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.
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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.
Thanks, 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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