🎙️ Calling all storytellers and history-lovers! Join us on Monday, November 17 at 6pm at the DC History Center for the next meetup of the DC Oral History Collaborative in partnership with HumanitiesDC.

Take your class on a field trip that brings DC history to life! 🚌✨ At the DC History Center, students explore how activists shaped our city—analyzing real objects tied to civic engagement and even creating a piece of wearable art to express their own voices.

You're invited to a one-of-a-kind “processing party” celebrating the remarkable Martha Tabor Photograph Collection—a treasure trove of photographs, ephemera, and personal papers documenting art, labor, and community life in Washington, DC. 👀📸🗃️

ICYMI: The Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Library Community Archiving Day has been rescheduled to November 8th! Celebrate the Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Library’s 100th birthday on Saturday, November 8th from 2-5pm!

Until the 1860s, most children did not go to school. In DC, there were just a few “common schools” for white children whose parents could not afford private education, so Black residents opened their own private schools. When Congress established public schools for all, Washingtonians embraced them.

Three spine-chilling local ghost stories for #SpookySeason in DC—all drawn from our own archives. 👻

Just released: the new issue of Washington History Magazine. The fall 2025 issue contains four essays in four time periods—the early 1800s, World War II, the 1950s, and the 1960s and ‘70s—deepening understanding of federal/local relationships, social justice, and commerce.

In Southeast DC, residents are fighting to protect a community-owned green space whose history, identity, and future are under threat. This isn’t just a park, it’s a living symbol of local power, memory, and resistance.

This summer, DC educators joined our Teach the District program—a weeklong experience connecting teachers to the local history and cultures that shape our region. The teacher’s visited Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park, where participants experienced their reimagined Land Echoes Field Trip.

Charles Hamilton Houston: “The Man Who Killed Jim Crow” Born and raised in Washington, DC, Charles Hamilton Houston (1895–1950) was a brilliant legal mind whose work laid the foundation for the end of segregation in America.

📣 This Weekend: Walks That Give Back! From October 10 to 13, during Indigenous People’s Weekend take a walk through history—and give back while you do it. Join Washington Walks for a special weekend of guided tours that bring DC’s neighborhoods and stories to life. 🌆

We’re thrilled to unveil two brand-new neighborhood history booklets: Hillcrest and Woodridge! 🏙️ The newly released booklets are more than just simple guides—they’re compact maps with striking illustrations and carefully selected stories.

Just a few spots left for the DC Archives Crawl! Go behind the stacks with us next Wednesday!

📚 “Class Actions Reads! Model Schools in the Model City” on Thursday, October 23 from 6-8pm at the DC History Center. Join the DC History Center & Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives for a book talk about the history of Black public education and school architecture in the nation’s capital.

Tomorrow from 10am - 5pm! Join us for Back to School Day at the DC History Center - and dive into our city’s history! 🎒📚

Celebrate #ArchivesMonth with a DC Archives Crawl! 📜✨ On October 15 from 5:15 - 7:45pm we’ll take you through two local archives where you’ll meet staff, go behind the scenes, and demystify what these spaces hold and how you can use them: ✨ The DC Archives ✨ DC History Center (1/5)

Martha Tabor’s camera captured the soul of DC. 📸✊ A teacher, union organizer, welder, and artist, Martha documented the workers and movements that shaped our city; from Metro construction crews to protests for labor, civil rights, and LGBTQ+ equality.

“Reading the oral history transcripts allowed me to appreciate the overall picture & firsthand accounts of the families’ histories, dynamics, resilience. Each descendant’s narrative discussed early childhood memories, education & career experiences...how they learned about their family’s history...

Take a walking tour that gives back on Indigenous People’s Weekend! 🚶 Join Washington Walks for a series of guided tours that bring DC’s neighborhoods and stories to life to support the DC History Center’s Resilience Fund. 🤝

📚 ✏️ Back-to-School Day at the DC History Center is in ONE WEEK! Join us Saturday, October 4, from 10am to 5pm, at the DC History Center for a fun, hands-on celebration of learning, creativity, and play for young learners and their grownups!

Happy 100th birthday Mt. Pleasant Neighborhood Library! In one week, on Saturday, September 27th from 2-5pm, we’re joining the library for a Community Archiving day. dclibrary.libnet.info/event/14408565

📚 This August, the DC History Center welcomed educators from across the region for NHD in DC: Summer Intensive 2025, a three-day workshop all about bringing National History Day into the classroom. dchistory.org/news-and-ins...

Back-to-School Day at the DC History Center: October 4th from 10am - 5pm 📚✂️ Looking for a fun (and meaningful!) way to spend the day with the kids? Join us for a hands-on celebration of learning, creativity, and play for young learners and their grownups.

For more than 130 years, we’ve safeguarded the stories of everyday Washingtonians. This fall, we open a new chapter: the once-sealed journals of activist and artist Martha Tabor—whose striking photos of welders, librarians, and nurses capture the people who built and sustained this city.

Born to formerly enslaved parents in Memphis, Tennessee, Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954) became a teacher at Washington’s M Street School after studying at Oberlin College. As the first Black woman on DC’s Board of Education, she advocated for full funding of the city’s Black schools.

Collections Intern and Howard University Ph.D. student Saleana Copeland recently shared what it was like to work with the archival material of the Quander family, one of the oldest and best-documented African American families in the U.S.

#LaborDay isn’t just the unofficial end of summer, it’s a tribute to the labor movement and the generations of workers who fought for fair wages, safe conditions, and the eight-hour workday.

For decades, Chinese culture has been celebrated each summer right here in DC—a vibrant tradition that reflects a much deeper history. 🇨🇳🏮

On August 28, 1963, over 250,000 people gathered in Washington, DC, to demand jobs, freedom, and justice. It was here that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.

💪🏽 “Work. Support thyself. To thine own powers appeal.” - Motto of the National Training School for Women and Girls When Nannie Helen Burroughs was denied a teaching job in DC despite her higher education, she didn’t wait for a door to open—she built her own.

#OTD in 1888 the at about 4:30 in the morning, "a peculiar noise...a sound like the distant rumbling of thunder was heard.” Thunder it was not, rather the tower of the newly constructed Church of the Covent at the intersection of Connecticut Ave, 18th St NW and N St NW falling to a “mass of ruins.”

Education was always a top priority for Black Washingtonians. Though attacked by white residents and often forced to move or close, Black private schools flourished in the nation’s capital in the decades before Emancipation.

#OTD in 1913, artist Winfield Scott Clime (1881-1958) creates this drawing of the Anacostia Bridge. 🖋️ Clime studied at DC’s Corcoran Art School and George Washington University and was a veteran of WWI.

🎨 “Armstrong High School laid the foundation for my life.” - Alma Thomas, artist and teacher, Class of 1911. When it opened in 1902, Armstrong Manual Training School was hailed as one of the most “strikingly beautiful” Black schools in DC.

New Tuesday Hours at the Kiplinger Research Library! We’ve heard you and we’re making research at the DC History Center more accessible. Starting now, the Library is open by appointment on Tuesdays evenings from 3 PM–7 PM, in addition to our Thursday hours! dchistory.org/news-and-ins...

Du Bois vs. Washington: Two Visions for Black Education Leading scholar W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963) and influential educator Booker T. Washington (1856–1915) advocated for conflicting approaches to Black education. (1/6) 🗃️

#OTD in 1899, the last cable car ran in DC. 🚃 Horse-drawn streetcars were slow, messy, and struggled on DC hills. Streetcar companies experimented with systems, including a cable that pulled cars through a trench beneath the street, batteries, steam, compressed air motors, and magnets.

A sweet stroll down memory lane for #NationalIceCreamDay! ✨🍦 If you’ve driven through the Baltimore area, chances are you’ve spotted (or stopped at) a High's Dairy Store. But did you know High’s was once the largest ice cream chain in the country, with over 500 stores across the mid-Atlantic? 😲🍨

You’ve probably heard of the annual Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens’ Lotus & Water Lily Festival. But have you wondered how the non-native plant became a staple of our summer landscape? 🪷 Before heading to the festival this weekend, learn a little about the origins of these floating flowers in DC.

📣 Attention DC Educators! Are you ready to bring National History Day to your classroom? Our 3-day professional development workshop is your crash course in launching and growing NHD for grades 6–12 is coming up August 5-7 and we are looking for educators to join us!

Say hello to the NEW dchistory.org! 🧑💻 We’re thrilled to debut our brand-new website, beautifully reimagined by Loyal Design in partnership with Greater Good Strategy!

Discover the stories that shape DC from home. Visit our curated lists on our Bookshop.org page! Whether you're a local, a history buff, or just DC-curious, we’ve curated a collection that brings the city’s past to life. We earn 10% when a book we shared is bought! ✨📚 bookshop.org/shop/dchistory

Poolside State of Mind 💦️ Nothing says summer like the sound of splashes, sun on your shoulders, and that first refreshing dip into the water. 📸 Swimmers at the McKinley High School outdoor swimming pool, 1931 (General Photograph Collection, CHS 11883.48)

ICYMI: “Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital” is now open at the DC History Center! 🎓 🏫 Visit Thursdays – Sundays Noon to 6pm. 🧩 Stop by during recess from 1-2pm.

Join us for grand opening of our new exhibit: “Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital” this Saturday, June 28 from 2 to 6 pm! 📚 Be among the first to explore the exhibit. 🗣️ Chat with the folks who made it happen. 🎯 Play classic recess games 🎨 Design your own button.

#FlashbackFriday A look back at DC Pride parades of the 1990s. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🪧✊

Happy Juneteenth, DC! 🎉 On June 19, 1865, over two years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Union troops finally brought the news of freedom to enslaved people in Texas.

The DC Archives matter! 📣 The DC History Center is deeply concerned that funding for the District of Columbia Archives building at UDC has been eliminated in the Mayor’s FY26 proposed budget. This is an alarming development with far-reaching consequences. @dcarchivesfdn.bsky.social

This is great, @dchistorycenter.bsky.social has their own online bookshop! I bought a few of these in person at their annual networking event (among others, "Between Freedom and Equality" is fantastic)--love to have a whole rec list to start going through: bookshop.org/shop/dchisto...

Get ready to roll—today is #BikeToWorkDay! Join thousands across the DMV for a fun, healthy, and sustainable commute. Swing by one of the 100+ pit stops for free t-shirts, snacks, and giveaways. #BTWD2025 🚴