News & Politics

Georgetowner • May 3, 2012

This week, I want to focus on the arts, which is timely both because it is a budget priority of mine and because I recently presented a resolution recognizing theatre: Washington’s “Theater Week” at the Helen Hayes Awards. I am proud to celebrate the legacy, excellence and cultural contribution of theatre in the District of Columbia, and Theater Week provides a great opportunity to do that.

Everyone knows that the District of Columbia is a center for tourism. We as a city must build on this strength by attracting visitors as well as residents into our world-class arts venues. There are 44 professional theater companies operating in the District of Columbia, making us the second most prolific theatre town in the United States based on the number of productions per year. While the theater landscape has grown, I am concerned that dwindling funding could have an adverse impact on potential future growth.

Neighborhoods throughout D.C. have been transformed by establishing and promoting theaters within their communities. From the Arena Stage in Southwest, to the Tivoli Theatre in Columbia Heights, to the Shakespeare Theatre in Penn Quarter, to the renovation of the Atlas on H Street, N.E., and the Studio Theatre in Logan Circle, it is clear that the arts are not simply relevant from an aesthetic or cultural standpoint. The arts provides economic engines for the community, capable of revitalizing entire neighborhoods. I am proud that the District was also the major donor to Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre, Ford’s Theatre and many other performing arts groups like the Washington Ballet and the Washington Performing Arts Society.

The theater industry supports more than 11,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the District, and arts and culture organizations spend over $600 million annually throughout the region. The nearly 2 million audience members that attend theaters in the District annually also generate more than $100 million into the District’s economy — demonstrating that theater is a critical part of the economic engine with benefits
flowing directly back to area businesses.

I am committed to advocating for the arts and reminding my colleagues that the arts are integral to the fabric of our neighborhoods and city. Their importance cannot be overstated, and I will keep working to ensure that our arts community continues to grow and thrive. I have had conversations with the mayor, the chairman and my council colleagues and will be promoting amendments to the budget to move us in the direction of a quantity of funding that will more adequately sustain this important facet of our city.

Georgetowner •

Robert Groves, director of the U.S. Census Bureau, will become Georgetown University’s new executive vice president and provost August 20, the university announced. He will serve as the chief academic officer for its main campus. 

Before serving as census director, Groves served as a professor at the University of Michigan and director of its Survey Research Center as well as a research professor in the Joint Program in Survey Methodology.

 “I am honored by the opportunity to be the next provost of Georgetown University,” Groves said. “I look forward to working with Georgetown’s world-class faculty and students to build the Georgetown of the future, one that fulfills all their aspirations.”

Georgetowner •

A free author lecture series in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of George Peabody’s arrival in Georgetown and the return of his fully restored portrait that was damaged in the 2007 Georgetown Branch Library fire.??

This May marks the 200th anniversary of 17-year-old George Peabody’s arrival in Georgetown in 1812 with his older uncle and their establishment of a dry goods store on Bridge Street, today’s M Street. Decades later, Peabody was a multi-millionaire and in 1867 he donated $15,000 to establish a library in Georgetown. Mr. Peabody believed that the only way to elevate oneself was through education. That was why he funded a library in Georgetown among dozens of other educational and cultural organizations throughout the United States. The Georgetown Branch Library’s Peabody Room was named in his honor in 1935 with the purpose to serve as a repository of Georgetown’s neighborhood history.

??The lectures begin at 6:30 p.m. each Thursday in May at the Peabody Room, located on the third floor of the Georgetown Branch Library, 3260 R Street, N.W. (corner of Wisconsin Avenue), Washington, D.C. For additional information contact Jerry A. McCoy, (202) 727-0233 or email jerry.mccoy@dc.gov.

??The line-up in May of Thursday, 6:30 p.m. author talks are:

??May 3, Garrett Peck, The Potomac River: A History and Guide

??May 10, John DeFerrari, Lost Washington, D.C.

??May 17, Michael Lee Pope, Hidden History of Alexandria, D.C.??

May 24, James H. Johnston, From Slave Ship to Harvard: Yarrow Mamout and the History of an African American Family

??May 31, David Mould, Remembering Georgetown: A History of the Lost Port City

Georgetowner •

The D.C. Taxicab Commission approved a fare hike of 44 percent, effective for most cabs in the city. The per-mile fare will go from $1.50 to $2.16, and the cost for idling will go from $15 to $25 per hour. The purpose of the increase is to bring cab revenues more in line with past fares, when a zone system was used as opposed to the present meter system.

Taxicab commission chairman Ron Linton told the Washington Post that the fare hike will take effect April 21, “but not all cabs will begin charging the new fares right away. Some will need to get their meters recalibrated.”

Georgetowner •

The D.C. Zoning Commission approved a 60-day extension for comments for Georgetown University’s 2010-2020 Campus Plan.

Now in private discussions, local residents with university representatives asked for the extension, which now allows for testimony on the plan to be filed in the middle of June.

“We hope to come to some compromises on what the community needs and what the university needs,” Jennifer Altemus, president of the Citizens Association of Georgetown, told the campus newspaper, the Hoya. “I think both of our sides are very clear on what we’ve been wanting out of the process, and hopefully if we work together we can make that happen. [Private meetings] haven’t been successful in the past, but we haven’t given up trying.”

Georgetowner •

But, wait, there’s more . . . to see besides Georgetowners’ homes . . . like their gardens. The annual Georgetown Garden Tour of eight private gardens is set for Saturday, May 5, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Each garden presents a unique perspective on designing precious outdoor space in this historic neighborhood. The 2012 tour includes the magnificent gardens of the Bowie-Sevier house on Q Street as well as several other gardens, both intimate and grand.

Tickets are $30 before April 28 at www.georgetowngardentour.com. Tickets may also be purchased by mail: Georgetown Garden Tour 2012, 3313 P Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20007 or by phone: 202-965-1950. Tour tickets are available at $35 the day of the event at any of the gardens or at Keith Hall, Christ Church, 3116 O Street, N.W.. A tea for ticket holders takes place from 2 to 4 p.m. at Keith Hall.

The Garden Tour is sponsored by the Georgetown Garden Club to benefit local organizations, with emphasis on the preservation of gardens, parks and green spaces. Past beneficiaries have included Book Hill Park, the Student Conservation Association at Montrose Park, Trees for Georgetown, Tudor Place gardens, the rose garden at Montrose Park, Rose Park and the Volta Park Habitat Garden.

Georgetowner • April 17, 2012

On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act. His signature 150 years ago freed 3,100 slaves within the nation’s capital and pushed forward the arc of freedom for all African-Americans. It is still felt to this day — especially this past week with D.C.’s sesquicentennial celebrations all around town.

Many of us began with a walk around the monuments at the National Mall, especially those of Lincoln and King, went to Frederick Douglass’s home in Anacostia, Lincoln’s Cottage at the Old Soldiers’ Home, and concerts at Lincoln Theatre. On the holiday itself, many enjoyed a parade, speeches and fireworks at Freedom Plaza. There was a brunch at the Hamilton Restaurant and a party at Lincoln Restaurant. Many in the District government have been pushing for making the holiday bigger, especially Councilmember Vincent Orange. They deserve our thanks.

At Georgetown University, a April 17 commemorative program instructed on the history of blacks, Union soldiers and contraband camps near D.C. If the federals seized slaves as wartime contraband, they had the start of a chance for freedom. We have mostly forgotten such details, and even that of the nearby university’s landmark tower, seen for miles around. It is named for Rev. Patrick Healy, S.J., Georgetown’s president in the 1870s, born of a bi-racial slave and Irish father. The young Healy would have been considered a slave except that his father send him north for his schooling.

These are stories that need to be re-told. We need to sing the African-American hymns anew as well. At one Sunday event, a black preacher said that some of us need to “break the bondage of slavery in our minds.” We have heard that before but it needs to be said again.

“We got to figure out ways to own this emancipation,” said Rev. Raymond Kemp, moderator of the Georgetown commemoration, where Mayor Vincent Gray also spoke. To that and all the other salutes to struggle and freedom, we say, “Amen.”