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Entries Tagged as 'history'

Lost Capitol Hill: John Wilkes Booth on the Hill

January 30th, 2012 · 1 Comment · Capitol Hill

At the end of last week, I was sent an edited copy of the scandal book, with a number of questions and statements needing clarification. Most of them were quite simple, but one took me a couple of hours. And although there was, in the end, little need to change any words, I did discover [...]

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Lost Capitol Hill: Meader’s Electric Scoreboard

January 23rd, 2012 · No Comments · Capitol Hill

With the manuscript of my book at the editors, I can once again look at some piece of arcana of Capitol Hill history. And little is more arcane than what I discovered while researching something completely different: The electric scoreboard. In those long-ago days before TV – or even radio – the only way to [...]

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Best of Lost: The Gerry-Mander

January 9th, 2012 · No Comments · Capitol Hill

As I am still in the final stretch of finishing up my scandal book of Capitol Hill, it seems appropriate that this weeks rerun is one of the scandals that will feature prominently in my book. Look for new columns starting in two weeks, and the book to be released Friday, April 13. With all [...]

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Best of Lost: St. Cyprian’s Church

December 19th, 2011 · No Comments · Capitol Hill

Over the winter holidays, I will be going on hiatus from my usual Lost Capitol Hill columns, as I will be working on my book on scandals of the Hill. In the meantime, I have dug out some of my old columns. While in my usual columns about lost Capitol Hill I write about landmarks [...]

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Be a Supreme Court Docent!

December 14th, 2011 · No Comments · Capitol Hill

There are loads of “only in DC” opportunities we benefit from as Hill residents:  watching July 4th fireworks from the roof of your house (on the Mall, in PG County, and in the middle of the your street too), walking/jogging/biking through the Capitol grounds as part of your daily routine, and having Members of Congress [...]

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Lost Capitol Hill: Coxey’s Army

November 28th, 2011 · No Comments · Capitol Hill

Marches on Washington are today a standard tactic of those seeking to change the opinions of the leaders in DC. Whether to denounce war, or attempt to right economic wrongs — or simply to attract attention, large numbers of people walking great distances has been an American institution since, well, 1894. In that year, a [...]

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Lost Capitol Hill: Surrat Trial Juror George A. Bohrer

November 7th, 2011 · No Comments · Capitol Hill

Spending the week on a jury made me wonder about some famous DC trials, and the jurors who sat on them. This reminded me of George A. Bohrer, a long-time Capitol Hill resident, DC Councilmember, Alderman, Justice of the Peace, and city assessor – and member of the jury before whom John H. Surratt was [...]

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Overbeck Lecture on November 8th: Gordon S. Brown

November 4th, 2011 · 2 Comments · Capitol Hill South, DC, Eastern Market

Here at THIH we feel that a key component of our public service is to make sure you get to attend as many nerdy events as your heart desires. And one of the most amazing, awe-inspiring, and downright nerdiest of this neighborhood’s charms is the Ruth Ann Overbeck Capitol Hill history project, a carefully quilted [...]

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Lost Capitol Hill: Skulduggery at the Atlas

October 24th, 2011 · No Comments · Capitol Hill

The most difficult part in writing is deciding what to leave out. So often, a wonderful sidelight gets deleted at the last minute because there’s simply no room for it, especially if it does not really add to the main story. Fortunately, there are always other venues to write about the issue thus deleted — [...]

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Congressional Cemetery Documentary and Halloween Party

October 18th, 2011 · No Comments · Capitol Hill, New Hill East

C-Span’s Rebecca Roberts took a walking tour of Congressional Cemetery last month, and now the cable station has a great documentary up about our historic gem.  From their website: “Each week American History TV’s American Artifacts takes viewers into archives, museums and historic sites from around the country. Located 18 blocks from the U.S. Capitol, Washington’s DC’s [...]

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