DC History Center

An Essential Resource

Whether it’s used for a social studies classroom exploring DC history, as an accompanying text while studying literature or science, or for personal knowledge, Washington History provides authentic, relevant, and engaging informational text for schools committed to preparing their students to meet Common Core and DC content standards.

Teachable Moment

“Teachable Moment” essays start with a document, map, or image, that invites close analysis to understand its deeper lessons. The features are also windows into how their historian/authors analyze and interpret primary sources to discover layers of context and meaning.

Click on the links below to download a PDF of the essay:

Rothman, Adam.  “Georgetown University and the Business of Slavery.” Washington History 29, no. 2 (2017): 18-22.

Reidy, Joseph P. “The Winding Path to Freedom under the District of Columbia Emancipation Act of April 16, 1862.” Washington History 26, no. 2 (2014): 18-22.

Shoenfeld, Sarah Jane. “Blockbusting” and Racial Turnover in Mid-Century D.C.” Washington History 30, no. 2 (2018): 50-54.

Rohal, Brian. “Mobilizing the Community in an Era Before Social Media.” Washington History 28, no. 1 (2016): 49-52.

Asch, Chris Myers. “The Rage of the Civil Rights Era.” Washington History 27, no. 2 (2015): 20-24.

Smith, Kathryn Schneider. “For Real Hometown Understanding, Start with Real Estate Maps.” Washington History 27, no. 1 (2015): 15-18.

• • • Access and download a historic real estate map or plat book of your school’s neighborhood through the Library of Congress or the DC Public Library!
      Digitized atlases of D.C. for 1903, 1907, 1909, 1913, 1919, and 1921
      Digitized atlases of D.C. for 1874 to 1896

Articles by Subject

These Washington History articles are great for students in higher grade levels, including college, who are doing research on local topics, as well as context for the adults who are guiding them. For younger students, while the text of  the articles may be best suited for the adults guiding them, many of the articles make extensive use of historical photographs and artifacts.

Click on the links below to download a PDF of the article:

COMPENSATED EMANCIPATION

Mitchell, Mary. “‘I Held George Washington’s Horse’: Compensated Emancipation in the District of Columbia.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 63/65 (1963): 221-29.

CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL ACTIVISTS

Caplan, Marvin. “Eat Anywhere!” Washington History 1, no. 1 (1989): 24-39.

Pacifico, Michele F. “’Don’t Buy Where You Can’t Work’: The New Negro Alliance of Washington.” Washington History 6, no. 1 (1994): 66-88.

Carey, Miya. “Becoming “a Force for Desegregation”: The Girl Scouts and Civil Rights in the Nation’s Capital.” Washington History 29, no. 2 (2017): 52-60.

Crooms, Lisa A. “Race, Education and the District of Columbia: The Meaning and Legacy of Bolling v. Sharpe.” Washington History 16, no. 2 (2004): 14-22.

Pearlman, Lauren. “More than a March: The Poor People’s Campaign in the District.” Washington History 26, no. 2 (2014): 24-41.

Gray, Derek. “’Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution’: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy of Activism in Washington, D.C.” Washington History 30, no. 2 (2018): 10-19.

Schaffer, Dana Lanier. “The 1968 Washington Riots in History and Memory.” Washington History 15, no. 2 (2003): 4-33.

THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION

Murray, Martin G. “Traveling with the Wounded: Walt Whitman and Washington’s Civil War Hospitals.” Washington History 8, no. 2 (1996): 58-73.

DC GOVERNMENT – STRUCTURE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Haskins, Faye P. “The Art of D.C. Politics: Broadsides, Banners, and Bumper Stickers.” Washington History 12, no. 2 (2000): 46-63.

Hartman, Curtis J. “Talking Trash: Solid Waste Policy in the District of Columbia, 1877-1922.” Washington History 24, no. 2 (2012): 85-99.

Mergen, Bernard. “Slush Funds: A History of D.C. Snow Management.” Washington History 8, no. 1 (1996): 4-15.

Van Zandt Cox, William. “Matthew Gault Emery, the Last Mayor of Washington, 1870-1871.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 20 (1917): 19-59.

Wells, Donna M. “Walter Edward Washington (1915-2003): A Photo Tribute.” Washington History 16, no. 1 (2004): 4-15.

DC VOTING RIGHTS

Diner, Steven J. “The City under the Hill.” Washington History 8, no. 1 (1996): 54-61.

IMMIGRATION AND NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT

Rodriguez, Ana Patricia. “‘Becoming `Wachintonians’: Salvadorans in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area.” Washington History 28, no. 2 (2016): 3-12.

Aviles, Quique. “A Third Citizenship.” Washington History 31, no. 1/2 (2019): 29-34.

LOCAL LIFE DURING THE WORLD WARS

Gordon, Martin K., Barry R. Sude, and Ruth Ann Overbeck. “Chemical Testing in the Great War: The American University Experiment Station.” Washington History 6, no. 1 (1994): 28-45

Pryde, Marion Jackson, Markus Ring, Damon Cordom, and Loretta Carter Hanes. “Growing up in Washington II: Great Depression and World War II.” Washington History 12, no. 2 (2000): 17-21.

NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSPORTATION INNOVATIONS

Schrag, Zachary M. “Mapping Metro, 1955-1968: Urban, Suburban, and Metropolitan Alternatives.” Washington History 13, no. 1 (2001): 4-23.

Amsler, Sarah S. “Washington in Mid-Century: Wymer’s Photo Survey, 1948-1952.” Washington History 9, no. 1 (1997): 42-51.

Williams, Kim Prothro. “The Surviving Cultural Landscape of Washington’s Alleys.” Washington History 27, no. 2 (2015): 40-52.

Shepherd, William John, and Mary Beth Corrigan. “Becoming a Capital City: The Photographs of Terence Vincent Powderly.” Washington History 24, no. 2 (2012): 116-35.

DeFerrari, John. “Picturing Metro: A Look Back at the Photographs of Phil Portlock.” Washington History 28, no. 2 (2016): 16-31.

ON-GOING STRUGGLE FOR SELF-DETERMINATION

Musgrove, George Derek. “‘Statehood Is Far More Difficult’: The Struggle for D.C. Self-Determination, 1980–2017.” Washington History 29, no. 2 (2017): 3-17.

THE PEARL AFFAIR

Harrold, Stanley C. “The Pearl Affair: The Washington Riot of 1848.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 50 (1980): 140-60.

RETROCESSION

Richards, Mark David. “The Debates over the Retrocession of the District of Columbia, 1801-2004.” Washington History 16, no. 1 (2004): 54-82.

Get More Washington History

Washington History is the number one resource for issues relating to local life in the District of Columbia, which the DC History Center has published since 1989. Washington History is filled with scholarly articles, reviews, and a rich array of images. It is written and edited by distinguished historians and journalists. The full runs of Washington History(1989-present) and its predecessor publication the Records of the Columbia Historical Society (1897-1988) are available through JSTOR, an online archive to which many educational institutions subscribe. It’s also easy to set up a personal JSTOR account, which allows free online reading of six articles per month from the vast array of JSTOR journals. Membership in the DC History Center at the Membership Plus level includes full access to the entire run of both of our publications.

Click here for the direct link to explore the full run of Washington History.

Click here for the direct link to explore the full run of the Records of the Columbia Historical Society. ALL Records articles from 1897 to 1924 are available for free online access as well as free PDF downloads with no membership or JSTOR account required.