Mary-Kate Wilson

Mary-Kate Wilson grew up in Northwest, D.C. and is a senior at Smith College, where she studies English Literature, Creative Writing, and Arabic. Although she typically writes poetry or short stories, MK enjoys falling down historic rabbit holes in her free time. When she's not scrolling Wikipedia, Mary-Kate can be found editing zines or practicing (amateur) synchronized swimming in her college pool. Her favorite high school elective was D.C. History, and so she hopes to put it to good use at Boundary Stones.

Posts by this Author

Weeks after the bloodiest day of the American Civil War, a remarkably preserved human arm was allegedly discovered near the Antietam Battlefield. After several decades and a series of owners, the arm was anonymously donated to a Frederick, Maryland museum. The identity of the person who lost the arm remains a mystery, but cutting edge research into the arm has a lot to say about the experience of Civil War soldiers.

Emerging in D.C. in the early 1990s, the Riot Grrrl movement changed punk music, making space for young female musicians and ushering in a new wave of DIY activism. In reaction to the violence and sexism of the hardcore music scene, Riot Grrrl made way for a "girl-dominated" punk community, and though the movement was short lived, and arguably short sighted, its impact on punk music, let alone the D.C. scene, was massive.

The Uptown theater once played host to Hollywood movie premieres and overnight campouts full of eager film fans. Today, it sits empty and waits for a new tenant. What is the story of The Uptown — its glitz, glamour, and its ultimate end? And what hopes do Cleveland Park residents have for its future?

For decades, a community of Black Washingtonians built their homes on Fort Reno, a former Civil War fort in Northwest. But a group of lawmakers, White community members, and real estate developers united to remove Reno residents from their homes. The demise of Reno City wasn't an accident--and it might've been planned from the community's inception.