All's Wright that Ends Well: The Pope-Leighey House of Northern Virginia
When Loren Pope learned of the acclaimed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, he spent months working up the courage to mail him a letter. "There are certain things a man wants during life, and, of life,"...
View ArticleIn the White House When the Eagle Landed
Approximately 530 million Americans across the country, including those in the White House, sat glued to their television sets on the evening of July 20, 1969, watching as Neil Armstrong became the...
View ArticleFired for Being Gay, Frank Kameny Spent the Rest of His Life Fighting Back
You might be familiar with the Red Scare, Senator Joseph McCarthy's efforts to remove suspected communists from the U.S. State Department. But what about the Lavender Scare? Starting in the 1940s,...
View ArticleWishing in a Fountain: The Protest for more D.C. Pools
In the early 1960s, the Evening Star called the Columbus Circle fountain in front of Union Station“a ready made swimming pool with ledges, platforms, and friendly statues. It is a grand place to...
View ArticleWashington Hosts the 1969 All-Star Game
Washington, D.C. hosted the 1969 All-Star game at RFK stadium. It was a thrilling event that drew baseball fans together to watch the greats of the MLB, including hometown hero Frank Howard, go...
View Article1969: Georgetown Becomes Fully Coed
“They’ll admit women to the College over my dead body!”When the Georgetown University Board of Directors announced big changes coming to campus in 1969, at least one Jesuit priest was clearly not...
View Article"New Girl in Town": Washington Gets a Leonardo
On a cold night in January 1967, a plane landed quietly at National Airport. No one could know where it came from and what it carried. in fact, the only indication of the plane's arrival came through a...
View ArticleIn Washington, "Taxation Without Representation" is History
Most Americans are familiar with the phrase, of course. It brings to mind images of the Revolutionary War—colonists protesting a series of taxes imposed on them by the British Parliament, despite their...
View ArticleAll's Wright that Ends Well: The Pope-Leighey House of Northern Virginia
When Loren Pope learned of the acclaimed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, he spent months working up the courage to mail him a letter. "There are certain things a man wants during life, and, of life,"...
View ArticleIn the White House When the Eagle Landed
Approximately 530 million Americans across the country, including those in the White House, sat glued to their television sets on the evening of July 20, 1969, watching as Neil Armstrong became the...
View ArticleFired for Being Gay, Frank Kameny Spent the Rest of His Life Fighting Back
You might be familiar with the Red Scare, Senator Joseph McCarthy's efforts to remove suspected communists from the U.S. State Department. But what about the Lavender Scare? Starting in the 1940s,...
View ArticleWishing in a Fountain: The Protest for more D.C. Pools
In the early 1960s, the Evening Star called the Columbus Circle fountain in front of Union Station“a ready made swimming pool with ledges, platforms, and friendly statues. It is a grand place to...
View ArticleWashington Hosts the 1969 All-Star Game
Washington, D.C. hosted the 1969 All-Star game at RFK stadium. It was a thrilling event that drew baseball fans together to watch the greats of the MLB, including hometown hero Frank Howard, go...
View Article1969: Georgetown Becomes Fully Coed
“They’ll admit women to the College over my dead body!”When the Georgetown University Board of Directors announced big changes coming to campus in 1969, at least one Jesuit priest was clearly not...
View Article"New Girl in Town": Washington Gets a Leonardo
On a cold night in January 1967, a plane landed quietly at National Airport. No one could know where it came from and what it carried. in fact, the only indication of the plane's arrival came through a...
View ArticleIn Washington, "Taxation Without Representation" is History
Most Americans are familiar with the phrase, of course. It brings to mind images of the Revolutionary War—colonists protesting a series of taxes imposed on them by the British Parliament, despite their...
View Article"Belair at Bowie": Segregated Suburbia
By 1963, “Belair at Bowie” was thriving. Since its opening in 1961, over 2000 houes had been occupied. But its prosperity hid an uncomfortable truth. William Levitt’s vision of the perfect neighborhood...
View Article"Belair at Bowie": the Suburban Dream
William Levitt is often called the "Father of Suburbia," after his planned communities became popular in post-war New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. When he finally came to the D.C. area, his...
View ArticleThe "White Christmas" of 1962
If a white Christmas is what you want, D.C. might not be the best place for you. The area has only seen a handful of snowy holidays. But the most impressive came in 1962, when a record-setting 5 inches...
View ArticleReston's Roots: Black Activism in Virginia's New Town
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...
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