District of Columbia

Mount Pleasant--Samuel P. Brown must have thought the name perfect when he chose it for his country estate on a wooded hill overlooking Washington City.

The name Mount Pleasant suited the New Englanders who settled in the village that Brown founded near Fourteenth Street and Park Road just after the Civil War. Around 1900, the once-isolated village began its transformation into a fashionable suburb after the city extended Sixteenth Street through Mount Pleasant's heart, and a new streetcar line linked the area to downtown. Developers constructed elegant apartment buildings and spacious brick row houses on block after block, and successful businessmen built stately residences along Park Road. Change arrived again with the Great Depression and then World War II, as the suburb evolved into an urban, exclusively white, working-class enclave that eventually became mostly African American. In addition, a Latino presence was evident as early as the 1960s. By the 1980s, the neighborhood was known as the heart of D.C.'s Latino and counterculture communities. Today these communities are dispersing, however, in response to a booming real estate market in Washington, D.C.

This volume contains more than 200 images of prominent homes and noteworthy points of national interest on Capitol Hill, including Union Station, the Navy Yard, Eastern Market, and the B&O Railroad Company.

Capitol Hill celebrates one of the largest historic districts in the nation and a neighborhood rich in history that shaped a nation and the world. Beginning as a port area on the high plateau near the deep water of the Anacostia River, Capitol Hill was largely shaped by the early residential development near the Navy Yard. Later home to middle-class workers in the 19th century, Capitol Hill is now one of Washington's most elite neighborhoods. While the name of the current neighborhood is derived from its proximity to the United States Capitol, it is actually not located on a hill. Situated on the highest point of land between the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, Capitol Hill began as a small cluster of homes located at First and Second Streets along New Jersey Avenue, Southeast around 1800. The neighborhood was also home to hospitals and boarding houses during the Civil War. The area now known as the Capitol Hill Historic District was primarily built up in the 1880s and 1890s for speculative housing on a more modest scale, but now the district is considered elite with more senators and members of Congress residing there than in any other neighborhood.

See how Fort Lesley J. McNair withstood the trials, tribulations and test of time and continues to protect our nation's capital today.

From southeast Washington, DC, where the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers meet, Fort Lesley J. McNair still protects America's capital. In 1791, Pierre L'Enfant designated it as a military reservation. The post is the third oldest in continuous operation--as an arsenal, a penitentiary, a hospital, and now, a military education center. It was renamed in 1948 to honor Lt. Gen. Lesley J. McNair, who was killed in World War II. Over the course of two centuries, the fort has borne witness to the British ransacking during the War of 1812; a Civil War explosion that killed female arsenal workers; and the incarceration, trial, and hanging of Lincoln assassination conspirators.

Over time, it became the home of several artillery commands, the first federal penitentiary, the US Army Engineer School, the US Army Music School, the US Army War College and the US Army Band (""Pershing's Own""). Today, it has evolved into the National Defense University, Inter-American Defense College and the headquarters of the Military District of Washington.

The Historical Society of Washington, D.C., an educational and cultural institution serving the residents of metropolitan Washington, presents Growing Up in Washington, D.C.: An Oral History, a book of memories excerpted from dozens of oral history interviews about childhood in Washington during the twentieth century. Telling stories of the past-from playing soccer on the National Mall to visiting the Zoo, from marching in inaugural parades to riding the roller coasters at Suburban Gardens-residents from all four quadrants of the city, from different racial and religious backgrounds, have documented the vital history of our nation's capital in their hearts and minds. In this collection, they share their personal experiences of attending school, celebrating holidays, playing games with friends, riding the streetcars and metro, and growing up in families and neighborhoods that, early on, shaped the course of their lives. Their fascinating tales and anecdotes provide a window into the city's development as seen through the innocent, yet discerning, eyes of its children. Illustrated with historic images of city life, such as eating at the Hot Shoppes and ice skating on the mall, and of recognizable local landmarks, such as Hains Point, the fun house at Glen Echo, and Rock Creek Park, Growing Up in Washington, D.C. brings to life the people and places that have helped to create the city's singular character. A one-of-a-kind testament to the variety of life in the great capital of the United States, this collection of personal childhood stories and vintage photographs offers a wealth of perspectives on growing up in Washington during the twentieth century.

On the edge of the 1792 original city plan by designer Pierre L'Enfant lies the Greater U Street neighborhood.

For nearly 70 years before the Civil War, orchards and grazing land covered the area. When Camp Campbell was settled during the war where Sixth and U Streets now lie, thousands of fighting soldiers and then freed men and women flocked to the area. The fighting ceased, and many people remained to construct small wood frame homes, churches, and businesses that eventually gave way to the elegant rows of substantial brick townhomes lining the surrounding street today. The rise of racial segregation in the early 1900s cultivated the Greater U Street area into a ""city within a city"" for the African-American community, and it remained so until the urban riots of 1968. The 1920s and 1930s witnessed a thriving cultural scene, with entertainers such as Sarah Vaughn, Pearl Bailey, Cab Calloway, and the neighborhood's own Edward ""Duke"" Ellington frequenting private clubs like Bohemian Caverns and other venues such as the Howard, Dunbar, Republic, and Lincoln Theaters. Known by many as the ""Black Broadway,"" Greater U Street was unique in that many of its institutions-Industrial Bank and True Reformers Hall among them-were designed, financed, owned, and built utilizing the talents of such emerging African-American professionals as banker John Whitelaw and architect John A. Lankford.

The valiant story of the nation's capital facing the challenges of World War II told in over 200 rare, historical images that bring the past to life.

As the country prepared for World War II, the nation's capital took center stage. Washington residents witnessed the local population nearly double in a few short years, as a mostly female work force descended on the city, while its male population was sent off to combat in Europe and the Pacific. Washingtonians planted victory gardens, ran scrap drives, and suffered the effects of severe rationing along with the rest of the nation, while military personnel manned anti aircraft batteries around the city. New government agencies were created and existing ones expanded dramatically-most doubled their workforce and constructed hundreds of temporary facilities on the Mall and throughout the city. Washington also witnessed the construction of the largest office building in the world, the Pentagon, which was completed in just 16 months. Washington, D.C.: The World War II Years captures nearly 200 fascinating images from this era. These archival photographs chronicle the beginning stages of war preparation, little known civic defense organizations, VE and VJ celebratory parades, and the overall spirit of the continually persevering capital city.

Dubbed ""America's Game"" by Walt Whitman, baseball has been enjoyed in our nation's capital by young boys playing street stickball and Presidents throwing each season's inaugural pitch.

Just 13 years after Alexander Cartwright codified baseball's rules, the Washington Nationals Baseball Club formed and in 1867 toured the country spreading the ""baseball gospel."" By 1901 the team became one of the first eight major league teams in the newly formed American League. Players such as Walter Johnson, probably the greatest pitcher of all time, and other Senators under the stewardship of owner Clark Griffith successfully led the club in 1924 to what many consider to be the most exciting World Series in baseball history.

Later, the Homestead Grays played at Griffith Stadium and fielded a team featuring legendary Negro League greats such as Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard. The powerhouse Grays, during a ten-year span, won nine Negro League World Championships, a record that may never be equaled in any team sport again.

When the Grays disbanded, the original Senators left for Minnesota in 1960, and the expansion Senators of the 1960s relocated, the city was left without a professional baseball team. While many feared that baseball in D.C. was over, a spirit remained on the diamond and is still felt today as children and adults team up in one way or another to play the national pastime in the nation's capital. Hopes for a new professional team linger, and those remembering baseball's heyday will enjoy this extensive and unusual collection of historic photos that celebrate a time when the crowds roared and Washingtonians believed that the summer game would never end.

Many of the unsung heroes of the Underground Railroad lived and worked in Washington, D.C.

Men and women, black and white, operatives and freedom seekers - all demonstrated courage, resourcefulness and initiative. Leonard Grimes, a free African American, was arrested for transporting enslaved people to freedom. John Dean, a white lawyer, used the District courts to test the legality of the Fugitive Slave Act. Anna Maria Weems dressed as a boy in order to escape to Canada. Enslaved people engineered escapes, individually and in groups, with and without the assistance of an organized network. Some ended up back in slavery or in jail, but some escaped to freedom. Anthropologist and author Jenny Masur tells their stories.

A vivid narrative of the heroic struggle of Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party as they worked to earn the vote, framed by the demonstration known as The Great Suffrage Parade.

The Great Suffrage Parade was the first civil rights march to use the nation's capital as a backdrop. Despite sixty years of relentless campaigning by suffrage organizations, by 1913 only six states allowed women to vote. Then Alice Paul came to Washington, D.C. She planned a grand spectacle on Pennsylvania Avenue on the day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration - marking the beginning of a more aggressive strategy on the part of the women's suffrage movement. Groups of women protested and picketed outside the White House, and some were thrown into jail. Newspapers across the nation covered their activities. These tactics finally led to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Author Rebecca Boggs Roberts narrates the heroic struggle of Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party as they worked to earn the vote.

Fiery suffragettes, unconventional first ladies, and rebellious socialites turning up their noses at ladylike behavior, these pioneering women of Washington, D.C., shattered the expectations of a tightly-corseted society.

Escaped slave turned spy Mary Touvestre risked it all to scuttle Confederate plans to break the Union blockade. Trading petticoats for trousers to work at the Union hospitals, Dr. Mary E. Walker was both the only female Medal of Honor recipient and the possessor of a police record for impersonating a man. During Prohibition, First Lady Florence Harding hosted jazz soirees and served up cocktails in the White House gardens. From pioneering photographers and newspaperwomen to enterprising madams and soldiers in disguise, author Canden Schwantes introduces readers to the decidedly daring and wild women of the capital.

Discover the rich history of housing cooperatives in Washington, D.C., part of the urban landscape for a hundred years.

Co-ops first arose in the city in the 1920s. Building slowed during the Great Depression, but their numbers expanded after World War II. Conversions also expanded during the postwar years and several local architects became well known for their co-op designs. The model thrived and has become a vital part of the city's fabric.

Local historian Steve McKevitt tells the stories of each existing District co-op, using both historic and modern images to detail their development and architecture.

Visit the important developments in these Washington DC neighborhoods, the stately homes and notable citizens in this compelling visual record.

From the farm and orchard lands of the mid-1880s to the Civil War encampments, from modest wood frame homes to vast residences of Victorian splendor, the area surrounding the closely located Logan, Scott, and Thomas Circles has for many years been at the center of a rich history. Comprising a diverse architectural and social heritage, these neighborhoods have played a part in the great story of the capital city and have been home to the working man and woman, the wealthy, the middle class, and the politically powerful alike.

Following their use as the site of hangman's gallows for Civil War traitors, all three circles evolved into lush parks surrounded by the elegant, Victorian-era homes that housed nearly all of the nation's elite by the 1890s. Prior to the turn of the twentieth century, these neighborhoods were home to Washington's most influential citizens-pioneers and politicians, generals and industrialists-and, in the 1930s, to well-known leaders of the city's African-American community, such as Mary McLeod Bethune and Bishop Charles M. ""Sweet Daddy"" Grace. Logan Circle survives much as it was today, but many readers will not recognize the early homes, now long gone, that once surrounded Scott and Thomas Circles and have since been replaced by office buildings, hotels, and commercial establishments. Fortunately, a compelling visual record of the development of Logan, Scott, and Thomas Circles remains.