P&P Live! "Culture and Community in the Capitol City" with Arcadia Publishing

Before chain coffeeshops and luxury high-rises, before even the beginning of desegregation and the 1968 riots, Washington's Greater U Street was known as Black Broadway. From the early 1900s into the 1950s, African Americans plagued by Jim Crow laws in other parts of town were free to own businesses here and built what was often described as a city within a city. Local author and journalist Briana A. Thomas narrates U Street's rich and unique history, from the early triumph of emancipation to the days of civil rights pioneer Mary Church Terrell and music giant Duke Ellington, through the recent struggles of gentrification. Black Broadway in Washington, D.C.

Barry Farm-Hillsdale was created under the auspices of the Freedmen's Bureau in 1867 in what was then the outskirts of the nation's capital. Residents built churches and schools, and the community became successful. In the 1940s, youth from the community courageously desegregated the Anacostia Pool, and Barry Farm Dwellings was built to house war workers. In the 1950s, community parents joined the fight to desegregate schools in Washington, D.C., as local leaders fought off plans to redevelop the area. Both the women and the youth of Barry Farm Dwellings, then public housing, were at the forefront of the fight to improve their lives and those of their neighbors in the 1960s, but community identity was being subsumed into the larger Anacostia neighborhood. Curator and historian Alcione M. Amos tells these little-remembered stories. Barry Farm-Hillsdale in Anacostia

For one hundred years, housing cooperatives in various sizes and shapes have been a positive part of the urban landscape of Washington, D.C. Co-ops first arose in the city in the 1920s. Building slowed during the Great Depression, but their numbers expanded after World War II. Conversions expanded their numbers, and the model thrived and became a vital part of the city's fabric. Local historian Steve McKevitt tells the stories of the architecture and development of each District co-op with both historic and modern images. Washington, D.C. Housing Co-Ops

Briana A. Thomas - Black Broadway in Washington, DC

Alcione M. Amos - Barry Farm-Hillsdale in Anacostia

Stephen McKevitt - Washington, D.C. Housing Co-ops: A History

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Briana A. Thomas - Black Broadway in Washington, D.C. Briana A. Thomas has been published in Washingtonian Magazine, the historic Afro-American newspaper, and the Washington Post throughout her journalism career. Briana earned a Master of Journalism degree from the University of Maryland–College Park and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and communications from Greensboro College. She is the co-senior pastor of a Maryland-based multisite church Open Bible Ministries.

Alcione M. Amos - Barry Farm-Hillsdale in Anacostia Alcione M. Amos, currently a museum curator at the Smithsonian Institution Anacostia Community Museum in Washington, D.C., is originally from Brazil and has lived and worked in the United States for almost five decades. She received an MSLS from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Among other works, she has published two books: The Black Seminoles: History of a Freedom Seeking People and Os Que Voltaram: A História dos Retornados Afro-Brasileiros na África Ocidental no Século XIX (Those Who Returned: The History of the Afro-Brazilian Returnees in West Africa in the 19th Century).

Stephen McKevitt - Washington, D.C. Housing Co-ops: A History Steve McKevitt lives in a mid-size co-op in Adams Morgan. He is proud to be a native Washingtonian. Now retired, he explores the many aspects of Washington’s civic and cultural history. Steve is a board member of the D.C. Cooperative Housing Coalition and also belongs to the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. Steve is a strong believer in the concept of housing cooperatives and considers them good for a city’s environment and good homes for city residents.

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Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics and Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics and Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online.

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