HISTORY PROJECT RESOURCES

Alexander, John, Ghosts: Washington’s Most Famous Ghost Stories, Washington DC: Washington Books, 1975. The Octagon and Van Ness Mansion in Foggy Bottom, as well as other haunts.

 

Apelbaum, Laura Coleman and Wendy Turman, Eds., Jewish Washington: Scrapbook of an American Community, Washington D.C.: Lillian anc Albert Small Jewish Museum, 2007. An oversized and well-illustrated history of D.C.’s Jewish community starting with Isaac Pollock’s “Six Buildings” at 21st St. and Penn. Ave., NW.

 

Arnebeck, Bob, Slave Labor in the Capital: Building Washington's Iconic Federal Landmarks, Charleston, SC: History Press, 2014.

 

Asch, Chris Myers and George Derek Musgrove, Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017. Excellent history of DC’s long and recent past.

 

Atwater, Maxine, True Stories about Washington’s Heroes, Villains & Belles, Bethesda: Mercury Press, 1996.

 

Bednar, Michael, L’Enfant’s Legacy: Public Open Spaces in Washington, D.C., Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.

 

Benbow, Mark Elliot, The Nation's Capital Brewmaster, Christian Heurich and His Brewery, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2017. Very interesting history of Heurich, immigrant and businessman who lived to be 102, and his Washington Breweries, including the one in Foggy Bottom, now the Kennedy Center Site.

 

Bordewich, Fergus, Washington, the Making of the American Capital, New York: Harper Collins, 2008. Good account of the early days of the Federal City, its reliance on private speculation for land development, and its very slow growth.

 

Brinkley, David, Washington Goes To War, New York: Ballentine Books, 1988. How World War II changed Washington DC.

 

Bryan, Wilhemus Bogart, A History of the Nation’s Capital, New York: Macmillan Company, 1916 (two volumes).

 

Cary, Francine Curo, Ed., Urban Odyssey: A Multicultural History of Washington D.C., Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996. A bit dated, but interesting chapters on various ethnic and other groups that settled in DC and contributed to the city. The chapter on Germans includes Foggy Bottom.

 

Clark-Lewis, Elizabeth, Living In, Living Out: African American Domestics in Washington, D.C. 1900-1940, Washington D.C.: Smithsonian University Press, 1994. Very interesting account including oral histories of the residents.

 

Clark-Lewis, Elizabeth, Ed., First Freed: Washington, D.C., in the Emancipation Era, Washington D.C.: Howard University Press, 2002.

 

DeFerrari, John, Historic Restaurants of Washington DC, Charleston SC: History Press, 2013. Entertaining account of DC’s changing restaurant scene. Good discussion of the old Watergate Inn and Jean-Louis at the Watergate.

 

DeFerrari, John, Lost Washington DC, Charleston SC: History Press, 2011. Illustrated discussion of lost DC landmarks (although none in Foggy Bottom).

 

Dickey, J.D., Empire of Mud: The Secret History of Washington, DC, Guilford CT: Rowman and Littlefield, 2014. Entertaining history focusing on the period from the City’s origins to the institution of the Commission government in the 1870s.

 

Einberger, Scott, A History of Rock Creek Park: Wilderness and Washington D.C., Charleston SC: History Press, 2014. Well-illustrated and breezy account of the history the Park that forms the western border of Foggy Bottom.

 

Farrar, Margaret E., Building the Body Politic: Power and Urban Space in Washington, D.C., Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 2008. A bit academic, but interesting perspective on urban development issues.

 

Forret, Jeff, Williams’ Gang: A Notorious Slave Trader and His Cargo of Black Convicts, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. A thorough study of the DC trade in enslaved people.

 

Froncek, Thomas, ed., The City of Washington: An Illustrated History, by the Junior League of the City of Washington, D.C., New York: Alfred F. Knopf, 1977. Illustrations and original materials quoted through 1917.

 

Frankel, Godfrey, and Laura Goldstein, In the alleys: kids in the shadow of the Capitol, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995. Photographs and stories of now-demolished alleys in SW DC.

 

Gardullo, Paul, et al. Eds., Picturing the Promise: The Scurlock Studio and Black Washington, Washington DC: Smithsonian, 2009.

 

Gillette, Howard, Jr., Between Justice and Beauty: Race, Planning, and the Failure of Urban Policy in Washington, D.C., Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006.) Excellent discussion of the concern shown for developing monumental Washington, but the lack of concern for struggling residential areas.

 

Goode, James, Best Addresses, Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1988. DC's impressive apartment buildings.

 

Goode, James M., Capital Losses: A Cultural History of Washington's Destroyed Buildings, 2nd Ed., Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books, 2003. A monumental book featuring 270 lost buildings and 570 photographs over more than 500 pages, including several in Foggy Bottom.

 

Green, Constance McLaughlin, The Secret City: a history of race relations in the Nation’s Capital, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1967. A mid-1960s viewpoint, but an excellent view of the subject.

 

Green, Constance McLaughlin, Washington: Village and Capital City, 1800-1878, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1962.

 

Green, Constance McLaughlin, Washington: Capital City, 1879-1950, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963.

 

Gutheim, Frederick, and Antoinette Lee, Worthy of the Nation: Washington D.C., from L’Enfant to the National Capital Planning Commission, 2nd Ed., Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 2006. Impressive book details the history of planning for the national capital, including the extensive and continuing federal role.

 

Guthein, Frederick, and Wilcomb E. Washburn, The Federal City: Plans & Realities, Washington D.C.: Smithsonian, 1976.

 

Hartman-Cox Architects, Australia: Images Publishing Group, 2007. This group has done an amazing number of interesting buildings in DC.

 

Hershman, Robert R. and Edward T. Stafford (Washington Gas Light Co.), Growing With Washington: The Story of Our First Hundred Years, Washington, D.C.: Judd & Detweiler 1948.

 

Highsmith, Carol M. and Ted Landfair, Pennsylvania Avenue: America’s Main Street, Washington D.C.: American Institute of Architects Press, 1988. Nice book showing the changes in the Avenue over the years, but the book only discussed the street from the Capital to the White House.

 

Hughes, Tom (Author), Gulliver Hughes (Photographer), Alleys of Washington, DC: A Hidden City’s Past, Present and Future, 2019. Only a brief mention of Foggy Bottom’s alleys, but detailed tours of Capitol Hill.

 

Hyra, Derek S., Race, Class and Politics in the Cappuccino City, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017.

 

Jaffe, Harry & Tom Sherwood, Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline revival? of Washington DC, 20th Anniversary Edition, Argo Nevis, 2014. Excellent book on the Barry years and recent DC history.

 

Jones, William Henry, The housing of negroes in Washington, D.C: A study in human ecology, Washington DC: Howard University Press, 1929.

 

Justement, Louis, New Cities for Old: City Building in Terms of Space, Time, and Money, New York: McGraw-Will Book Co. Inc., 1946. Sets forth a terrifying vision of urban development in DC, the spirit of which was applied to Southwest DC.

 

King, Leroy, 100 Years of Capital Traction: The Stories of Streetcars in the Nation’s Capital, Dallas: Taylor Publishing Co., 1972. Well-illustrated, from horse cars to trolleys to the unfortunate end of streetcars in the 1960s.

 

Kousoulas, Claudia D., George W. Kousoulas, Contemporary Architecture in Washington, D.C., New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1995.

 

Leech, Margaret, Reveille in Washington, 1860-1865, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1941. A bit dated, but interesting account of the city growing quickly, while under constant potential threat.

 

Leepson, Marc, Desperate Engagement: How a little-known Civil War battle saved Washington, D.C., and changed American History, New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2007.

 

Lesko, Kathleen M. , Valerie Babb and Carroll R. Gibbs, Black Georgetown Remembered: A History of its Black Community from the Founding of “The Town of George” in 1751 to the Present Day, 30th Anniversary Ed., Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2021.

 

Lessoff, Alan, The Nation and Its City: Politics, Corruption and Progress in Washington, D.C., 1861-1902, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994.

 

Logan, Cameron, Historic Capital: Preservation, Race, and Real Estate in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2017. Excellent historical analysis of the historic preservation movement in Washington DC, with some (but little) discussion of Foggy Bottom.

 

Logan, Mrs. John A., ed., Thirty Years in Washington or Life and Scenes in Our National Capital, Hartford: A.D Worthington & Co., 1901.

 

Longsreth, Richard, Ed., Housing Washington: Two Centuries of Residential Development and Planning in the National Capital Area, Chicago: Center for American Places, 2010.

 

Masur, Kate, An Example for All the Land: Emancipation and the Struggle over Equality in Washington, D.C., Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012. Excellent discussion of the evolution of emancipation and attempts at social equality during the Civil War and reconstruction periods. Rights – including voting rights – that were lost starting in the 1870s.

 

McShane, Clay and Joel A. Tarr, The Horse in the City: Living Machines in the Nineteenth Century, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 2007. A detailed look at the lives and uses of horses in the big city, including their service in carts, carriages, omnibuses (12-20 passengers, 4 wheels), and horse-drawn street cars (on rails). Only a few mentions of DC, but discussion of relevant issues, including stables.

 

Miller, Iris, Washington In Maps, 1606-2000, New York: Rizzoli International, 2002. Beautiful book.

 

Morley, Jefferson, Snow-Storm in August: The Struggle for American Freedom and Washington’s Race Riot of 1835, New York: Anchor Books, 2013.

 

Moore, Joseph West, Picturesque Washington, Providence: J.A. & R.A. Reid, 1884. “Pen and Pencil sketches” – both rather florid, but interesting.

 

Muller, John, Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C., The Lion of Anacostia, Charleston: History Press, 2012. Short biography with a focus on Douglass' time as U.S. Marshall and other activities in DC.

 

Ozer, Mark N., Washington DC: Politics and Place, The Historical Geography of the District of Columbia, Xlibris, 2009.

 

Passonneau, Joseph P., Washington Through Two Centuries: A History in Maps and Images, New York: Monicelli Press, 2004. Includes excellent maps of building construction/demolition in the city.

 

Peck, Garret, Prohibition in Washington, D.C. How Dry We Weren’t, Charleston SC: The History Press, 2011. Prohibition started earlier and ended later in DC than in the US, but DC may have had poorer compliance than elsewhere. Foggy Bottom discussion focuses on our breweries, which switched to near-beer and cider and icemaking for the duration.

 

Peck, Garret, Capital Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in Washington, D.C., Charleston SC: The History Press, 2014.

 

Phillips, P. Lee, Maps and Views of Washington and the District of Columbia, Washington: GPO, 1900. List of maps.

 

Pitch, Anthony S., The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814, Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998.

 

Pope, Michael Lee, Hidden History of Alexandria, D.C., Charleston SC: History Press, 2011. In 1800, most of the City of Alexandria and Alexandria (now Arlington) County became part of the diamond that formed the District of Columbia. The Virginia land, including the prominent slave trading port of Alexandria, was retroceded to Virginia in 1846.

 

Prince, Sabiyha, African Americans and Gentrification in Washington, D.C., Routledge, 2017.

 

Proctor, John Clagget, Proctor's Washington and Environs, 1949. Articles written for the Washington Sunday Star, 1928-1949.

 

Richardson, John P., Alexander Robley Shepherd: The Man Who Built the Nation’s Capital, Athens: Ohio University Press, 2016. A sympathetic biography of “Boss” Shepherd.

 

Ricks, Mary K., Escape on the Pearl: The Heroic Bid from Freedom on the Underground Railroad, New York: Harper Perennial, 2008. Excellent account of the attempted escape of 77 enslaved people from DC, including Emily Edmundson, who had been working in Foggy Bottom. The book follows the lives of the people involved after the escape failed.

 

Rose, Mark H. and Raymond A. Mohl, Interstate: Highway Politics and Policy Since 1939, 3rd Ed., Knoxville: Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2012. Provides context for DC highway battles.

 

Rule, Elizabeth, Indigenous DC: Native People's and the Nation's Capital, Washington DC: Georgetown Univ. Press, 2023. You can also get the digital walking tour.

 

Sellew, Gladys, A Deviant Social Situation: A Court, Dissertation, Washington: Catholic University, 1938.

 

Smith, Howard K., Washington D.C.: The Story of Our Nation's Capital, New York: Random House, 1967. Targeted to young adult readers, reviews the impact of national events on the city and all of its residents, with a mid-1960s perspective.

 

Smith, Sam, Captive Capital: Colonial Life in Modern Washington, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1974. Provocative history of DC that focuses on the city at the time of the coming of Home Rule in 1974. 

 

Solomon, Burt, The Washington Century: Three Families and the Shaping of the Nation's Capital, New York: Harper, 2004. Fascinating recent history of the city through the Boggs, Cafritz, and Hobson families.

 

Tayloe, Benjamin Ogle, Our Neighbors in Lafayette Square, Washington, 1872 (Junior League of Washington Reprint). A lot going on in Lafayette Square in the early days.

 

Tengires, Helen, Public Markets, New York: Norton/Library of Congress, 2008. Numerous illustrations, including of DC’s Center Market.

 

Walker, J. Samuel, Most of 14th Street Is Gone: The Washington D.C. Riots of 1968, Oxford University Press, 2018.

 

Whyte, James H., The Uncivil War: Washington during the Reconstruction, 1865-1878, New York: Twyane Publishers, 1958.