DC History Center

Does this sound like you? 🔸 Support a community-driven collecting project preserving the history of DC’s Latino/a/x residents and addresses archival silences. 🔸 Meet community members and collect histories to fill the major gaps in our collection to include the Latinx experience. 🔸 Assist in project planning and preparing for collections clinics, community outreach, participating in clinics, digitizing collections, and processing and cataloging digital collections acquired during the event. This position is part of our On the Grounds: Community Archiving in Latinx DC initiative funded by the HumanitiesDC Visions Grant. Learn more about the position: https://lnkd.in/e-t8BdVz

ICYMI: Interns from US Naval Academy Hannah, Kinaree, and Rashiya took us behind-the-scenes in the DC History Center’s collections space to show us some of their favorite LGBTQ+ materials during our June 18th In the Works program. For the last four years, we’ve collaborated with the U.S. Naval Academy and Rainbow History Project on this crash course in LGBTQ+ archives for US Naval Academy midshipmen. The students learn collections work and help make these archives more accessible to the public. The DC History Center is the archival home for the Rainbow History Project. 🎥 Watch “In the Works: Processing LGBTQ+ Collections!” https://lnkd.in/enVpTMvK

On June 19, 1865, Union troops in Texas announced the news of President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, more than two years after it was issued. Today, Juneteenth is a federal holiday, but what did emancipation look like for enslaved persons in DC? The DC Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862 ended slavery in DC and freed over 3,000 individuals. Every April 16th we celebrate DC Emancipation Day. As for our neighbors, Maryland adopted a new state constitution on November 1, 1864 that abolished slavery. On April 7, 1864, a constitutional convention for the Restored Government of Virginia, then meeting in Alexandria, abolished slavery in the part of the state that remained a loyal member of the United States. The General Assembly of the Restored Government ratified the proposed 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which abolished slavery, on February 9, 1865. When the amendment was ratified by the required two-thirds of state legislatures on December 6, 1865, slavery was abolished everywhere in the US. Do you know when Emancipation Day is in your home state? ⠀ Happy Juneteenth, DC! #CivicSeason 📸 Marching band in Jubilee Day Emancipation Parade, April 16, 2002. (Elvert Barnes photograph collection, BA 089) 📸 Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury in answer to a resolution of the House Representatives, of the 11th of January 1864, transmitting the report and tabular statements of the commissioners appointed in relation to emancipated slaves in the District of Columbia. (Printed Materials Collection, P 1403)

Connect. Empower. Inspire. We’re looking for ✌️ new teammates! Do these sound like you? ⭐Manager of Education (Full-time) ⭐Library Services Coordinator (Part-time) Learn more + apply: https://buff.ly/4efoyiO

Attention all book lovers: Join us at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library for our joint book talk on Thursday, May 30. We'll see you there! 👀 📙

We are thrilled to announce that the DC History Center has received a 2024 HumanitiesDC Visions Grant. With this grant, we will focus on community archiving within DC's Latino/a/x communities, offering digitization services and training to those who are interested in digitizing their personal collections. This process will address archival silences at the DC History Center, while preserving personal collections that can remain under the stewardship of community memory-keepers. We are excited for the impact this project will have on our city and look forward to sharing this important history! #HumanitiesDC2024grantrecipient #humanitiesDC #humanities

In our upcoming online program, we'll dive into the topic of flooding as an environmental justice issue. Curated by Carmen Bolt, PhD candidate in history from American University, this program is the latest installment in the DC History Center’s Context for Today series of online conversations with thoughtful and thought-provoking historians, activists, journalists, and community members.

Join our team! We're #hiring a Director of Administration. Apply today or share this post with your network.

Join us for the DC History Conference!

Congrats to the Perry School for this great project! Very much looking forward to celebrating M Street High School and its legacy at Arena Stage March 13.