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While it’s known today for its forested hiking trails and outdoor memorial to America’s 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt Island played a prominent role in Washington, DC’s Civil War history.

In the 1920s, entrepreneur Hattie Sewell looked to put her extensive experience in the hospitality industry to work turning around the Peirce Mill Teahouse in Rock Creek Park. But as a Black businesswoman in the 1920s, Sewell faced harsh blow back, even as her business thrived.

Washington, DC, has a rich baseball history stretching back over 160 years. But long before the Nationals and Senators of Major League Baseball and the Negro leagues’ Homestead Grays won over legions of fans, famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass’s son Charles paved the way for black ballplayers in the District.

Though Rosa Parks may be the face of peaceful resistance to segregation on public transportation, she was not the first to adopt the strategy. Claudette Colvin, Ellen Harris, Maggie Lena Walker, Ida B. Wells, and Charlotte Brown are just some of the individuals who took a stand against racist policies enacted after the Civil War.

Despite the intense application process and the curriculum’s rigorous Baptist philosophy which left little room for error, a diploma from the National Training School for Women and Girls opened doors once unimaginable to its students.

The Vietnam era was marked by student anti-war protests and the counterculture movement. But in 1970 the "silent majority" organized the era's largest pro-war demonstration, simultaneously protesting against President Nixon's Vietnam War policies and "hippies and yippies everywhere."

In 1960, a new drug called thalidomide arrived for review at the FDA. Assuming the popular European drug would be a routine application, supervisors assigned its approval to their newest hire, Dr. Frances Kelsey. The drug's manufacturers claimed total safety and zero side effects, but Dr.

Washington, DC, has been home to countless larger-than-life political figures. But perhaps no other Washingtonian has had such a long-lasting—and underappreciated impact—on American popular culture and politics as Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the eldest child of President Theodore Roosevelt.

The diamondback terrapin has grown to become synonymous with College Park and the Maryland University system, but where did Testudo come from? From kidnappings and fires to student traditions and zoological research, learn about the lively history of Maryland's favorite bronzed turtle.

The “Lavender Scare” forced thousands of gay and lesbian federal employees from their jobs in the late 1940s through the 1960s. But in Washington, the Mattachine Society fought back.