This is a rather strange photo. It’s of the Republican Congressional baseball team parading around the field at American League Park. The photo was taken on May 3rd, 1926. Don’t forget to watch Ron Paul crank a double in 1983. More importantly, watch the video to see the awesome Houston Astros uniform he’s wearing. Read More »
The hospital still exists, but it’s no longer in the original location. Providence Hospital once stood between 2nd and 3rd St. and D and E St. Southeast. The block is now Providence Park, which is an awesome place to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon. The former hospital used to occupy square 735 and was subdivided into 14 lots (see map ... Read More »
This is another great photo, again from the Library of Congress. The caption states that it is the counting of electoral votes for the 1916 Presidential Election, in which Woodrow Wilson beat Charles Hughes. I’m unclear why this count would be on April 14th when the inauguration was on March 5th. Click on it to see the faces of the ... Read More »
This is a guest post by Rick. He also wrote a good one on the alley dwellings in Foggy Bottom. In recent years here in Washington pork has gotten a bad rap. Not the meat; the money. For much of American history one of the more touted claims of incumbents and aspirants alike has been an ability “to bring home the bacon” – ... Read More »
If you work on Capitol Hill, you’re going to find this one fascinating. This is the underground subway that many of you take between buildings. Okay, it’s changed a little bit since then, but check it out. Click on it for the high-resolution version and then share this with your Hill friends on Facebook. What’s up with the kid’s white ... Read More »
GoDCer and long-distance reader Ben sent in a request to do a little digging on local favorite Old Ebbitt Grill. The restaurant has a great story, deeply tied to the history of our city, dating back to 1856. You’re just as likely to run into a tourist from Texas, a sports celebrity, a local from somewhere uptown or some politico ... Read More »
Amid the implosion of yet another DC council member this week (what part of public trust don’t you guys understand?), it’s only apropos to post a story like this. Sadly, our outrage is not something unique, as contemporary public officials are not the only geniuses that have leveraged their authority for personal gain. Oh no … well before our recent Navigatorgate (and “Bullet ... Read More »
This is a guest post by John (from The Lion of Anacostia), cross-posted here. The first black American seated as a member of the United States Senate was Hiram Rhodes Revels representing Mississippi. Revels filled the seat vacated by Jefferson Davis, who left to serve as the President of the Confederate States of America, truly the personification of Lord Byron’s famous line in the long-form poem, ... Read More »
This has less to do with the history of our city, but everything to do with the (almost) history of our nation. Arizona had been admitted to the union only a few years earlier in 1912 and by the middle of the decade, the two new senators, Marcus Smith and Henry Ashurst, were strongly advocating to acquire Mexican territory south ... Read More »
You probably didn’t know this, but Washington did not have an official flag until the middle of the 20th century. Many locals really wanted the flag in addition to self-government and a vote (no taxation without representation!). Below is a letter to the editor in January 1938. To the Editor of The Post.–Sir: Rather tardily, perhaps, I am prompted to ... Read More »
This is pretty amusing and a nice short video to share on a Sunday. This is the opening of Ronald Reagan’s first State of the Union address to Congress, given on January 26th, 1982. Below is the original speech I found on Wikipedia. Read More »
Continuing the Anglo-American theme of today, here is a second video of a British Prime Minister in Washington. Winston Churchill took a steamship through German submarine-infested waters around Christmas in 1941, just after the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, drawing the U.S. into World War II. Read More »
This might shocking to some of you, but had the outcome of some debates and votes been different, people might have taken their eighth-grade field trips to a different United States capital city. The War of 1812 was disastrous for Washington as the British rampaged through and razed the city. After the British defeated Napoleon in April of 1814, they ... Read More »
This is awesome and appears to be the latest minor D.C. Internet meme. Well, I love baseball and I love D.C., so I want to share this with those of you who haven’t seen it yet (if you haven’t seen this, you don’t surf the Interwebs enough). Ron Paul is the only player in the history of the Congressional baseball ... Read More »
Congressman Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois is considered by many as the most powerful Speaker of the House in American history. From 1903 to 1911 he was a congressman from Illinois, presiding over the United States House of Representatives. In December 1914, he was staying at the Willard Hotel. The Washington Post reported on him in their daily hotel lobbies column ... Read More »
Ghosts of DC The lost and untold history of Washington