WINDOWS 250: A Neighborhood in the Nation’s Capital, 1776-2026 – Webinar
Preparations are beginning in DC and all over the country to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of our republic. Working with the 3/4G Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) and its Racial and Racial and Social Equity (RASE) committee, Historic Chevy Chase DC and Chevy Chase Main Street are among the first to engage the topic. The WINDOWS 250 exhibit tells our local story from colonial times to the present, animated by the question: how can we in Chevy Chase redeem the promise of the Declaration of Independence locally, today?
The exhibit explores the remarkable, little appreciated story of African Americans in the early history of the Chevy Chase DC neighborhood, including the contributions of enslaved and Free Black farming families during the antebellum era in helping create the community we know today. We also review the unfortunate history of land dispossession, which gradually displaced virtually all Black families from the neighborhood by the eve of World War II. We conclude with more recent efforts at restorative justice and truth telling that aim to honor the full multiracial history of our community across more the past 250 years.
CCCA and HCCDC are planning an hour-long online webinar to discuss the history represented, as well as the process of creating the hybrid exhibit. This Zoom webinar will be held on Wednesday, April 23, at 7 pm.
Speakers include:
Carl Lankowski, Windows 250 Project Director. Carl retired from a twenty-year career in the State Department as the director for European Area Studies and is the current president of the HCCDC.
Cate Atkinson, Project historian and journalist. For the HCCDC, Cate developed a program involving descendants of displaced Chevy Chase neighbors, brought together high school youth and seniors in retirement communities in an oral history project, and authors the Chevy Chase house history blog, HouseStories.
Mark Auslander, Project historian. Mark is an historical anthropologist currently on the faculty of American University. He has extensive experience in museum and exhibition work. He grew up in Chevy Chase DC.
Jocelind Julien is a descendant of Caroline Branham, George Washington's Mount Vernon estate, Guy Henry of Guy Henry Tract at Arlington House Estate, and the Shorter/Dorsey family who were part of the Black Broad Branch community.
To access this Zoom webinar, go to
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84269201469?pwd=IXdAFk2gCMQ7biqTUTIGgLwanNh3ia.1
Meeting ID: 842 6920 1469
Passcode: 565770
More information on the Windows 250 project can be found at Windows 250
This is a joint program of the Chevy Chase Community Association and Historic Chevy Chase DC.
