If you are interested in this lectures series without a tour, click here.
When Washington was built, the streets in the Northeast quadrant were laid out in the grid system designed by Pierre L’Enfant, with Florida Avenue (then known as Boundary Street) forming the northern border of the city. However, nearly all of the land remained undeveloped in the early 19th century, used as farmland to cultivate fruits and vegetables for the more developed sections of the city.
In the 1830s, the B&O Railroad constructed its Washington Branch, which entered the city at roughly 9th and Boundary Streets and proceeded through the neighborhood to the downtown area. Its presence gradually led Northeast to evolve into a working-class neighborhood: wood and coal yards appeared to serve the railroad and its terminals, with houses subsequently built for the employees of the railroad industries. Sites covered in the series include those with historic connections to the railroad and public markets, as well as education and social change, a president, and a neighborhood once known as Swampoodle.
APRIL 6 Union Station
Built in 1907 as part of the City Beautiful movement, Union Station is a monumental building. Designed by Daniel Burnham in the Beaux Arts style, it set the mode for Washington's classic monumental architecture for the next 40 years, reflected in the construction of the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, Federal Triangle, the Supreme Court building, and the National Gallery of Art. But as anyone who used it in the early 1980s remembers, even a beautiful building can have an awkward phase. Washingtonians were awed and surprised by the hidden treasures revealed by the spectacular restoration of 1988. Redevelopment projects are ongoing, with restoration of the station’s historic ceiling and 2011 earthquake damage repair underway, and a planned expansion that prepares Union Station for the next hundred years .
Speaker Beverly Swaim-Staley is the president and CEO of the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, the building’s steward, and has an abundance of knowledge of its history, recent redevelopment, and future plans to share.
APRIL 13 Gallaudet University
Founded in 1864, Gallaudet University was originally a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first school in the world for the advanced education of students who are deaf and hard of hearing, and remains the only higher education institution in which all programs and services are specifically designed to accommodate these students. There is a university historical museum on the beautiful campus.
A Gallaudet University graduate, presenter Meredith Peruzzi is the manager of the Gallaudet University Museum and curator of the exhibition Gallaudet at 150 and Beyond. Sign-language interpretation is available for this presentation.
APRIL 20 Union Market
When the old Centre Market was torn down in 1931 to make way for the National Archives, many of its businesses relocated and created a new venue, Union Terminal Market at 4th Street and Florida Avenue. N.E., an area close to the B&O freight terminal and highways to Maryland. The 20th century brought many changes to the market and the neighborhood, not all of them good. EDENS, a commercial shopping development group, took over the site, and a newly revitalized Union Market has become a vibrant mix of retail, restaurants, entertainment, and an incubator space for new food concepts.
Tiffany Branum, a human geographer and market vendor, discusses her research study from Union Market: A Story of People and Food in a Changing Place.
APRIL 27 President Lincoln’s Cottage
The estate on which this Gothic-Revival house, designed by for banker George W. Riggs in 1842, was purchased by the government in 1851 for the purpose of building a home for army veterans. During the Civil War, President Lincoln and his family relocated to the Soldiers’ Home for the “hot season.” Here Lincoln visited with wounded soldiers; spent time with self-emancipated former slaves; and developed the Emancipation Proclamation. Now a historic site and museum, President Lincoln’s Cottage covers a wide range of our 16th president’s history.
Presenter Michelle Martz is the program coordinator at President Lincoln’s Cottage.
MAY 4 Sewall-Belmont House
The Sewall-Belmont House is one of the oldest residential properties on Capitol Hill and has been a center of political life in Washington for more than 200 years. Purchased by the National Woman’s Party in 1929, it has evolved into a museum and center focused on the history of suffrage, feminist education, and social change. Its library holds more than 2,000 books, magazines, and reference works, including early women’s magazines and suffrage journals, written by and about women from 1880 to the present.
Speaker Robyn Muncy is a professor of history at the University of Maryland and writes on reform movements and women’s suffrage.
MAY 11 Historic Swampoodle
Before there was Union Station, there was Swampoodle. The neighborhood, developed during the second half of the 19th century, provided a place of refuge for Irish immigrants fleeing the Potato Famine. It gained a reputation for being a lawless shantytown, where crime, prostitution, and drunkenness were rife. But Swampoodle was also a thriving community, whose Irish construction workers helped build Washington.
Presenter Kathleen Lane, whose family has deep roots within the neighborhood, is a visiting lecturer at Catholic University's School of Architecture and Planning and executive director of the Baltimore chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
MAY 14 Historic Northeast Bus Tour
Those who purchase the entire lecture series have the opportunity to participate in a bus tour to all sites. The itinerary includes stops at Union Station, Sewall-Belmont House, Historic Swampoodle, Union Market, Gallaudet University, and President Lincoln’s Cottage. Lunch at Union Market is included; the tour returns to Union Station at its conclusion.
The tours include walking through diverse terrain. Please wear appropriate shoes and comfortable clothing. Large bags are not allowed in some of the historical sites.
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. by bus from Union Station East Hall (Union Station Metro, Red line)
7 sessions (includes tour)
