Read complete books and articles on: Washington D.C. History

Washington, D.C. - capital of the United States (2000 pop. 572,059), coextensive (since 1878, when Georgetown became a part of Washington) with the District of Columbia, on the Potomac River; inc. 1802. The city is the center of a metropolitan area (1990 pop. 3,923,574) extending into Maryland and Virginia. With the city of Baltimore to its north in Maryland, it forms a consolidated metropolitan area of some 6.7 million people. Washington is the legislative, administrative, and judicial center of the United States but has little industry; its business is government, and hundreds of thousands are so employed in the metropolitan area. The city is also a major tourist attraction and a cultural center.

Washington has long been a gateway for African Americans emigrating from the South, and since the 1960s has had a (now diminishing) black majority. Many citizens live in poverty, and social problems have been exacerbated by the transient nature of the governmental workforce and the District's lack of political power.

Transportation facilities include a subway system that connects the city with many suburbs. The main rail and air hubs are Union Station and Ronald Reagan Washington National and Dulles International airports (both in Virginia). Nearby military installations include Fort McNair, Fort Myer, Andrews Air Force Base, and Bolling Air Force Base.

Landmarks

The city spreads out over 69 sq mi (179 sq km), including 8 sq mi (20.7 sq km) of water surface, with tree-shaded thoroughfares and many open vistas. Numerous impressive government buildings near the city's center are built of white or gray stone in the classical style, and there are many fine homes. Among other attractive buildings are the embassies and legations of many foreign countries, many of them lining "Embassy Row" on Massachusetts Ave. The larger of the city's fine parks are West Potomac Park, which extends S from the Lincoln Memorial and includes the Tidal Basin, flanked by the famous Japanese cherry trees; East Potomac Park, an area of reclaimed land jutting S from the Jefferson Memorial; Rock Creek Park, with almost 1,800 acres (728 hectares) of natural woodlands and extensive recreation facilities, and the adjoining National Zoological Park; and Anacostia Park, adjacent to the National Arboretum.

Besides the Capitol and the White House, other important government buildings and places of historic interest include the Senate and House of Representatives office buildings, the Supreme Court Building, the Pentagon (in Virginia), the Federal Bureau of Investigation building, the Library of Congress, the National Archives Building, Constitution Hall, the Ronald Reagan Building, The Watergate apartment complex, the State Department ("Foggy Bottom"), and the headquarters of the World Bank. Ford's Theatre, where Lincoln was shot, has been restored. In 1974 the Admiral's House at the U.S. Naval Observatory became the official residence of the vice president. Of historic interest is Fort Washington (built 1809, destroyed 1814, rebuilt by 1824).

Best known of the city's many statues and monuments are the Washington Monument, at the western end of the long grass-covered National Mall; the Lincoln Memorial, with its reflecting pool; the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial; the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; the Korean War Veterans Memorial; and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, overlooking the Tidal Basin. Among Washington's famous churches are Washington National Cathedral (Episcopal), which was completed in 1990; and the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Roman Catholic church in the United States. The city also contains Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, formerly home to major-league baseball and football (the football Redskins departed in 1997 for nearby Raljon, Md.); the Capitals (hockey) and Wizards (basketball) play in the new MCI Center.

The Arlington Memorial Bridge across the Potomac connects the capital with Arlington National Cemetery. Also in Arlington is the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, one of the largest statues ever cast in bronze. In the Potomac itself lies Theodore Roosevelt Island, thickly wooded and with many foot trails.

Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Institutions

The city's many institutions of higher education include American Univ., the National Defense College, the Catholic Univ. of America, Georgetown Univ., George Washington Univ., Howard Univ., and the Univ. of the District of Columbia. Among many cultural attractions are the National Gallery of Art, the Freer Gallery of Art, and the other centers under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the Corcoran Gallery of Art; the Phillips Collection; and the Folger Shakespeare Library. Major visitor draws on the Mall include the National Air and Space Museum and the Holocaust Museum.

The U.S. Naval Observatory, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the Smithsonian Institution, the Brookings Institution, the National Institutes of Health, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington are among the institutions dedicated to scientific research and education. Also in Washington are Walter Reed Army Medical Center, including the Army Medical School and Walter Reed Army Hospital, and the U.S. Soldiers Home (1851). Nearby are the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, Md.) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture research center (Beltsville, Md.)

Government

The present system of government (in operation since 1975) provides for an elected mayor and city council but reserves for Congress veto power over the budget and legislation and direct control over an enclave containing most of the federal buildings and monuments.

The Twenty-third Amendment (1961) to the Constitution gave inhabitants the right to vote in presidential elections; the District of Columbia was accorded three electoral votes, the minimum number. In 1970 legislation authorized election of a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives. There have been several unsuccessful attempts by the District of Columbia to gain statehood and achieve full representation in Congress.

With the city facing insolvency in 1995, Congress created a financial control board with a mandate to supervise municipal finances. Granted virtual authority over the city, the board has concentrated on reducing the municipal workforce, paring services and programs, stimulating the economy, retaining a middle-class presence, and transferring prison and other costly operations to the federal government; it is to continue its oversight until the District has four successive balanced budgets.

History

In 1790 the rivalry of Northern and Southern states for the capital's location ended when Jefferson's followers supported Hamilton's program for federal assumption of state debts in return for an agreement to situate the national capital on the banks of the Potomac River. George Washington selected the exact spot. The "Federal City" was designed by Pierre L'Enfant and laid out by Andrew Ellicott. Construction began on the White House in 1792 and on the Capitol the following year.

John Adams was the first president to occupy the White House. Congress held its first session in Washington in 1800, and Thomas Jefferson was the first president to be inaugurated in the new capital. In the War of 1812 the British sacked (1814) Washington, burning most of the public buildings, including the Capitol and the White House.

The city grew slowly. Even after 1850 it was still "a sea of mud," and not until the 20th cent. did it cease to be an unkempt rural city and assume its present urban aspect. Though strongly manned during the Civil War, it was several times threatened by the Confederates, notably by Gen. Jubal A. Early in 1864. In 1871, Washington lost its charter as a city and a territorial government was inaugurated to govern the entire District of Columbia. Congress took direct control of the District's government in 1874, providing for a mayor appointed by the President and a commission chosen by Congress; the residents were disfranchised. After 1901, Washington was developed on the basis of the resurrected L'Enfant plan—a gridiron arrangement of streets cut by diagonal avenues radiating from the Capitol and White House, with an elaborate system of parks.

Through the years the city has been a focus for national political activity. In 1932 Bonus Marchers lived in its parks until they were evicted by the army. In the 1960s and early 70s hundreds of thousands demonstrated for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam, and massive rallies have become a recurrent part of Washington life.

Washington's population has declined steadily since the 1950s; much of the outmigration has been to affluent suburbs in Virginia and Maryland. In Apr., 1968, the assassination in Memphis, Tenn., of Martin Luther King, Jr., touched off riots in Washington, and population loss accelerated. The long mayoralties (1980–91, 1995–98) of Marion Barry were fraught with corruption and controversy, which retarded attempts by the city and by federal authorities to resolve economic and social issues. The Washington metropolitan area was shaken in Sept., 2001, by a terrorist attack on the Pentagon and reports that the White House had been among the terrorists' possible targets.

Bibliography

See C. M. Green, Washington: A History of the Capital (1976) and Washington: Capital City, 1879–1950 (1976); S. Smith, Captive Capital (1974): D. Duncan, Washington: The First One Hundred Years, 1889–1989 (1989); J. W. Reps, Washington on View: The Nation's Capital since 1790 (1991).

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12 of the Best Books and Articles on: Washington D.C. History

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis (Vol. 1) » Read Now
by Ben: Perley Poore. 526 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...women who have figured in Washington during the past six decades...connected political and social history of what has transpired at...and the bibulous found Washington a...
2.

Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis (Vol. 2) » Read Now
by Ben: Perley Poore. 530 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...Arrival of Governor Hayes at Washington--Political Consultations...Cabinet-Judge Keys Eventful History--Fun at Cabinet Meetings...White House--A New Era in Washington...
3.

Washington, City and Capital: Federal Writers' Project, Works Progress Administration ... Washington, 1937 » Read Now
by Federal Writers' Project. 1141 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
4.

Sketches of Public Characters: Drawn from the Living and the Dead: With Notices of Other Matters » Read Now
by Ignatius Loyola Robertson. 258 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...his own Countrys history, yet, there are...LETTER VII Washington , Jan . 1830...LETTER IX. Washington, -----, 1830...fear of God . The history of the colonies...For the...
5.

Washington Wife: Journal of Ellen Maury Slayden from 1897-1919 » Read Now
by Ellen Maury Slayden. 392 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...winning second place in debate at Charlottesville have any influence? Who knows? The telegram reads: THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON D.C. JULY 24, 1918 YOUR LETTER RECEIVED THE...
6.

Washington Tapestry » Read Now
by Olive Ewing Clapper. 308 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...to him of 40 cents a mile from his home in Iowa to Washington, D.C., even though he never attended the session at all...Washington and addressed his letter to "The Lord...
7.

The Diary of Elbridge Gerry, Jr. » Read Now
by Elbridge Gerry. 196 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...and found eighty young ladies learning history, geography, literature, painting, music...autumn morning to die upon the way, and Washington would see little of the Gerrys...
8.

From Pinafores to Politics » Read Now
by J. Borden Harriman. 364 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
9.

Washington » Read Now
by Meg Greenfield. 219 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

In this text, Greenfield provides a portrait of the United States capital at the end of the American century. She describes Washington as an eccentric, tribal, provincial place where the primary currency is power.
10.

Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' Home » Read Now
by Matthew Pinsker. 256 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

After the heartbreaking death of his son Willie, Abraham Lincoln and his family fled the gloom that hung over the White House, moving into a small cottage in Washington, D.C., on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home, a residence for disabled military veterans. In Lincoln's Sanctuary, historian Matthew...
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After the heartbreaking death of his son Willie, Abraham Lincoln and his family fled the gloom that hung over the White House, moving into a small cottage in Washington, D.C., on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home, a residence for disabled military veterans. In Lincoln's Sanctuary, historian Matthew Pinsker offers a fascinating portrait of Lincoln's stay in this cottage and tells the story of the president's remarkable growth as a national leader and a private man. Lincoln lived at the Soldiers' Home for a quarter of his presidency, and for nearly half of the critical year of 1862, but most Americans (including many scholars) have not heard of the place. Indeed, this is the first volume to specifically connect this early "summer White House" to key wartime developments, including the Emancipation Proclamation, the firing of McClellan, the evolution of Lincoln's "Father Abraham" image, the election of 1864, and the assassination conspiracy. Through a series of striking vignettes, the reader discovers a more accessible Lincoln, demonstrating what one visitor to the Soldiers' Home described as his remarkable "elasticity of spirits." At his secluded cottage, the president complained to his closest aides, recited poetry to his friends, reconnected with his wife and family, conducted secret meetings with his political enemies, and narrowly avoided assassination attempts. Perhaps most important, he forged key friendships that helped renew his flagging spirits. The cottage became a refuge from the pressures of the White House, a place of tranquility where Lincoln could refresh his mind. Based on research in rarely tapped sources, especially the letters and memoirs of people who lived or worked at the Soldiers' Home, Lincoln's Sanctuary offers the unexpected--a completely fresh view of Abraham Lincoln--through the window of a place that helped shape his presidency.
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11.

Inside the White House in War Times: Memoirs and Reports of Lincoln's Secretary » Read Now
by William O. Stoddard, Michael Burlingame. 226 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Of the three secretaries who assisted President Abraham Lincoln -- John G. Nicolay, John Hay, and William O. Stoddard -- only Stoddard wrote an extended memoir about his time in the executive mansion. First published in 1890, the book vividly depicts the president's agonizing reaction to the defeats...
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Of the three secretaries who assisted President Abraham Lincoln -- John G. Nicolay, John Hay, and William O. Stoddard -- only Stoddard wrote an extended memoir about his time in the executive mansion. First published in 1890, the book vividly depicts the president's agonizing reaction to the defeats at Fredericks-burg and Chancellorsville, the difficulties encountered (and presented) by Mary Lincoln, the president's relations with George B. McClellan and other generals, and the anxiety preceding the Merrimack's epic battle with the Monitor.
In 1866 Stoddard also penned thirteen "White House Sketches" about his time in Lincoln's service. Originally published in an obscure New York newspaper, these essays -- never previously collected -- supplement Stoddard's memoir. Together the memoir and sketches provide an intimate look at the sixteenth president during a time of crisis.
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12.

Books, Maps, and Politics: A Cultural History of the Library of Congress, 1783-1861 » Read Now
by Carl Ostrowski. 263 pgs.

Collections: Education, Entire Library

The story of the early years of America's national library Delving into the origins and development of the Library of Congress, this volume ranges from the first attempt to establish a national legislative library in 1783 to the advent of the Civil War. Carl Ostrowski shows how the growing and...
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The story of the early years of America's national library Delving into the origins and development of the Library of Congress, this volume ranges from the first attempt to establish a national legislative library in 1783 to the advent of the Civil War. Carl Ostrowski shows how the growing and changing Library was influenced by --and in turn affected--major intellectual, social, historical, and political trends that occupied the sphere of public discourse in late eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century America. The author explores the relationship between the Library and the period's expanding print culture. He identifies the books that legislators required to be placed in the Library and establishes how these volumes were used. His analysis of the earliest printed catalogs of the Library reveals that law, politics, economics, geography, and history were the subjects most assiduously collected. These books provided government officials with practical guidance in domestic legislation and foreign affairs, including disputes with European powers over territorial boundaries. Ostrowski also discusses a number of secondary functions of the Library, one of which was to provide reading material for the entertainment and instruction of government officials and their families. As a result, the richness of America's burgeoning literary culture from the 1830s to the 1860s was amply represented on the Library's shelves. For those with access to its Capitol rooms, the Library served an important social function, providing a space for interaction and the display and appreciation of American works of art. Ostrowski skillfully demonstrates that the history of the Library of Congress offers a lensthrough which we can view changing American attitudes toward books, literature, and the relationship between the federal government and the world of arts and letters.
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