Ghosts of DCThe lost and untold stories of Washington

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AI-colorized crop of workers with shovels building a sandbag dike near the Lincoln Memorial during the 1936 Potomac flood.The 1936 Flood When Washington Sandbagged the Mall Against the Potomac8 min readA Tomb sentinel in dress uniform carries his rifle on his walk past the white marble Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington on a sunny morning.Why the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Has a Guard: It Comes Down to Respect9 min readHarry Houdini in a suit and bow tie, cropped to show his head and shoulders.Houdini’s Straitjacket Escape Above 15th and G Streets, 19225 min readSeated woman at a desk with a ledger shakes hands with a woman in a hat while six other women look on in a police office.A DC Policewoman Went to the Dance “all dolled up,” and a Liquor Raid Followed6 min readEpisode
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AI-colorized crop of Albert Einstein, left, and President Warren Harding standing with a group on the White House grounds in 1921.President Harding Didn’t Understand Einstein’s Theory of RelativityAI reconstruction of the 1931 newspaper photograph of Julian Altman holding a violin, Sylvia standing beside him, and Elmer seated with a cello.Sylvia Altman, DC’s Child Prodigy, and Her Brother’s Stolen StradivariusAlice Reighly holds an Anti-Flirt Club pennant.The Anti-Flirt Club Had Rules for Women and a Movie to SellHand-colored 1860 lithograph showing the long Gothic Revival St. Elizabeths Hospital building with carriages and pedestrians in the foreground.Dallas Williams, the “Bad Man of Swampoodle”
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About 20 young men in sleeveless club jackets, some in sunglasses, posed together against a brick wallThe 1966 Pagans vs. Avengers Shootout at Arlington’s Lee-Harrison Safeway6 min readEpisode
AI-generated illustration of a horned, goat-faced figure in a misty forestThe Maryland Goatman: The Real 1970s Story Behind the Legend5 min readEpisode1916 Slaves reunion. Lewis Martin, age 100; Martha Elizabeth Banks, age 104; Amy Ware, age 103; Rev. Simon P. Drew, born free." Cosmopolitan Baptist Church, 921 N Street N.W. (Shorpy)1916 Convention of Former Slaves in Washington2 min readLincoln Memorial in 1917Lincoln Memorial History: Construction, Designs, the Secret Basement, and the Swamp It Was Built On17 min readMurder Bay in 1855 (Smithsonian)Where Was Murder Bay in Washington, DC?6 min read