in northwest Washington for a Christmas party.

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Maryland
Remembering Kit Kamien

Remembering Kit Kamien

12/15/2020 in Maryland by Charlotte Muth

“I personally want to try and change the stereotype of what somebody in a wheelchair is like… I want to be judged not on my disabilities but on my abilities. I think people get frightened by the wheelchair… It’s a powerful visual symbol, but it’s not a symbol of defeat. It’s a tool I use to help me accomplish my goals. Just by climbing into the wheelchair, I don’t have to surrender my sexuality, my sensuality, my good sense of humor, or anything," said Kit Kamien, a Bethesda musician who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 26, to The Washington Post in 1987.

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DC
Intent to Kill: A Real-Life Noir

Intent to Kill: A Real-Life Noir

12/01/2020 in DC by Charlotte Muth

While sifting through the virtual archives of some local publications, I came across an incident from 1947 that stood apart. Unlike most news, the event read like a Film Noir. This real-life tale was juicy enough to make headlines for days, suspenseful enough to make me wonder about motives, and hard-boiled enough to speak volumes to the disenchantment of the people involved. So, this article will look a little different from what we usually do at Boundary Stones. Rather than presenting the facts in a linear, scholarly manner, we have decided that this story shines best as a piece of narrative nonfiction. While every sentence is grounded in research, we held off on footnotes to let the story breathe, and took a few creative liberties to bring the characters to life. For variety, my dear reader, is the spice of life…

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DC
The Witnesses

The Witnesses

11/23/2020 in DC by Charlotte Muth

What do a five-year-old boy, a woman working at a train station and an African American newspaperman have in common? Samuel J. Seymour, Sarah V. E. White and Samuel H. Hatton were little-known Washingtonian witnesses to some of the most influential murders in history: those of U.S. Presidents.

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