As the nation’s capital commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a new community-focused initiative, hometown DC, puts Washingtonians and their stories of home at the heart of this summer’s celebrations.
Hometown DC is a community-driven public history project that showcases the voices, stories, and lived experiences of District residents through oral history interviews, outdoor installations at eight DC Public Library locations, and free public events. The project offers an intimate and complex portrait of what it means to call the nation’s capital home in the year 2026.
The project is the result of an unprecedented collaboration between the city’s leading humanities organizations. With HumanitiesDC in the lead, partners comprise the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the DC History Center, and DC Public Library.
While Washington is usually viewed as the seat of the federal government, hometown DC centers the city’s neighborhoods as vibrant and distinctive communities shaped by generations of long-term residents alongside new arrivals.
“Hometown DC puts the spotlight on Washington as a leading American city in its own right,” said Rebecca Lemos Otero, Executive Director, HumanitiesDC. “Among the many events planned by the federal government, this project ensures that DC’s own stories are also seen and heard.”
As part of HumanitiesDC’s DC Oral History Collaborative, 21 Washingtonians from a variety of backgrounds gave oral history interviews for the project. Some were relative newcomers to the city, while others were lifelong residents with multi-generational Washington families. All call DC their hometown.
Many of these oral history narrators told stories about times when they felt proud to call Washington, DC home. Some interviewees told stories about growing up in the city, or about the lessons their parents and grandparents taught them. Others reflected on why they have remained in the city and the changes they have seen in their time here. One part time capsule, one part memory bank, these interviews were filmed and photographed, and will eventually be transcribed and archived.
These recordings complement archived oral history interviews already captured by the DC Oral History Collaborative and available on Dig DC, a collection of digitized and born-digital items from the People’s Archive at DC Public Library.
Armonte Butler, narrator in hometown DC. Photo by Farrah Skeiky.
The interviews served as the starting point for 16 temporary outdoor exhibits—designed as interactive “cubes”—which will be installed at eight DC Public Library neighborhood locations. These will be on view from June 18 until October 5, 2026, culminating with a final display at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library starting September 15.
Each installation features portrait photographs of the project’s interviewees and a QR code allowing passers-by to access the recordings on their phones. Historic images from the People’s Archive and the DC History Center, as well as art from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Art Bank, complement the displays.
An installation will be located in every ward of the city, including the following neighborhood libraries: Bellevue/William O. Lockridge, Georgetown, Mount Pleasant, Southwest, Takoma, and Woodridge. In September, the exhibits will be brought together at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library downtown.
“Jammin at the Howard Theater” by Isaiah Kamau Frank of Ward 1. This artwork comes from the DCCAH Art Bank and is featured in hometown DC.
The project will be introduced and celebrated through two free public events, including an interactive program featuring Verbal Gymnastics Theater Company. Using a technique called Playback Theater, these performers will bring stories to life on stage, reenacting them, followed by facilitated audience conversations.
For more about the project and upcoming event, check out the hometown DC website! For questions and press inquiries, please contact Jasper Collier, Senior Manager of the DC Oral History Collaborative at HumanitiesDC: jcollier@humanitiesdc.org or 202-770-3077 Ext. 804.
HumanitiesDC At HumanitiesDC, we connect curious people with bold questions to the powerful stories of our vibrant city. Founded in 1979, HumanitiesDC is the designated state humanities council for Washington, DC. We utilize the power of the humanities (history, literature, language arts, ethics, philosophy and arts appreciation) to enrich quality of life, foster intellectual exchange, and promote cross-cultural understanding across all neighborhoods of the District. Through our community-led grantmaking, public programs and partnerships we provide spaces and resources to build a more inclusive and vibrant city through storytelling, civic engagement, and support for local scholars and culture bearers.
DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (CAH) is an independent agency of the D.C. Government, serving as the District’s State Arts Agency. We provide the funding, the professional training, and the public platforms that allow our arts and humanities to flourish. Think of us as the engine behind DC’s creative heartbeat. At CAH, we do more than award grants… we provide the education and infrastructure that keeps our cultural landscape moving forward.
DC History Center For over 130 years the DC History Center has served as Washington, DC’s memory bank. We are the only community-based non-profit focused solely on collecting, preserving, and telling DC stories, from its founding as the nation’s capital to the present moment. Anchored in the Carnegie Library in Downtown, the DC History Center offers programming that matches any level of knowledge or engagement—from youth education and community events to free exhibits and deep research opportunities through our historic collections. For more information, visit us at dchistory.org.
DC Public Library The District of Columbia Public Library is a dynamic source of information, programs, books and other library materials and services that improve the quality of life for District residents of all ages that, when combined with expert staff, helps build a thriving city. The Library provides environments that invite reading, community conversation, creative inspiration and exploration, lectures, films, computer access and use, workforce and economic development, storytimes for children, and much more. DC Public Library includes the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library and 25 neighborhood libraries and also provides services in nontraditional settings outside of the library buildings. DC Public Library enriches and nourishes the lives and minds of all District residents, provides them with the services and tools needed to transform lives, and builds and supports community throughout the District of Columbia.
This project is sponsored by Washington Gas, and in connection with the Government of the District of Columbia, Mayor Muriel Bowser, and the National Endowment for the Arts. It is part of the DC 250 and By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 initiatives.
By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils across the United States, its territories, and the District of Columbia in collaboration with local partners. Together, these programs explore 250 years of the nation’s cultural life and imagine its shared future. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage as a complement to the 2026 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.