memorial

Travis Peterson Memorial – Dupont Circle Neighborhood Fixture

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

I thought I’d drop you all a line and a couple photos regarding the tragic passing of a Dupont Circle neighborhood fixture – Travis Peterson. For as long as I’ve worked in Dupont Circle, Travis has sat on his crate in front of the former Johnny Rockets, wearing a Santa hat and pleasantly conversing with passersby on their commute as he panhandled.

It’s still unclear what caused his death, but notes at the sidewalk memorial state that he passed away suddenly this past Sunday. In the early evening, he was reportedly having trouble breathing and someone called 911 to request an ambulance for assistance. It is assumed that he passed away later at the hospital.

The sidewalk memorial is a touching tribute to his life – it’s evident just how much he will be missed and the many people that stopped to speak with him each day. The funeral services will be held Tuesday, June 28 at 11:00 AM. There will be a wake an hour beforehand. If anyone is interested in attending, it’s located at the Capital Mortuary at 1425 Maryland Ave NE near the intersections of H Street, Maryland Ave and Benning Road NE.”

Memorial Day Action – Parade, Observance and Metro Closures

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by PoPville flickr user digital cure

From some emails:

UHOP Memorial Day Parade 2011

The annual United House of Prayer Memorial Day Parade will be Saturday, May 28, 2011 starting at 12 Noon. The parade is expected to conclude at 2:30pm.

The parade route is as follows:

Staging will be at 6th and M St NW
North on 6th St NW to S St NW
West on S St NW to 13th St NW
Turn on 13th St NW south
Around Logan Circle
To P St NW
East on P St NW to 7th St NW
South on 7th St NW
To M St NW
East on M St NW
Back to the Church at 6th and M St NW

UHOP encourages residents to participate in the last auxiliary in the parade and march back to the church.

11:00 a.m., Monday, May 30, at Logan Circle Park

The National Park Service, the Illinois State Society of Washington, DC and the Logan Circle Community Association will sponsor a Memorial Day Observance, paying tribute to General John A. Logan, founder of Memorial Day and to honor the efforts of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune to the colored men and women troops during World War I and II.

The event begins at 11:00 a.m., Monday, May 30, at Logan Circle Park, located at 13th Street and Logan Circle, N.W., Washington, D.C. This event is free and open to the public. Musical selections will be performed by renowned local vocalist, Alia Waheed of the National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C.

Serious Metrorail work – 4 stations closed:

Metro will conduct significant safety and reliability work on the Blue, Orange and Red lines over the Memorial Day Holiday Weekend (May 27 through 30) resulting in service changes for customers.

On the Blue and Orange lines, buses will replace trains between Federal Center SW and Minnesota Ave and Benning Road stations, and four stations—Capitol South, Eastern Market, Potomac Ave and Stadium-Armory—will be closed. The work will begin at 10 p.m., Friday, May 27, and continue through closing on Monday, May 30.

During this time, Metro will replace four track switches at Eastern Market station, replace 4,700 fasteners, make repairs to the aerial structure outside Stadium-Armory station, lay more than five miles of new communications cable to upgrade cell phone access and make repairs to 21 escalators and eight elevators at Eastern Market, Capitol South, Potomac Avenue and Stadium Armory stations.

Memorial in Dupont – RIP Jumbo

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

For the past few days, I’ve walked by this makeshift memorial on a porch on Swann Street in Dupont. Apparently, the owner, Jumbo, died, and a note taped to a plastic chair is on his porch. Since then, people have left flowers and even a newspaper at the memorial to “our beloved Jumbo, the mayor of Swann Street.” I find the note to be very moving, and the flowers and newspaper a real testament to the kindness of Washingtonians. May the mayor rest in peace.”

Is This a Legit Memorial?

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

On U St, between 14th and 15th St, NW, in front of the parking garage, there seems to be some sort of “shrine” on one of the street signs. Every few days, it looks like someone puts up some sort of decoration, or I don’t even know what, on the sign. The other day there was even some sort of walker/toilet seat contraption as part of it.

Does this ring a bell? Any idea what’s the deal?”

This is truly bizarre. Street memorials are not uncommon after a shooting or violent death. But I’ve never seen one like this before. This one seems so random I can’t tell if it’s legit or not. Normally these “shrines” spring up on the site of the killing and I don’t recall one happening recently at this location. And secondly and perhaps most importantly – the portable walker/toilet seat just makes no sense at all. I mean no disrespect but this is really strange.

Anyone know the story here?

Judging Memorials – Robert A. Taft

By Prince Of Petworth

This is the first time I’ve heard bells ringing that didn’t come from a church. The Robert A. Taft memorial is located near Union Station at the intersection of First St and Louisiana Ave, NW. Anyone else heard of a memorial having bells before? It was ringing on Sat. afternoon around 3pm.

Also is this a memorial to the Senator Robert A Taft who opposed the New Deal?

Titanic Memorial from SW-Waterfront

By Prince Of Petworth

You knew this one was coming when I went to SW…

According to Wikipedia:

The memorial is located on P Street SW next to the Washington Channel near Fort Lesley J. McNair. It was designed by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, who won the commission in open competition, and sculpted by John Horrigan from a single piece of red granite furnished from Westerly, RI, by the Henry C. Smalley Granite Co. It was unveiled on May 26, 1931, by Helen Herron Taft, the widow of President Taft.

Originally located at the foot of New Hampshire Avenue, NW in Rock Creek Park along the Potomac River, the monument was removed in 1966 to accommodate the Kennedy Center.[1] The memorial was re-erected without ceremony in 1968 on the south Washington waterfront outside Fort McNair in Washington Channel Park at Fourth and P Streets, SW.

Fire Box Memorial

By Prince Of Petworth

We’ve seen lots of Fire Box art but this is the first memorial I’ve seen. It’s from Georgia Ave near Howard University. I thought it was cool how it still had the phone in it so you can see what one of these used to look like:

Orlando Letelier & Ronni Moffit Memorial

By Prince Of Petworth

We’ve noted this memorial before but just wanted to mention all the flowers that are placed here on the anniversary of their death every year. You can see a bit of background on the monument and incident here. The memorial is on Sheridan Circle near Embassy Row and Massachusetts Ave, NW.

Rest in Peace Neil Michael Godleski

By Prince Of Petworth

It was amazing to see the community come together last night for Neil Godleski’s vigil in Sherman Circle. I don’t think I describe how sad the evening was. It gives the term a ‘senseless death’ a whole new meaning to me. There were so many recollections of Neil’s life and nearly every single speaker mentioned how he never judged anyone and welcomed all he encountered. I never had the good fortune to meet Neil but I couldn’t help but get choked up hearing these stories. I don’t think it’s fair to say, I hope something good comes out of this tragedy like lighting in Sherman Circle. I do hope Sherman Circle gets lighting. And I’m glad the community came together to mourn during the tragedy. But I can’t help but think unless our community including our elected leaders come together outside of times of tragedy this will not be our last vigil.

Rest in Peace Neil Michael Godleski you moved many and shook a community and at the end of the day those who knew you well, remembered you not only with tears but also smiles.

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