By the time she set out to build monuments, Daisy Breaux was a woman accustomed to getting what she wanted. Unfortunately, her plans for a memorial to America's mothers never got off the ground. In a legal snarl, she accused the architect of blackmail and extortion. He charged her in turn with sabotaging the project from the start.
In the wake of George Washington's death, Americans across the country sought to memorialize our first president. But one small town in Maryland has the distinction of completing the first Washington Monument.
The Lindens, a 1754 Georgian mansion, is the oldest home in Washington D.C. However, it began its life in a small town in Massachusetts. Thanks to the efforts of a wealthy antique-collecting couple, The Lindens had a second chance at life.
You've heard of the Freemasons. You may have heard of the Illuminati. Secret societies are finding it harder to stay secret in our surveillance-saturated world. In 1864, a former schoolteacher from middle-of-nowhere Michigan arrived in the nation's capital. Justus Henry Rathbone sought to create a secret society that would heal the nation's divisions after the Civil War. There was just one thing: His not-so-secret society glowed in the national spotlight once presidents from Lincoln to FDR found out about it.
The Uptown theater once played host to Hollywood movie premieres and overnight campouts full of eager film fans. Today, it sits empty and waits for a new tenant. What is the story of The Uptown — its glitz, glamour, and its ultimate end? And what hopes do Cleveland Park residents have for its future?
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.
Where can you see lacy Arabic architecture, the tombs of ancient Romans, and artifacts from medieval France? Why, in Washington DC, of course! Read about one man's dream to crown America's capital with all the centuries that came before it: by building the biggest, most audacious museum the world had ever seen.
The Washington Monument we know today is iconic, but it was never really planned to look that way. Before it grew up, the monument went through many, many proposed designs. After decades in limbo and a construction mired in drama, one engineer's vision triumphed over artists, politicians, and critics.
Although the Capitol has withstood plenty of attacks from foreign and domestic adversaries over the years, sometimes the most destructive forces can come from something as common as a gas leak... How did a series of accidents and events lead to one of the most devastating incidents in the Capitol's history? What priceless artifacts were lost forever, and who were the people risking their lives to prevent further destruction of the nation's history?
Activist Hugo Deffner came to Washington in 1957 to accept an award for his work in promoting accessible architecture. However, he discovered a city entirely inaccessible to wheelchair users and other disabled people. Over the following decades, a combination of tireless activism and legislation transformed Washington into one of the most accessible cities in America.
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