Walking through DC, you may notice faded fallout shelter signs marking buildings. They are some of the last clues of a historic past when the federal government designated thousands of shelters throughout DC to save Washingtonians from a nuclear apocalypse. But would they have worked?
You know Neoclassical architecture. But do you know why Brutalism came to D.C.? Discover how a time of changing architectural styles paved the way for Brutalism to dominate D.C.'s federal buildings.
Washington based artist Inez M. Demonet specialized in etchings and watercolors of District landmarks and people, but she spent most of her time in an office at the National Institute of Health, where she worked as a medical illustrator. Her pioneering work during World War I helped educate doctors and public health professionals, and even helped repair the lives of soldiers returning from World War I. It was not a job for the faint of heart.
Vince Lombardi wasn’t planning to continue coaching after he resigned as head coach with the Green Bay Packers. Instead, he was going to get away from that stress-filled lifestyle and move into a general manager position with the Packers. “I’m still a young man, but I doubt I would ever go back to coaching,” Lombardi said when he moved to the front office after the 1967 season. After just a year as general manager, he found himself longing to be on the sidelines again. “I’m certainly getting a little itchy,” Lombardi admitted in August of 1968. Soon enough, this itch overcame his life. He found his way to the nation's capital and transformed the Washington Redskins on and off the field.
An unsung hero from D.C. history has received a much-deserved spotlight in Tempestuous Elements, a new play at Arena Stage about visionary educator Anna Julia Cooper. We spoke to two of the people who helped bring the history to life: Otis Ramsey-Zöe, the play’s dramaturg, and Vanessa Dalpiaz, Arena Stage’s Artistic Development Fellow. Otis and Vanessa walk us through notable moments from Dr. Cooper’s life and discuss her legacy in D.C.
The Underground Railroad has deeper ties to the Washington DC area than many know. Escaped slaves are believed to have used the burial vault at Mount Zion Cemetery in Georgetown as a hiding place during their journey to freedom.
One of D.C.’s most popular eateries is Busboys and Poets, a bookstore-cafe with locations all over the city. The name honors one busboy-poet in particular who has surprising ties to D.C.: Langston Hughes.
You might think today is rough, but if people lived in the DMV 35 million years ago, they would have faced a cosmic apocalypse in their very own backyards.
D.C. may have been built by humans, but before there were people anywhere, the region was home to some seriously spectacular prehistoric creatures. Meet five of our favorites!
If you were a western settler in the 1870s looking for a home where the buffalo roamed, you might have had a hard time finding one. Homes on the range saw ever-dwindling numbers of buffalo (officially known as American bison), due to systematic campaigns of extermination that targeted not only bison, but gray wolves and cougars as well. Enter William Temple Hornaday, a hunter and taxidermist who witnessed the near extinction of the bison and decided that “preservation . . . is an imperative duty, for otherwise it will be too late.”
