History

Who Recognizes this Building?

By Prince Of Petworth

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mystery building

I was going through some of my old flickr archives and saw the building above and can’t for the life of me figure out where this was. At first I thought it was the old Bi-Rite supermarket and current home to Meridian Pint at 11th and Park Rd, NW but that’s not it. So anyone recognize this one? It almost looks like it could be Wonderland but it’s only one floor and Wonderland is two. Maybe it was a photo someone sent me because I’m totally blanking. Where is it? What is it now? It’s killing me!

Side note: I was looking at the awesome old (now gone) mural from the side of Bohemian Caverns at 11th and U St, NW:

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Ground Broken at Legacy Memorial Park in Honor of 2009 Metro Crash Victims

By Prince Of Petworth

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Rendering via DGS

From a press release:

“Mayor Vincent C. Gray broke ground [Sunday] at the site of the new Legacy Memorial Park, which will honor the nine people who perished during the 2009 Metrorail collision. Mayor Gray was joined by family representatives, members of the nearby community and congregants of Greater Saint Paul Baptist Church. The $1.8 million memorial – which will be located across the street from the church – is scheduled for completion in December.

“The Legacy Memorial Park will honor and celebrate the lives of those involved in the events of that day through reflective design and artwork,” Mayor Gray said. “This park will be a public space for mourning and connecting to the human spirit. We will never forget the nine lives lost that day, and we will forever honor the heroism of our first responders.”

The winning design team of sculptor Barbara Liotta and architects Lucrecia Laudi and Julian Hunt of Hunt Laudi Studio have created a vision for the park that creates a space for people to connect with nature’s beauty amid a setting of artistic reflection to honor the victims, emergency personnel and countless lives altered by the tragic accident. The design team was selected through a competitive process conducted in partnership by the Office of the City Administrator (OCA) and the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities (DCCAH). An Art Selection Panel convened by DCCAH, representing family members’ diverse interests and expertise, reviewed the qualifications of the artists and the finalists’ designs. Bennett Paschen Joint Venture will be the general contractor to build the memorial park.

“Through art, we can create a space and place that adds new meaning to one of the most unfortunate days in the District’s recent history. The families, as well as the public, will have room to reflect,” said DCCAH Executive Director Lionell Thomas. “The memorial incorporates both families’ and citizens’ voices.”

The park design includes nine sculptural artworks, a memorial wall with an inscription written by family of the remembered, landscaping and hardscaping, as well as the installation of new lighting and streetscape amenities.

The Legacy Memorial Park is located at the entrance of the Blair Road Community Garden in Ward 4 at the intersection of New Hampshire and South Dakota Avenues NE.”

Memorial Animal Fix for Tenley, Biggy, Lila and Bella Killed in the Isherwood Explosion

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I was a resident of the Northeast DC home that was intentionally set ablaze on June 4th.

My fiance and I lost our dog, Tenley, and my neighbor her dog (Biggy smalls) and a cat (Lila).

We wanted to acknowledge their lives in some small way:

To Lila: You may have been a devilish cat, but I loved you anyway. I’m so grateful to have had you by my side for 13 years. I loved you both so very much and miss you everyday.

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To Biggie Smalls: May there be plenty of baby carrots to munch on and people for you to cuddle with where ever you are.

Today would’ve been Biggie’s 5th birthday, and I think this is a great way to remember him and the other furry friends we miss so dearly.

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To Tenley (aka T, T-dog, T-money): We hope that Great Dane heaven is a place full of plush, king-size beds, peanut butter by the spoonful, and grassy fields to roll around in. We hope you know how much you are loved and missed. High-five, sweet girl. Love, Mom & Dad.

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We don’t have photos, but a very loving pit-bull, Bella, was also lost in the fire. She made so many smile. xo Bella.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for giving us a public place to recognize the furry family members who were taken from us. – Laurie, Mike & Lauren”

Streets of Washington Presents – The George Washington Memorial, an elegant convention hall that was never built

By Prince Of Petworth

Streets of Washington, written by John DeFerrari, covers some of DC’s most interesting buildings and history. John is the author of Historic Restaurants of Washington, D.C.: Capital Eats, published by the History Press, Inc. and also the author of Lost Washington DC.

Around the turn of the last century city planners and others worried that the nation’s capital did not have a suitably grand and dignified meeting hall where large assemblies and conventions could gather and celebrate the greatness of America. A spacious 6,000-seat convention hall had been built in Mount Vernon Square in 1875 (see our previous profile), but it was in the old red-brick Victorian style and too far removed from the Mall to satisfy the aspirations of the Beaux Arts generation. The new imperial, white-marble Washington, as envisioned by the McMillan Commission, needed a massive and powerful-looking auditorium with a forest of imposing classical columns lining its facade. At least Susan Whitney Dimock (1845-1939), a New York socialite, certainly thought so, and she made it her life’s work to have such a meeting hall built. But despite endorsements from several presidents and countless other powerful people, the hall was never meant to be.

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Postcard of the planned memorial from the 1920s (author’s collection).

Dimock was born to the wealthy Whitney family of New York, the daughter of James Scollay Whitney (1811-1878). Two of her brothers became successful and powerful industrialists in an age of industrialists. She married Henry F. Dimock (1842-1911), a New York attorney who also became a prominent businessman, working in large part with Whitney family interests. Susan clearly wished to leave her own mark for the betterment of the country, and she set her sights on a memorial to George Washington—never mind that one already had been completed in 1884. (more…)

Props to D-Day Veterans – 70 Year Anniversary Ceremony Friday Morning

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user ay-oh

From a press release:

“World War II Veterans of D-Day, Susan Eisenhower, and Elliott “Toby” Roosevelt III are among those who will gather at the National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC on Friday, June 6, 2014 at 11:00 AM to commemorate the 70 years since 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coastline to fight Nazi Germany on the beaches of Normandy, France.

More than 5,000 ships and 13,000 aircraft supported the D-Day invasion and, by day’s end on June 6, 1944, the Allies gained a foot- hold in Normandy. The D-Day cost was high – more than 9,000 Allied soldiers were killed or wounded – but more than 100,000 soldiers began the march across Europe to defeat Hitler and paved the way for an Allied victory.

“As Americans, and indeed as citizens of the world, it is critical that we remember the events of D-Day,” said Friends Chairman Retired Army Lieutenant General Claude “Mick” Kicklighter. “The heroism and extraordinary effort by the Allied Nations on D-Day was the turning point for the war and brought freedom to millions across Europe.”

Susan Eisenhower, the granddaughter of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), will offer remarks on behalf of the Eisenhower family and will read her grandfather’s message to the troops. Elliott “Toby” Roosevelt III, the great-grandson of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, will speak for his famous family and will read the former President’s D-Day prayer.

As part of the ceremony, D-Day veterans, along with representatives from each of the Allied Nations that took part in the Normandy Campaign, will lay wreaths at the Freedom Wall of the National World War II Memorial.

Craig Symonds, Professor Emeritus of American History at the United States Naval Academy and author of “Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings,” will serve as the ceremony’s master of ceremonies and expert historian.

The D-Day 70th Anniversary Commemoration is co-hosted by the Friends of the National World War II Memorial (Friends) and the National Park Service (NPS). Robert Vogel, Superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, will speak on behalf of NPS. Friends Chairman Lieutenant General Kicklighter will speak on behalf of Friends. The Military District of Washington will provide military support for the event including performances by the U.S. Army Band Brass Quintet.

Additionally, throughout the day visitors to the Memorial will be able to visit an on-site educational exhibit developed in collaboration with National Park Service “Living History” Rangers and World War II Memorial Volunteer Dan Arant.”

Save the Synagogue Mural at 415 M Street, NW

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo courtesy of Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington

From the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington:

“You may have heard about the synagogue mural recently rediscovered behind an apartment wall in Vermont, but you may not know that hidden on the second floor of 415 M Street, NW, right here in Washington, is a fragment of the only known synagogue mural in the area. It was painted almost 90 years ago, and, until the 1990s, preserved under layers of paint and wallpaper. The building is going to be converted to condos this summer, and the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington has started a campaign to cultivate awareness about the mural, and raise funds to rescue the original elements of it.

The mural is the remaining portion of a larger piece that once surrounded the synagogue’s ark. In 1993, as if peeling back layers of time, the then-owner rediscovered the mural hidden beneath layers of old paint and wallpaper. With help from an artist and guidance from the Jewish Historical Society, she worked to restore the celestial scene, Jewish star, and a portion of the biblical quote that encircled the ark – and added a winged lion. In 2013, BlackRock Holdings, a custom-home building company based in McLean, VA, purchased the building and will convert the property into a multi-family condominium later this summer.

JHSGW and BlackRock Holdings hope to save this unique piece of Washington, DC Jewish history before construction starts in July. We have a proposal in hand from a conservation firm to remove and conserve the mural. But we need to act quickly to raise at least $20,000 to remove and preserve the mural. Your donation will make it possible for the Jewish Society of Greater Washington to preserve this remnant of our past for generations to come.”

Cool History – Reader Finds Tombstones for Horses Buried at Dumbarton Oaks

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user number7cloud:

“There are two horses buried in Dumbarton Oaks! [1703 32nd St, NW]

Hidden away just off one of the paths in Dumbarton Oaks is a little pet cemetery. The owners of Dumbarton Oaks, Mildred and Robert Bliss buried their pets there with the names carved on river stones.

Apparently the Blisses’, especially Mildred, were animal lovers. According to an oral history taken from one of the Dumbarton Oaks gardeners, she would first ask about his dog, then him and then his wife, in that order, “always the dogs first.”

The cemetery has a total of eight graves; six dogs and two horses. Jock W is the oldest gravestone dated 1910-1919.

The dogs are:

Jock W. 1910-1919; Oak Taffy 1928-1935; Oaks Blitz 1931-1939; Ari 1931-1941; Cero 1932-1941 and Oaks Christie 1935-1936

And the two horse graves: Quadrangle 1910-1928 and Smokey B. W. 1928-1940.

Sources:

npsparkclp.tumblr.com/post/65640773173/a-pet-cemetery-is-…

www.doaks.org/library-archives/dumbarton-oaks-archives/or…”

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Photo by PoPville flickr user number7cloud

Gallaudet Student Video Capture of 1968 Riots on H Street

By Prince Of Petworth


Sophomore – Riot in DC April 1968 by deafrr

“Dear PoPville,

Whoa! A good video shot by a Gallaudet university student during the 1968 riots. The video shows fire and smoke on H Street seen from Gallaudet university. During the riots the US army came onto Gallaudet’s campus to protect students.”

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