For those of you interested in Washington DC history outside of its monument valley Disneyworld, take a look at this piece in the Washington Post on the history of Georgetown. I don't live in Georgetown proper (can't come close to affording it, even if I wanted), but I live nearby. I've always liked that the eastern part of Georgetown still has several African-American churches that have remained part of family tradition since the days when eastern Georgetown was populated by slaves and former slaves.
Georgetown's African-American population was quite large at one point - over 3000 in 1870 - but eventually suffered through a series of economic shifts, natural disaster, poor urban policies, and racism. Note that even today the Metro doesn't run to Georgetown, a policy that was created out of previous Georgetown policies of segregation so that the "riffraff" of DC can't easily access Georgetown.
In 1991, Georgetown University Press published BLACK GEORGETOWN REMEMBERED, an extensive history with many interviews and rare photographs. The editors are Kathleen M. Lesko, Valeri Babb abd Carroll R Gibbs.
ReplyDeleteThanks, CM. I've been wanting a book like this. Do you happen to know any on the history of jazz in DC? I mean something well-documented, not those touristy type volumes we can find on various neighborhoods.
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