The proposal for DC Statehood has gained visibility and momentum nationwide over the last year, in large part due to Mayor Bowser’s forceful advocacy. And yes, the Instagram promotion Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness didn’t hurt either.

Thanks to a renewed grant from the Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia in FY21, the DC History Center will keep shining a spotlight on the history of voter disenfranchisement in our city.

The objective of this grant is to strengthen awareness for statehood for Washington, DC. This effort will require outreach, canvassing, and measurement of support of elected officials and Americans across the country, and visitors to the nation’s capital. The ultimate goal of this program is that the grantee(s) are able to increase congressional and nationwide support for statehood for Washington, DC.

At the DC History Center, we will start with a Wikipedia edit-a-thon on DC Statehood and Home Rule in May. In June a Context for Today program will be presented in conjunction with the one-year anniversary of the historic House vote to grant DC statehood.

Over the summer, we look forward to telling this story as part of the D.C. Declaration of Learning, a professional development program for teachers. Home Rule and Statehood online learning materials will also get a boost thanks to this grant, though there’s no need to wait to check out the DC Voting Rights Quiz and Voting Rights Timeline Scramble.

For more perspectives on this issue, check out our recent Context for Today program, featuring historian and Chocolate City co-author G. Derek Musgrove and former Washington Post columnist Bob Levey, available with closed captioning on YouTube. The accompanying list of resources is also available on the Context for Today section of our website.

You might also enjoy the WAMU podcast,51st” from What’s with Washington by Mikaela Lefrak, and Arena Stage’s film, The 51st State.

A special shout-out and thanks to our partners at the Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia, particularly Secretary Kimberly Bassett and long-time advocate for DC history Eugene Kinlow.

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