Scope and Contents

The library has accepted donations, purchased, and collected images for the Historical Image Collection since the early 1920s. Collection strengths include: Streets; Federal buildings; Federal monuments and memorials; Houses and estates; Commercial buildings; and Early Washingtonians.

Scope and Contents The collection contains approximately 270 black and white prints and 83 slides, the majority of which depict the African-American community of the Southwest neighborhood of Washington, D.C., primarily from the 1920s through the 1970s. The photographs document a historic neighborhood that would be largely razed in the 1950s and 1960s, dramatically changing the landscape and population of the neighborhood. The photographs of streets, businesses, and buildings provide visual...

Scope and Contents The collection contains letters, programs, meeting minutes, speeches, event tickets, brochures, pamphlets, invitations, financial records, legislative materials, political memorabilia, and other rare items dating primarily from the 19th through the mid- 20th century. Of particular significance are letters, petitions, and legislative acts documenting the work of elected and appointed mayors; a Board of Alderman; and City Councils from 1802 through the early 1870s in the “Politics...