Download or read book Very Washington DC written by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2013-06-14 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A travel guide with character, this fact-filled keepsake offers all the history, beauty, charm, and culture of our nation's capital city. In eye-catching watercolors and detailed sketches, artist Diana Gessler captures the allure that makes Washington DC one of the most visited destinations in the country. In addition to the national landmarks, stirring memorials, and vibrant neighborhoods, there's the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Twilight Tattoo (a military pageant featuring the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps and the U.S. Army Drill Team), colorful row houses, famous hotels and restaurants, and more museums than you'll be able to visit in just one trip. Gessler covers the city's most popular attractions but also heads off the beaten path to share hidden gems, like the quirky Albert Einstein Memorial and Eastern Market, where you can dine on bluebucks and browse for flea market finds. Also included are an index of sites and a useful appendix of addresses, Web sites, Metro stops, and phone numbers. Very Washington DC is a picture-perfect guidebook—a one-of-a-kind memento for tourists and a cherished reminder of the city's riches for those who have always lived in America's hometown.
Download or read book Classical Architecture and Monuments of Washington D C A History Guide written by Michael Curtis and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2018 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For architecture aficinados and historians, this comprehensive view of the statues, monuments and architectural plans of Washington DC provides an exciting insight into our federal city. Author Michael Curtis guides this tour of the heart of the District of Columbia's buildings, statues, and monuments. Classical design formed our nation's capital. The soaring Washington Monument, the columns of the Lincoln Memorial and the spectacular dome of the Capitol Building speak to the founders' expansive vision of our federal city. Learn about the L'Enfant and McMillan plans for Washington, D.C., and how those designs are reflected in two hundred years of monuments, museums and representative government. View the statues of our Founding Fathers with the eye of a sculptor and gain insight into the criticism and controversies of modern additions to Washington's monumental structure.
Download or read book The Evolution of Washington DC written by James M. Goode and published by Smithsonian Institution. This book was released on 2015-03-17 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Evolution of Washington, DC is a striking volume featuring select pieces of the extraordinary collection of Washingtoniana donated by Albert H. Small to the George Washington University in 2011. It showcases treasures such as an 1860 lithograph of the equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson in front of the White House and a contemporary print of old Potomac River steamboats. Other unique pieces include early designs for the White House, the Capitol, and the Washington Monument as well as presidential portraits and Civil War memorabilia. Each object--from architectural plans and topographical maps to letters and advertisements--tells a fascinating story, and together they illustrate the history of our nation's capital and indeed our nation itself.
Download or read book Empire of Mud written by J. D. Dickey and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2014-09-02 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Washington, DC, gleams with stately columns and neoclassical temples, a pulsing hub of political power and prowess. But for decades it was one of the worst excuses for a capital city the world had ever seen. Before America became a world power in the twentieth century, Washington City was an eyesore at best and a disgrace at worst. Unfilled swamps, filthy canals, and rutted horse trails littered its landscape. Political bosses hired hooligans and thugs to conduct the nation's affairs. Legendary madams entertained clients from all stations of society and politicians of every party. The police served and protected with the aid of bribes and protection money. Beneath pestilential air, the city’s muddy roads led to a stumpy, half-finished obelisk to Washington here, a domeless Capitol Building there. Lining the streets stood boarding houses, tanneries, and slums. Deadly horse races gouged dusty streets, and opposing factions of volunteer firefighters battled one another like violent gangs rather than life-saving heroes. The city’s turbulent history set a precedent for the dishonesty, corruption, and mismanagement that have led generations to look suspiciously on the various sin--both real and imagined--of Washington politicians. Empire of Mud unearths and untangles the roots of our capital’s story and explores how the city was tainted from the outset, nearly stifled from becoming the proud citadel of the republic that George Washington and Pierre L'Enfant envisioned more than two centuries ago.
Download or read book The Washington National Mall written by Peter R. Penczer and published by . This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first general history of the National Mall in Washington, America's most important urban park. The Mall is home to the Smithsonian Institution, the largest museum complex in the world, and it is the location of memorials to America's most important heroes. It has become the nation's center stage as well, the venue for the country's largest demonstrations. The Washington National Mall details the history of the National Mall and its institutions, then tells the stories behind each of the monuments and museums.
Download or read book The Great Society Subway written by Zachary M. Schrag and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2014-08 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Metro stretches to Tysons Corner and beyond, this paperback edition features a new preface from the author. Drivers in the nation's capital face a host of hazards: high-speed traffic circles, presidential motorcades, jaywalking tourists, and bewildering signs that send unsuspecting motorists from the Lincoln Memorial into suburban Virginia in less than two minutes. And parking? Don't bet on it unless you're in the fast lane of the Capital Beltway during rush hour. Little wonder, then, that so many residents and visitors rely on the Washington Metro, the 106-mile rapid transit system that serves the District of Columbia and its inner suburbs. In the first comprehensive history of the Metro, Zachary M. Schrag tells the story of the Great Society Subway from its earliest rumblings to the present day, from Arlington to College Park, Eisenhower to Marion Barry. Unlike the pre–World War II rail systems of New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, the Metro was built at a time when most American families already owned cars, and when most American cities had dedicated themselves to freeways, not subways. Why did the nation's capital take a different path? What were the consequences of that decision? Using extensive archival research as well as oral history, Schrag argues that the Metro can be understood only in the political context from which it was born: the Great Society liberalism of the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations. The Metro emerged from a period when Americans believed in public investments suited to the grandeur and dignity of the world's richest nation. The Metro was built not merely to move commuters, but in the words of Lyndon Johnson, to create "a place where the city of man serves not only the needs of the body and the demands of commerce but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community." Schrag scrutinizes the project from its earliest days, including general planning, routes, station architecture, funding decisions, land-use impacts, and the behavior of Metro riders. The story of the Great Society Subway sheds light on the development of metropolitan Washington, postwar urban policy, and the promises and limits of rail transit in American cities.
Download or read book Black Broadway in Washington DC written by Briana A. Thomas and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2021 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Before chain coffeeshops and luxury high-rises, before even the beginning of desegregation and the 1968 riots, Washington's Greater U Street was known as Black Broadway. From the early 1900s into the 1950s, African Americans plagued by Jim Crow laws in other parts of town were free to own businesses here and built what was often described as a "city within a city." Local author and journalist Briana A. Thomas narrates U Street's rich and unique history, from the early triumph of emancipation to the days of civil rights pioneer Mary Church Terrell and music giant Duke Ellington, through the recent struggle of gentrifiction" --
Download or read book Lost Washington D C written by John DeFerrari and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of the popular blog “The Streets of Washington” shares new vignettes and reader favorites exploring the colorful history of America’s capitol. In Lost Washington, D.C., John DeFerrari investigates the bygone institutions and local haunts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Washington may seem eternal and unchanging with its grand avenues and stately monuments, but longtime locals and earlier generations knew a very different place. Discover the Washington of lavish window displays at Woodies, supper at the grand Raleigh Hotel and a Friday night game at Griffith Stadium. From the raucous age of burlesque at the Gayety Theater and the once bustling Center Market to the mystery of Suter's Tavern and the disappearance of the Key mansion in Georgetown, DeFerrari recalls the lost city of yesteryear.
Download or read book Chocolate City written by Chris Myers Asch and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monumental in scope and vividly detailed, Chocolate City tells the tumultuous, four-century story of race and democracy in our nation's capital. Emblematic of the ongoing tensions between America's expansive democratic promises and its enduring racial realities, Washington often has served as a national battleground for contentious issues, including slavery, segregation, civil rights, the drug war, and gentrification. But D.C. is more than just a seat of government, and authors Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove also highlight the city's rich history of local activism as Washingtonians of all races have struggled to make their voices heard in an undemocratic city where residents lack full political rights. Tracing D.C.'s massive transformations--from a sparsely inhabited plantation society into a diverse metropolis, from a center of the slave trade to the nation's first black-majority city, from "Chocolate City" to "Latte City--Asch and Musgrove offer an engaging narrative peppered with unforgettable characters, a history of deep racial division but also one of hope, resilience, and interracial cooperation.
Download or read book African American Historic Places written by National Register of Historic Places and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 1995-07-13 with total page 628 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Culled from the records of the National Register of Historic Places, a roster of all types of significant properties across the United States, African American Historic Places includes over 800 places in 42 states and two U.S. territories that have played a role in black American history. Banks, cemeteries, clubs, colleges, forts, homes, hospitals, schools, and shops are but a few of the types of sites explored in this volume, which is an invaluable reference guide for researchers, historians, preservationists, and anyone interested in African American culture. Also included are eight insightful essays on the African American experience, from migration to the role of women, from the Harlem Renaissance to the Civil Rights Movement. The authors represent academia, museums, historic preservation, and politics, and utilize the listed properties to vividly illustrate the role of communities and women, the forces of migration, the influence of the arts and heritage preservation, and the struggles for freedom and civil rights. Together they lead to a better understanding of the contributions of African Americans to American history. They illustrate the events and people, the designs and achievements that define African American history. And they pay powerful tribute to the spirit of black America.
Download or read book Tudor Place written by Leslie L. Buhler and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Released to mark the bicentennial of Tudor Place, this new title is the first comprehensive record of this important National Historic Landmark in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Two grand houses were under construction in the young Federal City in 1816: one the President's House, reconstructed after it was burned by the British in 1814, and the other Tudor Place, an elegant mansion rising on the heights above Georgetown. The connection between these two houses is more than temporal, as they were connected through lineage and politics for generations. The builders of Tudor Place were Thomas and Martha Parke Custis Peter, Martha Washington's granddaughter. In the 1790s George Washington had been a frequent guest at the Peters' town house when he was in the nascent Federal City, attending to its planning and selecting sites for the U.S. Capitol and the President's House. In 1817, when President James Monroe moved back into the reconstructed President's House following the fire of 1814, the Peters were completing their own grand home, Tudor Place, designed in concert with their friend, Dr. William Thornton, architect for the first U.S. Capitol Building. The White House and Tudor Place each represent the spirit and aspirations of the early Republic. Little more than two miles apart, each survives as a national architectural landmark. While the White House is perhaps the most well known building in the world, Tudor Place remained a family home until 1983 and very private, although the Peters welcomed some of the nation's foremost leaders as their guests and were themselves guests at the White House.
Download or read book 111 Places in Women s History in Washington That You Must Not Miss written by Kaitlin Calogera and published by Emons Publishers. This book was released on 2021-08-26 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: * The ultimate insider's guide to women's history in Washington, DC for locals and experienced travelers* Features interesting and unusual places not found in traditional travel guides* Part of the international 111 Places/111 Shops series with over 650 titles and 3.8 million copies in print worldwide* Appeals to both the local market (more than 6.2 million people call Washington DC home) and the tourist market (more than 23 million people visit Washington, DC every year!)* Fully illustrated with 111 full-page color photographsWomen's history is everywhere in Washington, if curious locals and adventurous tourists know where to look. As the District of Columbia evolved into one of the world's top tourist destinations, women emerged as pioneers and a town created to house the federal government matured into a gilded city affluent in feminist culture. Historic houses, hidden alleyways, and neighborhood parks stand as memorials to America's founding mothers who built the nation's capital. This book records the legacies of these women and encourages readers to explore their names on headstones, street signs, and buildings, while also discovering where hidden history is unmarked. Rising from a strong foundation, modern DC women have continued to nurture the legacy of their foremothers as chefs, artists, athletes, philanthropists, politicians, and entrepreneurs. Most notable are the stories of collaboration in which these women flout the myth that nothing gets accomplished in Washington. Feminism in the city is fueled by the creativity, leadership, and fortitude of local women, each with a personal experience that is uniquely special. While no story is the same, the themes of preservation and progress are weaved throughout this book as a reminder; her story is history and it is still being written.
Download or read book Washington s U Street written by Blair A. Ruble and published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This book was released on 2012-01-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the history of the U Street neighborhood in Washington, D.C., from its Civil War–era origins to its recent gentrification. Home throughout the years to important scholars, entertainers, and political figures, as well as to historically prominent African American institutions, Washington’s U Street neighborhood is a critical zone of contact between black and white America. Howard University and the Howard Theater are both located there; Duke Ellington grew up in the neighborhood; and diplomat Ralph Bunche, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, and medical researcher Charles Drew were all members of the community. This robustly diverse neighborhood included residents of different races and economic classes when it arose during the Civil War. Jim Crow laws came to the District after the Compromise of 1877, and segregation followed in the mid-1880s. Over the next century, U Street emerged as an energetic center of African American life in Washington. The mid-twentieth-century rise of cultural and educational institutions brought with it the establishment of African American middle and elite classes, ironically fostering biases within the black community. Later, with residential desegregation, many of the elites moved on and U Street entered decades of decline, suffered rioting in 1968, but has seen an initially fitful resurgence that has recently taken hold. Blair A. Ruble, a jazz aficionado, prominent urbanist, and longtime resident of Washington, D.C., is uniquely equipped to undertake the history of this culturally important area. His work is a rare instance of original research told in an engaging and compelling voice.
Download or read book Historically African American Leisure Destinations Around Washington D C written by Patsy Mose Fletcher and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2015 with total page 1 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, African Americans in the Washington, D.G. area sought leisure destinations where they could relax without the burden of racial oppression. Local picnic parks such as Enrcka and Madre's were accessible by streetcars. Black-owned steamboats ferried passengers seeking sun and sand to places like Collingwood Beach, and African American families settled into quiet beach-side communities along the Western Shore of Maryland. Author and public historian Patsy M. Fletcher reveals the history behind Washington's forgotten era of African American leisure. Book jacket.
Download or read book Washington at Home written by Kathryn S. Smith and published by . This book was released on 2010-05-31 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Washington, D.C., conjures images of marble monuments, national memorials, and world-class museums. To many, the world beyond the National Mall is invisible. Yet within an area of only 68 square miles lies a residential city of diversity, beauty, and charm. In the long-awaited update of her 1988 classic Washington at Home, Kathryn Schneider Smith and a team of historians, journalists, folklorists, museum professionals, and others who know the city intimately offer a fresh look at the social history of this intriguing city through the prism of 26 diverse neighborhoods. Lavishly illustrated with engaging historical photographs and maps, Washington at Home introduces readers to the famous residents, colorful characters, distinct flavors, and important events that helped shape the city beyond the federal façade. This second edition adds six new neighborhoods from all parts of the city. Extensive notes make the book invaluable for those doing their own research as well as the more casual reader. Journalists, historians, politicians, residents, real estate agents, and students regularly consult Washington at Home as the standard resource on the social history of Washington, D.C. This expanded and updated edition will appeal to residents, both new and old, as well as to visitors eager to deepen their experience in the nation’s capital.
Download or read book Free Agents written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looks at the work and lives of the closely-knit group of graffiti artists rooted in DC who were, in effect, free agents. These artists painted to please themselves, to gain recognition, and for the satisfaction of setting out to do something and carrying through.
Download or read book The Hidden History of Washington DC written by Tingba Apidta and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
