Moving to Anacostia
Dear Movers (and Shakers):
In early March 1999, Mayor Tony Williams announced that he wants to move
the University of the District of Columbia from Connecticut Avenue in northwest Washington
to Anacostia. In late March 1999, Williams announced that he wants to move Duke Ellington
School of the Arts from Georgetown in northwest Washington to Anacostia. In April 1999,
Williams will announce that he wants to move the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police
Department from the Municipal Building in Judiciary Square to Anacostia. In May 1999,
Williams will announce that he wants to dismantle the John A. Wilson District Building on
Pennsylvania Avenue brick by brick and reconstruct it in Anacostia. At that point, radio
commentator Mark Plotkin will announce that he is sponsoring an initiative movement to
change the name of the city from Washington, District of Columbia, to Anacostia, District
of Columbia.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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UDC and ... Brooklyn Tech??
Harold Goldstein, dcbiker@goldray.com
Ed Barron suggests that UDC be remolded in his image; one that will
provide opportunities for our high school graduates to develop some real skills that are
in demand in today's marketplace. Once again this totally misses the boat. Graduates
of the DC public school system are not ready for a school that will do all of the above,
and by remolding a University into a glorified technical school that will finish the job
the DCPS system is supposed to do is no favor to anyone, least of all the kids who are the
real victims of all this political voodoo.
The public schools are a disgrace and that is the root of our problem. UDC
can't work as it should until that disgrace has been addressed. And building a new
Brooklyn Tech is no solution either. That would only drain the talent from the
rest of the system; no, we've got to really get tough on standards and drive the system
from within. UDC could have been a part of that solution but it has been emasculated and
has become almost irrelevant; clearly a view the mayor finds pleasing.
Brooklyn Tech (of which I am a graduate) is also a poor example since it
is a case of a formerly great High School that was 1/2 vocational and 1/2 college prep
that became a failure when standards disintegrated and came back when standards were
re-created. Here in DC we have no standards and that must come first.
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The Districts Native Roots
Mark Richards, mark@bisconti.com , Dupont
East
When Captain John Smith first visited this area in 1608, it was inhabited
by Indian tribes, most part of the Piscataway confederacy. The natives were
traders and had routes as far away as Canada. The name Potomac in the Algonkin language
means a place where something is bought, or trading place. It appears that the early
explorers thought the people from the village of Potomac said the river was called Potomac
and called it that since. Most tribes belonged to the Algonquian linguistic family,
described by one linguist as tiny imagist poems. The language distinguishes
between animate and inanimate categories. Inhabitants usually spoke more than one dialect,
few of which exist today.
Nacotchtanke, the main settlement in the District, was the residence of a
chief and 80 warriors. Smith wrote that the people did their best to content
us. In 1642, Jesuit missionaries baptized the chief and others of the tribe. They
latinized the name as Anacostan, now Anacostia. Under the Cromwell government, Catholicism
was outlawed and the Piscataway mission closed. The Piscataway were increasingly driven
from their lands and plantations by settlers, their cattle and hogs and hunted by
slave-catchers. They were killed by smallpox and other imported diseases and raided by the
Susquehanna tribes to the north, while forbidden to own guns. In 1666, they addressed a
petition to the Maryland assembly: We can flee no further. Let us know where to
live, and how to be secured for the future from the hogs and cattle. Reservations
were established for twelve villages, but encroachments continued. In 1697, their numbers
reduced from thousands to hundreds, they fled.
There was a Patowomeke village located in the valley on the eastern side
of the Anacostia (Benning). The principal part of the village is thought to have been
almost due east of the U.S. Capitol, while a smaller village was located south of the
Capitol between 1st and 2nd Sts., SE. Anthropologists found inexhaustible
supplies of relics at Chain Bridge, at Piney Branch just beyond the village of Mt.
Pleasant, and at Rose Hill near Tennalytown. The quantity of material
indicates a long continued occupancy. Estimates indicate there are over 7,000
people of Piscataway descent living, many concentrated in Prince Georges, Prince Charles,
and St. Mary's counties. It seems there is a Piscataway Indian Nation at Port Tobacco.
Also, there are many urban Indians from hundreds of tribes living amongst us in D.C. I
have an friend from a Wisconsin Indian Nation; people think he's Asian. Anyone know where
the monuments are that honor D.C.'s indigenous roots?
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Mayors of Washington City Correction
Mark Richards, mark@bisconti.com , Dupont
East
In my last posting, I said I thought the Washington City mayors between
1812-1870 were elected by the City Council. That was the case between 1812-1820, but in
1820 the charter was revised so that the mayors were chosen by popular vote of white male
property owners. I've prepared several one page handouts that are available by request
(E-mail): Washington City Mayors, History of Local Govt. in DC, DC Neighborhoods, US
Public Opinion on DC Voting Rights, and Democracy in DC Poster. Also available, an
unpublished article comparing governance in DC and Paris.
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Reference to a Reference Web Site
Matthew Gilmore, mgilmore@clark.net
Just so everyone knows, a list of all the former mayors of DC, along with
a list of all the commissioners, can also be found on our web site: http://dclibrary.org/washingtoniana under
frequently asked questions.
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Can anyone help me? I'd like some help from the kind souls who subscribe
to themail. I'm currently living in France and so I can't do this myself: Some of you may
know the men who set up a flower stand in Cleveland Park, by the Uptown Theater. They are
Amidou and Pap. I'd like to get in touch with them. Amidou was manning a flower stand at
19th and L when I saw him last November. Pap was working at the Starbucks on Wisconsin
Ave. in Cleveland Park. If anyone sees either one, could you ask them to contact me by
e-mail, if they have access to the Internet. Just tell them Evan, who spoke French with
them, wants to say hello. Tell them I'm having a great time. Thanks.
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CLASSIFIED EVENTS
Presentation and Conversation on Research on
Testing and Urban Students
Lynda Tredway, ltredway@gwu.edu
Clifford Hill from Teachers College, Columbia, will share his national
research on testing and urban students (particularly as it applies to fourth graders in
his NYC study). He is currently a research fellow at the US Department of Education, OERI.
I met Dr. Hill at the Teaching for Intelligence conference last year in NYC and was
impressed by his research and understanding of testing, the kinds of tests that do or do
not make a difference for students in urban contexts, and his understanding of how
technology could be used for different kinds of testing.
The talk and conversation will be on Wednesday, April 7, 1999, 4-6 pm, at
George Washington University, Monroe Hall, on G Street NW between 21st and 22nd (next to
the fire station), Room 102. RSVP, or for more information, to ltredway@gwu.edu
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On April 1st, between 5:30 pm and 7:00 pm, Democracy First, the Free China
Movement, and a host of other organizations in Washington, D.C., are sponsoring the First
Annual Democracy Freedom Spring World Candlelight Vigil at the Chinese Embassy
in Washington, D.C. The vigil is supporting democracy in China, full democracy for the
people of Washington, D.C., and the end of religious persecution in Tibet. Vigils will
also be taking place simultaneously in 7 other cities around the world, including San
Francisco, California; Madison, Wisconsin; Paris, France; Bonn, Germany; Geneva,
Switzerland; London, England; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Sydney, Australia.
Come stand up for democracy in China, full democracy in Washington, D.C.,
and call for the end of religious persecution in Tibet! April 1, 1999, 5:30-7:00 pm,
Chinese Embassy, 2300 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. For further information,
please call Timothy Cooper, 202/244-9479.
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Capitol Hill Arts Workshop Spring Clean Up and
Party
Ann Bond, ortacb@gwumc.edu
On April 24, volunteer an hour or so to help paint, clean, garden or
generally beautify the building during the day, and at night, party with New Orleans music
and jambalaya, a raffle, a silent auction, and many great prizes everybody WINS.
CHAW offers instruction in fine arts, performing arts, visual arts and more. It brings the
arts to people of all ages and backgrounds, offering scholarships to those who can't pay.
Please volunteer to help on April 24: email Ann Bond at ortacb@gwumc.edu
or phone (202) 544-7272.
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Tasting Society International April 1999 Calendar
of Events
Charlie Adler, wine@TASTEDC.COM
1) April 6th Spring Wine Xtravaganza 100+ Wines!, Sponsored
by Fresh Fields of Georgetown and Arlington, 7-9 p.m., Galleria at Lafayette Centre, 1155
21st St., NW, $35, in advance, $45 at door if available, 100 different wines to taste,
Mediterranean food samplings from Fresh Fields, order wines on sale: bottles 10% off,
cases 15% off; 2) April 21st Wine Basics 101, with Michael Franz, wine columnist
for the Washington Post, 7-9 p.m., Radisson Barcelo Hotel, 2121 P St., NW, $35, learn the
basics how to match wine and food, differences in grape varieties, how to purchase
and order wine, and more! 3) Save the Date: May 19th: Embassy of Switzerland Wine Tasting
with Michael Franz. Reservations: RSVP at (202) 333-5588 or email: wine@tastedc.com or the Reservation Form at our
Web Page at http://www.tastedc.com/reservations.html
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CLASSIFIEDS JOB AVAILABLE
Travel Specialist
Patti Absher, Great Travels, Inc., gtravels@erols.com
Exciting position, part-time or full-time, in travel consulting, at the
congenial Chevy Chase/Connecticut office of Great Travels, Inc. Consult and plan
individual tours and group tours for Italy. Travel agent experience preferred but will
consider anyone with the basic qualifications knowledge and experience of Italy,
well organized, good telephone presence, meticulous with details and record keeping. See
web site, http://www.great-travels.com Please email or fax (202 966-6972) resume.
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CLASSIFIEDS CITY PAPER PREVIEW
Dave Nuttycombe, webmeister@washcp.com
From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this Friday:
The School Board's Transition Game: School board President Wilma Harvey misses her car and
driver. Lacking a car of her own, Harvey who joined the board in 1986 once
relied on the school board's personal transit system to shuffle her to meetings at far-off
schools that lay beyond the reach of Metro.
It's impossible to get [to many schools] by public transportation, says
Harvey. You may be able to get there by cab, but you can't get out. When the
control board in November 1996 seized control of the D.C. public schools and reduced the
school board to an advisory body, however, it zeroed out funding for this precious school
board perk.
Now Harvey wants it restored. In a letter outlining the school board's position on the
eventual return of its oversight powers, Harvey pressed control board education czar
Constance Newman on the transportation issue.
I find nothing wrong with transportation being provided to board members, says
Harvey. I find nothing wrong with that.
Her fellow board members did. All ten of us jumped up and down on her over
this, said a school board member.
Read the entire Loose Lips column this Friday at: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/lips/lips.html
From washingtoncitypaper.com's CITY LIGHTS page, here are a few early
warnings for upcoming events:
Thursday, April 8: A.S. Byatt, reads from and signs copies of Elementals at 7
p.m. at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free.
Saturday, April 3: Japanese dancer Shizumi interprets traditional Asian literature,
theater and dance for Western audiences. At 1 and 3 p.m. (the later performance is
sign-interpreted) at the Kennedy Center's Theater Lab. $10.
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html
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