Washington

COVID, Race, and a Pivotal Moment for America

Eric Foner and Robert Vinson comment on the convergence of two crises in America. Are there moments that compare?

Five Rejected Designs for the US Capitol Building

How would you feel with one of these structures in place of the familiar dome on First Street?

The Capital City and the Civil War

by S.C. Gwynne

In the winter of 1863–64, Washington was the most heavily defended city on earth.

Protesters shut down D.C. traffic before. It helped end the Vietnam War — and reshaped American activism.

by Hannah Natanson

Thousands of protesters against the Vietnam War took to the streets of downtown Washington in May 1971 with a single goal: Bring traffic to a total, grinding halt in the nation’s capital.

Where Did the Indigenous Community Mothers Go?

by Candace Wellman

Indigenous community mothers seem to have been an uncomfortable truth for historians and other writers that did not fit with the Euro-American mythology they sought to build around “the first white woman” in town. The result was their now-conspicuous absence.

A Reimagined Spy Museum in Washington Doesn’t Flinch From the Darker Side

Built for $162 million, the museum features flashy interactive exhibits but also grapples with intelligence failures, out-of-control surveillance and torture.

Sarah Jane Shoenfeld on Mapping segregation in D.C.

For the past several years, Mapping Segregation in Washington DC has been documenting the historic role of real estate developers, citizens associations (white homeowner groups), and the courts in segregating the city.

Native children benefit from knowing their heritage. Why attack a system that helps them?

by Bob Ferguson and Fawn Sharp

For 40 years, the Indian Child Welfare Act has protected the best interests of Native children and helped preserve the integrity of tribal nations across the United States.

Washington Forced Segregation on the Nation

It's time to remedy the effects of that terrible policy. 

Is local history too white?

by Knute Berger

If you travel around Washington state and visit local historical societies, you’ll notice that “history” tends to begin with the arrival of white settlers and extend to perhaps one or two generations back. 

Video of the Week: Pierre L'Enfant's great design for Washington

by Scott Rensberger

In 1886 France gave us the Statue of Liberty, one of our most famous icons. And, it was a Frenchman, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, who helped create our capital city.

'The first Oval Office': Museum will showcase Washington’s Revolutionary War tent

Dubbed “the first Oval Office,” the canvas tent will be the cornerstone of the Philadelphia-based Museum’s collection of approximately 3,000 Revolutionary War-era artifacts.

Jeffersonians Claimed Washington Was Hamilton’s Dupe. They Were Wrong.

by Stephen F. Knott

Washington called the shots.

Our First Unwashington President

by Thomas Fleming

A fresh review of Jefferson’s presidency shows that a guiding principle was to do the opposite of what Washington did.

Review of Daniel James Brown's "The Boys in the Boat"

by Bernard von Bothmer

The astonishing tale of the University of Washington's crew team's improbable quest for Olympic gold in 1936

Lincoln Memorial vandalized

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. was vandalized overnight.According to NBCWashington, green paint was splattered inside the chamber of the memorial, on Lincoln and on the floor around it.The monument will be closed while National Park Service crews clean up the mess, The Associated Press reported.There's no word yet on who desecrated the monument or what their motive was for doing so....

May is Jewish American Heritage Month

What do Bob Dylan, J.D Salinger, Harrison Ford, Jon Stewart, Barbara Walters, Barbara Hersey, and Leonard Nimoy all have in common, aside from being awesome? They're all Jewish Americans. May is Jewish American Heritage Month, and this year's theme is American Jews in entertainment.(With apologies to William Shatner, who was born in Canada, and judging by his acting he's probably not kosher anyway.) Jewish American Heritage Month was established by presidential decree in 2006, after lobbying efforts by the Jewish Museum of Florida, the South Florida Jewish community, Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Pennsylvania senator Arlen Specter (Fittingly, Manischewitz is one of the major corporate sponsors.)

Bulgarian street-naming request in DC stirs broader debate over country’s role in Holocaust

WASHINGTON — A request by the Bulgarian Embassy to name a Washington intersection after a favorite native son — a man credited with helping save the country’s Jewish population from deportation — has gotten tangled up in a broader debate about whether the nation is accurately accounting for the actions of its leaders during the Holocaust.A tense exchange between the embassy and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has played out behind the scenes as the D.C. Council prepares to consider honoring Dimitar Peshev this month. The debate underscores not only the complexities of Holocaust history but also the difficulty countries can face reconciling the heroic deeds of an individual during World War II with the record of a nation as a whole. It also comes as historians and Jewish organizations continue encouraging nations to take unvarnished stock of their actions in Nazi-era Europe....

Universities, theaters in 4 cities to join in creating new theatrical productions on Civil War

WASHINGTON — Four major universities are joining theater companies in Boston, Baltimore, Washington and Atlanta in a project to commission new plays, music and dance compositions about the Civil War and its lasting legacy.The National Civil War Project announced Thursday in Washington will involve programming over the next two years to mark the 150th anniversary of the war between North and South. Beyond commissioning new works, organizers plan for university faculty to integrate the arts into their academic programs on campus....