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Cold War

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The Federal Government's $15 Million Cat

The Federal Government's $15 Million Cat

07/26/2023 in DC by Isabel Sans

It's no secret that the CIA sometimes thought more about whether it could and less about whether it should. Project Acoustic Kitty was one of those times. Does "trained cat" sound like an oxymoron to you? It should, but it cost the CIA $15 million to find out the same thing!

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How Washington's Modern Art Movement Became Cold War Artillery

How Washington's Modern Art Movement Became Cold War Artillery

07/14/2023 in DC by Jane Winik Sartwell

Alma Thomas, the African-American abstract artist and the subject of a recent WETA Arts episode, had many fans in Washington, D.C., but was her biggest fan the CIA?

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The Sordid Story of Dupont Circle's Underground Tunnels

The Sordid Story of Dupont Circle's Underground Tunnels

05/26/2023 in DC by Hunter Spears

There's something below Dupont Circle, and it's not the Red Line! Tunnels were built for trolley cars in the 1940s, but they were abandoned shortly after. In the decades since, the tunnels have had quite a few interesting uses. What lays beneath the streets of one of the Districts' best known roundabouts?

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The Willis Conover Questions

The Willis Conover Questions

12/13/2018 in DC by Agatha Sloboda

While visiting Moscow, a group of American tourists had encountered a flurry of questions from curious Russians, “what was the price of an American automobile, what did Americans think of ‘beat generation’ writers, how many Americans were unemployed?” When the interrogation broached the subject of music, one American boasted familiarity with Shostakovich, Khachaturian, and Prokofiev. “And,” one Russian chimed in, “is Willis Conover highly regarded in the United States?” Russian eyes widened, American brows furrowed, and a puzzled silence ensued.

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The Pork Chop That May Have Saved the World

The Pork Chop That May Have Saved the World

03/15/2018 in DC by Emily Robinson

When President John F. Kennedy addressed the nation on October 22, 1962, informing American citizens of Soviet missile sites in Cuba, he didn’t know that the months-long scare he referred to would be over just six days later. Four days after JFK’s speech, two men sat down to lunch at the Occidental Restaurant located two blocks from the White House. One ordered a pork chop and the other crab cakes. Despite how it may seem, this was no ordinary lunch. In fact, it is considered to have played a major role in ending the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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Hitler's Watercolors

Hitler's Watercolors

08/28/2017 in DC by Claudia Swain

In 1956, the Woodward & Lothrop department store in Washington DC, located at 11th and F St NW, hosted a traveling exhibit purporting to showcase the “American Dream.” Woodward & Lothrop, or “Woody’s” as it was affectionately called, was a staple in the city for over one hundred years, from the late 1800s to 1995, when it merged with another company. During the "Era of Department Stores," a period lasting from the '30s to the '70s when department stores were the main mode of shopping for the American family, Woodward & Lothrop was the King of DC. This is probably why the store felt entirely comfortable hosting the “American Dream” exhibit, and the exhibit’s main draw: four watercolors painted between 1917 and 1919 by Adolf Hitler.

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Thawing the Cold War with Theatre

Thawing the Cold War with Theatre

02/02/2017 in DC by Marissa Dever

In the middle of the Cold War, the United States and the U.S.S.R. managed to find one thing they could agree on: culture. In 1958, the two countries reached an agreement which allowed each to send students, scientists, and performers to the other country to exchange new ideas and technologies. The initial agreement, made during the space race and just a few years before the Cuban Missile Crisis, would eventually facilitate an exchange of 1,700 individuals. Arena Stage became a part of that exchange in 1973 when they traveled to Moscow and Leningrad.

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A Thwarted Protest at the Soviet Embassy

A Thwarted Protest at the Soviet Embassy

10/19/2016 in DC by Max Lee

On Aug. 24, 1973, about 20 D.C. Jewish school children gathered around the Soviet Embassy holding onto basketballs. It was around noon, and they were getting ready to bounce the balls just loud enough for Soviet officials to hear. But they weren't there to play; they were there to stage a political protest.

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Boundary Stones explores local history in Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland and northern Virginia. This project is a service of WETA and is supported by contributions from readers like you.

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