Segregation

By 1952, every team in the National Football League had African-American players... except one. Washington Redskins (now Commanders) team founder and owner George Preston Marshall refused to integrate and dragged his feet for ten more years until his hand was forced.

The National Building Museum’s new indoor beach may be making headlines, but it’s not D.C.’s first seashore. For a period of time between 1918 and 1925, Washingtonians dipped into the Tidal Basin to experience some summertime heat relief. Now I know what you’re thinking: you couldn’t pay me to swim in that water today. But with a serious lack of public pools, and no air conditioning, citizens back then were pretty desperate.

In the 1940s, Jim Crow held strong in Arlington, Virginia. African-Americans encountered discrimination at segregated eating establishments, businesses and recreation facilities. Even access to medical care was divided along racial lines and African Americans were forced to travel to hospitals in Washington, D.C. or Alexandria. It was difficult – especially in a medical emergency – as many could not afford cars of their own. In 1947, three men with bright ideas and business ingenuity stepped up to fill the void.

On June 13, 1902, Mary Custis Lee was arrested on a streetcar in Alexandria after refusing to move from a seat reserved for Black passengers. Was she taking a principled stand against segregation? 

Huddie William Ledbetter, known as Lead Belly, was a legendary folk and blues musician famed for his twelve‑string guitar virtuosity, powerful voice, and the many standards he popularized. His songs have been covered by artists from Bob Dylan to Led Zeppelin. But one of his lesser known works hits closest to home: "Bourgeois Blues," a searing indictment of racial segregation in Washington, D.C.