Boundary Stones | WETA's Washington DC Local History Website

President John F. Kennedy Speaks at Fundraising Event for the National Cultural Center, November 29, 1962

How the Kennedy Center Was Created

At 7 p.m. on November 29 , 1962, 5,000 Washingtonians dressed in black ties and furs arrived at the D.C. National Guard Armory for a $100-a-plate dinner, and fundraising show titled An American Pageant of the Arts. President and Mrs. Kennedy started the event by addressing the crowd about the importance of the arts in fostering American culture and a healthy democracy. Afterward, the master of ceremonies, Leonard Bernstein, took over and the 2 hour and 43-minute show, featuring some of the greatest performers in music, literature, and comedy, began. The variety show kicked off a $30 million fundraising initiative to raise money for the construction of a National Cultural Center on the bank of the Potomac.

The First Female President Was Never Elected and Didn’t Want the Job: Edith Bolling Galt Wilson’s Work in the White House

Woodrow Wilson's 1919 stroke had a devastating effect on his ability to serve as president. His wife, Edith, stepped up as nurse and politician, making her arguably America's first female president.
U-1105 “Black Panther”: How a Nazi Submarine Ended up in the Potomac River

Just 80 miles south of Washington, D.C., in the brackish waters of the Potomac River, sits one of the most peculiar shipwrecks of World War II. Resting on the river bottom about a mile offshore from...
‘The Business of this Convention’: George Washington, George Mason, and a Feud of Constitutional Proportions

In 1787, with the new nation's government on the brink of collapse, a convention was called in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation. What came out of it was a new Constitution — and...

Painting of George Washington on white horse with British soldiers walking alongside. Groups of soldiers stand on either side of the frame.

The American Revolution & Early America

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Chasing Down George Washington's Chef: Hercules Posey and the Historical Archive

Hercules Posey is considered one of America's first celebrity chefs. He was enslaved to George Washington during his presidency but ultimately able to make his escape. The details of his story haven't always been so clear though.
November 8, 2024
- Virginia
By Kira Quintin
The Less-Known Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Hidden in the burial yard of Alexandria’s Old Presbyterian Meeting House lies a modest table-top memorial marking the grave of an unidentified Revolutionary War soldier whose remains were discovered there in the 1820s and formally honored in a 1929 dedication that echoed the nation’s renewed interest in its colonial past
November 13, 2012
- Virginia
By Will Hughes
In 1776, the Maryland 400 Saved the Continental Army at the Battle of Brooklyn

America might not have existed long without the heroic sacrifice of a small group of Marylanders on August 27, 1776. That late summer day men of the First Maryland Regiment found themselves surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by British forces during the Battle of Brooklyn (also called the Battle of Long Island), the largest battle of the Revolutionary War, fought just weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
November 4, 2025
- Maryland
By Ethan Ehrenhaft

Watch & Learn

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The real story behind one of the most iconic photographs in American history.
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A Black Arlington Neighborhood was Destroyed to Build the Pentagon

To build the Pentagon, the Black community of East Arlington was razed with 30 day's notice.
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Why the Original Plan for the Washington Monument Was Abandoned

The Washington Monument we see today is not what its architect planned.

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Plane Crashes into White House

Frank Eugene Corder flies a stolen Cessna plane into the White House on an apparent suicide mission. President Clinton and the first family are unharmed.