Lila Spitz

Lila Spitz received her undergraduate degree in American Studies from the University of Mary Washington. As an Arlingtonian, she has enjoyed visiting local historic sites and Smithsonian museums on school and family outings. This summer she was privileged to intern for the Education Department of the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. She conducted visitor interviews at the 2016 Folklife Festival and compiled and interpreted their responses. Lila particularly enjoys learning about social and public history.

Posts by this Author

Decades before Venus and Serena Williams dominated women’s tennis on the WTA tour, the Peters Sisters — Margaret Peters, a.k.a. “Pete", and Roumania Peters, a.k.a. “Repeat” — from Georgetown, were unstoppable champions in the all-black American Tennis Association.

On August 4, 1976 cowboys from the American Southwest section of the Smithsonian’s annual Festival of American Folklife were in the middle of demonstrating a calf roping technique when a 400-pound bull calf "made him a hole" in the corral fence and took-off from the Festival site into lunch-hour traffic.

World War I fueled a rapid buildup in industrial production and, in particular, merchant shipbuilding. America needed cargo vessels—fast—and, as luck would have it, Alexandria was prepared. Between 1910 and 1912, the Army Corps of Engineers had infilled a 46-acre bay and wildlife preserve – Battery Cove – near Jones Point Lighthouse. The land’s proximity to the Potomac River and its enormous size made it an ideal site for shipbuilding. Alexandrians rejoiced when the Virginia Shipbuilding Corporation came to their city but the enthusiasm would not last.

In January 1967, after just a few months on the job as the Smithsonian's Director of Museum Services, Jim Morris had an idea. What if the Smithsonian were to put on an outdoor festival in Washington to exhibit and celebrate folk traditions from around the nation?

While the months leading up to a presidential election can be stressful for many in Washington, D.C., the presidential race provides a gold mine of material for the Capitol Steps. Founded in 1981, this political satire troupe has been poking fun at politicians for almost 40 years.

If you live in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and you are interested in visiting the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) but have not secured tickets yet, this might be a great time to explore the many African American history focused museums, cultural centers and historic houses in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.