The Beautiful Schools of Washington, D.C.
The District’s history of building and promoting public schools has had surprising peaks and troughs over the past 150 years. While the scholastic status of D.C. schools has often been at the bottom of the list of states, there were …
Historic D.C.
Thomas Jefferson once said, “Good wine is a necessity of life for me.” His appreciation of wine began when he was a student at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The gifted young scholar enjoyed dinners with …
Historic D.C.
The street grid in the District seems so logical that you’d never guess the mess that ensues every day at rush hour. When Pierre L’Enfant made the city plan in 1790, he laid out the original city in four quadrants …
Madame President?
It took our nation 240 years to get here, but we finally got a woman candidate for president.
In a country where women outnumber men in the adult population 51 to 49 percent, getting to this historic moment has been …
Historic DC: Destiny and the Founding of a Capital
After the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers had to choose a capital city. The place we now know as Washington, D.C., was not everybody’s first choice. In the late 1700s, it was primitive, lacking infrastructure, hot and swampy. There were …
How We Live Now: The Demise of the Florida Room
Washington, D.C., has gone through a gigantic sea change over the past several years, from a city of modest middle-class incomes and homes to a metropolitan area having many huge homes with elaborate interiors, reflecting the opulent lifestyles of the …
In Memoriam: Revisiting the Wall
These balmy days between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July are a good time to visit the war memorials on the National Mall. If you haven’t been to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial lately, go back and take another look. …
Clang, Clang, Clang Went the Trolley!
Ralph Blane, co-composer with Hugh Martin of “The Trolley Song” – made famous by the 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis” – said he was inspired to write the award-winning song after he saw a photo of a trolley …