Some of you may know this, but for those that don’t, it’s probably surprising. Kermit and Miss Piggy’s creator, Jim Henson, was raised here in the D.C. area. Henson’s father was an employee at the Department of Agriculture and moved from Mississippi to Hyattsville at the end of the 1940s. Jim attended Northwestern High School in the 50s (also the ... Read More »
Our buddy and early GoDCer John has an excellent book out on Frederick Douglass. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should. He’s an excellent writer and he was kind enough to share an excerpt with the GoDC community. There is no record of a lynching having ever occurred within today’s city limits of Washington, D.C. If the malediction ... Read More »
On the morning of President Nixon’s 1969 inauguration, several local businesses ran newspaper ads congratulating the new chief executive. Furniture stores, department stores, grocers… few are immune to inaugural excitement. But one local business had — in hindsight — a remarkable ad in the Washington Poston January 20, 1969. Check out this ad placed by the Watergate complex. (You can ... Read More »
A Washington doctor with an interesting name was among the first to suggest a link between mosquitos and malaria. Meet Albert Freeman Africanus King. Dr. A.F.A. King was a professor of obstetrics at Columbian University, precursor to the present-day George Washington University. The malaria-mosquito connection was his top scientific acheivement. But history remembers his presence at another key American moment ... Read More »
I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing some great moments in D.C. baseball history … opening day 2005 at RFK, opening day 2008 at Nats Park with Zimmerman’s walk-off, Strasburg’s 14K debut and Harper’s home debut. Last night’s game was, hands down, the most epic and electric atmosphere of any game I have ever attended. Jayson Werth brings down the house ... Read More »
It was perhaps the biggest baseball ‘scoop’ in Washington, DC history: Ted Williams to return to baseball in 1969 as manager of the Washington Senators. The story behind the story is even more delicious. Russ White, a young baseball beat reporter for the third paper in town, the now-defunct Washington Daily News, landed the story exclusively, trouncing both the Post ... Read More »
Beer wasn’t the only thing banned from Griffith Stadium. Rock ‘n’ roll music was not allowed either. The Washington Post wrote about Fats Domino being banned from performing at Griffith Stadium in August 1957. District Commissioners yesterday banned rock ‘n’ roll king Fats Domino’s scheduled Griffith Stadium performance next month–a decision expected to shake the area’s sideburn set to its ... Read More »
Okay, that’s probably not what’s happening in this photo, but that title probably piqued your interest. It is a bizarre photo, nonetheless and we felt compelled to share it. Read More »
This is D.C.’s original statue of Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Dupont, installed in 1884. Here you see it – clearly sitting at the center of Dupont Circle. We see the namesake admiral but we don’t see the well-known Dupont Circle fountain. Why did Washingtonians remove Dupont from his circle? The answer is a simple one. People Hated This Statue Here’s ... Read More »
In September 1955, President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while visiting Denver. He was rushed to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital, where he would spend seven weeks recovering. While convalescing, he continued to carry out his executive duties from his hospital suite (which is now open to tours). Early the following year, in February, the President and the First Lady returned to ... Read More »
Congratulations Gio Gonzalez! You are the first 20-game winner for Washington baseball in 59 years, when Bob Porterfield accomplished the feat. Not only that, but you are only the second left-handed pitcher ever to do this in our history. The last guy to do it was Earl Whitehill, back during FDR‘s first term, 1933. On to the playoffs! If you ... Read More »
This is a tremendously obscure YouTube video, but for any baseball nuts in the GoDC community, you’ll dig this. The video features Buddy Lewis, former Washington Senator and World War II veteran. He played his entire war-interrupted career here in D.C. Buddy was originally from Gastonia, North Carolina, playing a total of 11 years here. Not only that, but he ... Read More »
The story we dug up on Herbert Hoover’s rural camp the other week piqued our interest in learning more about it, and since it was within driving distance, we wanted to see it in person. Last weekend Ghosts of DC decided to take a field trip out to Shenandoah to visit Rapidan Camp, the site of President Hoover‘s getaway. This ... Read More »
This is one of the most, if not the most, beautiful railroad stations in America. You can easily be captivated and transported back to 1873 when you stand on the platform of the old Baltimore and Ohio Railroad station. What’s even more fascinating is that it’s still used as a daily commuter station for the MARC train into Union Station ... Read More »
Ghosts of DC took a little trip to the Bay Area this weekend and we wanted to sprinkle a little San Francisco flavor into this next post. We can think of no better subject than Alcatraz (aka, The Rock). A brief history of the island … it started out as the site for a lighthouse until President Millard Fillmore ordered ... Read More »
Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington