History

The stories that came before us influence what comes next.

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January 19, 2011 | 3:39 PM | By

Saint Martin of Luther Place: a Historic Congregation’s New Mural

Luther Place: Amanda Weber

Luther Place's second mural, featuring "Saint Martin of Birmingham", watches over 14th street.

Before this week, if you had asked me where “Luther Place” was, I would’ve looked at you blankly, despite the fact that I’ve lived here since 1999. Shame on me, for that. Luther Place Memorial Church sits on Thomas Circle; it’s a brick building you’ve probably passed dozens of times if you walk, bike or drive on 14th street NW. This week, the congregation dedicated a special mural featuring “Saint Martin of Birmingham”, or the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I spoke to Reverend Karen Brau yesterday about this new piece of public art, her congregation and its history in this city.
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Tell me about Luther Place.

It’s a congregation that has been part of this city since the 1870s. In the 1960s, when riots happened on 14th street, we were called to open our doors and be a refuge for people at that time. Now we have a ministry for homeless women that serves over 800 women a year with shelter, job placement and help with recovery from addiction.

I’d love to know more about what Luther Place did during the riots–

The congregation made the decision to open the doors of our church, and it became a point of sanctuary for people who needed a place to stay. Luther Place also became a distribution point…other congregations from different parts of the city brought food to us that could be shared with people being affected by what was going on at that time. I think that act was a turning point; in the words of the gospel, you should love your neighbor, care for a stranger. Those words came to life in a very palpable way. And not everyone could deal with that, so that defined the congregation too.
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FILED UNDER: History, Delightful City, Martin Luther King Jr., The Arts, Thomas Circle
January 18, 2011 | 10:29 AM | By

Remembering the “Moral Leader of our Nation”

Flickr: Marlon E

"I have a dream..."

As someone who did Speech and Debate for all four years of high school, I have a special appreciation for first drafts, unexpected riffs and the power to be inspired by the moment, the divine…or Mahalia Jackson. Check out “On Martin Luther King Day, remembering the first draft of ‘I Have a Dream‘”, by Clarence B. Jones, via WaPo:

The weather and the massive crowd were in sync – both calm and warm for the March on Washington. Even the D.C. Metropolitan Police, which had been bracing for a race riot, had nothing to complain about.

I remember when it was all over but the final act. As I stood some 50 feet behind the lectern, march Chairman A. Philip Randolph introduced Martin, to wild applause, as “the moral leader of our nation.” And I still didn’t know how Martin had pulled the speech together after our meeting.

After Martin greeted the people assembled, he began his speech, and I was shocked when these words quickly rolled out:

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check.

Martin was essentially reciting the opening suggestions I’d handed in the night before. This was strange, given the way he usually worked over the material Stanley and I provided. When he finished the promissory note analogy, he paused. And in that breach, something unexpected, historic and largely unheralded happened. Martin’s favorite gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson, who had performed earlier in the day, called to him from nearby: “Tell ‘em about the dream, Martin, tell ‘em about the dream!”

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FILED UNDER: History, Delightful City, Race and Class
January 14, 2011 | 2:44 PM | By

“The Nine Lives of Marion Berry” is on Hulu

A still from the film.

Just heard about this– a film I’ve wanted to see is now available online, via Hulu. If you haven’t seen “The Nine Lives of Marion Berry” yet, go here and stream for yourself, if you have the capacity to do so. Here’s the blurb from Hulu:

The Nine Lives of Marion Barry tells the saga of this despised, beloved and resilient politician. It’s the story of race, power, sex and drugs, and a man who is the star of one of the most fascinating and bizarre chapters of American politics.

WaPo said this about the HBO documentary:

But what “Nine Lives” has that the great print profiles lack is a delicious collection of archival footage from the 1960s and ’70s. Here’s a young, slim, goateed, dashiki-clad man the newspapers called “Marion S. Barry, Negro militant” at community meetings, asking angry young Washingtonians to rise up with him against police brutality, “dig it.” As Jesse Jackson says in the movie, Barry was “a marching, picketing, protesting, Freedom Riding young man who had that fire.”

FILED UNDER: History, Marion Barry
December 20, 2010 | 10:42 AM | By

Washington’s Segregated Amusement Park

Radio Rover

From Flickr: "This photo was probably taken at Marshall Hall Amusement Park sometime around 1970 or '71."

Yesterday, Washington Post Metro columnist John Kelly incorporated reader comments in a follow-up piece about the Potomac river– and the vessels which traveled on it. The following note, about Marshall Hall, an amusement park across from Mount Vernon, got my attention:

Robert K. Jenkins Jr. is 63, a native Washingtonian and African American. “I remember both blacks and whites boarding the ship at the Wilson Line pier,” he wrote. “Many of the whites got off at Marshall Hall but not any of the blacks. I recall asking my father why. He responded: ‘Don’t fret. Spending time learning about history at Mount Vernon is much more important to your education than a wasteful day of frolic at Marshall Hall.’

“So this attorney/banker heartily thanks the bigoted Marshall Hall owners for their inadvertent contribution to his education and success.”

FILED UNDER: History, Racial Divide
December 13, 2010 | 5:30 PM | By

Now Listening to: “The Quander Quality”, on Metro Connection

Courtesy of: Quander Historical Society. Inc.

A photograph of Dr. John Thomas Quander from Metro Connection's slide show.

Last Friday’s Metro Connection had a wonderful story that would’ve inspired me to sit in my driveway vs. miss a moment of it, had I been in a car– it was about a local African-American family that defies the long-accepted stereotype that D.C. is a city for transients:

Rebecca Sheir introduces us to the Quanders: the oldest African-American family in D.C., and, possibly, the United States. Records show the family has been in the region since the late 1600s. These days, the family runs the Quander Historical Society, and keeps records at Howard University and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library.

The Quander’s family site has this very American story about their surname (and there’s even more about this in Rebecca’s piece):

The Quander Family is believed to have originated from an ancestor with the last name of “Amkwandoh” from Ghana, West Africa and “Quando” as the name appeared in the 1800s.

From learning about Quanders who worked at Mount Vernon to hearing about their epic, three-day reunion at Howard University in 1984 (which celebrated 300 years of documented presence with over 1,000 family members), the entire piece deserves a listen.

FILED UNDER: History, Metro Connection, WAMU
December 10, 2010 | 2:23 PM | By

Memorializing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

NBC Washington’s Aaron Gilchrist reports that efforts to construct a National Memorial for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., are well underway:

The memorial will sit on four acres near the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials and include a bookstore and visitor center.

Thirteen years of quotes from King’s books, letters and speeches will be displayed on 355 granite panels.

At the center of this $120 million project, Dr. King’s words are given form: ”a mountain of despair” — through which visitors will be able to walk — and “a stone of hope,” which bears a 28-foot tall sculpture of King less than a month from completion.

The monument isn’t scheduled to open to the public until August 2011, but you can get a 3d-riffic sneak preview in the video below. Meanwhile, today represents another milestone in MLK’s gigantic legacy: 46 years ago on December 10, he received the Nobel Peace Prize.

FILED UNDER: History, Martin Luther King Jr.
December 7, 2010 | 6:15 PM | By

A People’s History of Washington, D.C.

Amphis d'@illeurs

Danny Harris

Last night, I finally met and had a fantastic conversation with Danny Harris, the man behind the popular local website,”People’s District“. Danny is a photographer, DJ and oral historian who collects the stories of D.C. residents. Here’s why:

People’s District was my way of meeting the people I saw every day, but never stopped to introduce myself to: Carolyn, the crossing guard on my street; Cedric, who ran by my office most days, spinning in circles while yelling ‘HOOT, HOOT’; Dave, who rides his bike up and down my street in a finely tailored suit and fedora; and Josh, who checks my ID at the 9:30 Club. I saw these people more often than I saw my own family, yet I had never exchanged more than a ‘good morning’ or ‘thank you’ with them.

During one of those proverbial wake-up moments in July 2009, I stopped my first person to ask, ‘So, what’s your story?’ Joe, my first interviewee, spoke passionately about growing up on U Street and his first experience of going downtown after the end of segregation. After Joe came Andrew, talking about overcoming homelessness, then Eric and Maddie, discussing the D.C. hardcore music scene. Each story shed light on a new slice of D.C. life and brought me into the world of a complete stranger who was kind enough to share his or her story with me.

Each of those tales is compelling and while this is the part of my post where I’d normally exhort you to visit Danny’s online collection of D.C. stories, I probably don’t have to– the number one question I get from DCentric readers is, “Have you seen this site called ‘People’s District’?”. I’m not surprised (both of our sites explore race, class and the city), but I am grateful for the recommendation (seriously– feel free to tell me what you are reading). If I did introduce you to a new addition for your reader, then I’m glad I was able to shine some light on a worthy endeavor.

FILED UNDER: History, Delightful City, Gentrification, Race and Class, Racial Divide
November 1, 2010 | 5:56 PM | By

When Turbans Were Patriotic

dbking

Dolley Madison, National Portrait Gallery

While I wait for my interview, I’m devouring the following, from the wonderful “Streets of Washington” history blog:

Dolley Madison may be best known today for her heroism during the War of 1812, specifically her valiant efforts (as she reported in a letter to Anna Cutts) to save the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington from falling into British hands on August 24, 1814, when the British army captured Washington and burned public buildings, including the White House and the Capitol. She also packed important government papers into trunks for safekeeping. More than 30 years later, in May 1848, Dolley similarly saved her husband’s important papers, which she kept in an upstairs trunk, from immanent destruction. She was then spending her last years in her house on Lafayette Square, and the house caught fire, perhaps from arson. Dolley refused to be rescued from the top floor unless the trunk of papers was safely removed with her.

Nearly as well known as Dolley’s heroism were her personal foibles. She loved to dress well and had a famous predilection for extravagant turbans. When fleeing the White House in 1814, along with the Stuart portrait of Washington, she tellingly saved a set of red velvet drapes from the oval drawing room. Some have argued that her choice of these drapes when so much else had to be abandoned was reasonable given their high cost in those days, but the fact remains that the woman really loved red.

FILED UNDER: History
October 27, 2010 | 10:59 AM | By

It’s never too late.

A still from the video about the reunion.

This is wonderful. Fifty years after they graduated from high school, students from two segregated Northern Virginia high schools met for dinner, to get to know each other. For the Class of 1960, Loudoun High School was for White students and Douglass was for Blacks (via WaPo):

Jimmie Roberts, a 1956 graduate married to Peggy, a member of the Class of ’60, delivered a vivid history of Douglass, proudly noting that their daughter, Muriel Roberts Heanue, not only attended Loudoun after it integrated in 1968 but is now an assistant principal there…

Now, as they toured what was once Douglass, they talked about how integration was finally happening for them. At age 68, they are reclaiming some of what segregation took away.

“The friends we would’ve had,” said Sheila Kelly.

“The friends we should’ve had,” said Peggy Roberts.

There’s a video for the story which is worth watching, as well.

FILED UNDER: History, Segregation
October 6, 2010 | 3:53 PM | By

Frank Kameny on D.C. vs. SF and Marion Barry

DCVirago

Inspired by "Black is Beautiful", in the '60s Kameny said, "Gay is Good".

Recently, Washingtonian magazine profiled Dr. Frank Kameny, a notable local leader for Gay rights. Over 50 years ago, Kameny, a veteran of World War II who holds a PhD from Harvard, was fired from his astronomy job because of his sexual orientation. According to Wikipedia, he filed “the first civil rights claim based on sexual orientation”. Two things about the extensive profile jumped out at me:

W: Has DC been the center of the gay-rights movement?

FK: I’ve said for many years that San Francisco was looked upon as the center, but DC is very much the success story of the gay movement.

Huh. I just read a post on SFist expressing surprise that D.C.’s Starbucks would offer gender neutral bathrooms before San Francisco’s did.

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FILED UNDER: History, The People, LGBT, Marion Barry