In determining to fashion a new capital out of the wilderness, the founders of Washington, D.C., had the opportunity to mold a place entirely to their liking. At an early stage, they thought boldly. They embraced a grand plan for a new city at the heart of the federal district, anticipating that its advantageous location on the Potomac River would generate the commerce and subsequent growth necessary to achieve the expectations of that plan. Success demanded a close partnership between federal and local interests, and that seemed assured from the active role George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and other leaders of...

To change a Wilderness into a City, to erect and beautify Buildings &ca. to that degree of perfection, necessary to receive the Seat of Government of so extensive an Empire, in the short period of time that remains to effect these objects is an undertaking vast as it is Novel, and reflecting that all this is to be done under the many disadvantages of opposing interests which must long continue to foment Contention among the various Branches of the Union—the only expedient is to conciliate, and interest the Minds of all Ranks of People of the propriety of the...

If revolutionary changes be made in the local law of the District . . . instead of a free negro population of perhaps 14,000 in the current anomalous condition of the country the District of Columbia cannot fail to become at once the harbor for at least 50,000 negroes, practically freed as an incident of the war. With such a population, without especial restraining laws, Washington will be rendered almost uninhabitable to the white man. . . . The abolitionists of Congress who can see naught worthy of their sympathy in the condition of any class in any community but...

The Civil War vastly expanded the reach of federal power even as it stimulated the growth of the capital city. In line with the goal not just to preserve the Union but to make it more perfect, Radical Republicans attempted to put their social philosophy into effect in Washington, which though not conquered territory was considered a slaveholding area sympathetic to the South and thus ripe for Reconstruction. Federal interventions into such central matters of civic life as the enfranchisement of black males set a precedent for different kinds of interventions in the form of long-delayed physical improvements. Reconstruction thus...

The rebellion has effected revolutions in many instances, and none more signally than Washington. The outside American world begins to look in upon this microcosm. People come here from all the Northern States, not simply to get and hold office, but to get and hold lots and houses. For every traitor who has deserted, ten honest people come here to settle down and occupy ten times his former space. With this people come nerve and enterprise and ambitious activity They find slavery abolished and the old slave owners fled or quiescent. They see that the Capital, so long contended for...

Those who knew Washington before the Board of Public Works, under the leadership of Governor Shepherd, began the remarkable improvements, described elsewhere, and who have not visited the city since, can hardly imagine the great change that has taken place everywhere within its boundary. . . . The growth and development of Washington during the past ten years have been wonderful. Nearly all the old landmarks have disappeared, and out of a rude, unpaved, dilapidated town has risen a stately city, with most of the resources, the pleasures, the superiority of a metropolis. Once it was called in derision “the...

By the patient and steadfast cooperation of all those persons charged with the upbuilding of the District of Columbia, a result may be attained such as has been reached in no other capital city of the modern world. The task is indeed a stupendous one; it is much greater than any one generation can hope to accomplish. The very hearty and intelligent cooperation that the plans have been[sic]received by the officers of the Government, the committees of Congress, and by the public generally makes it reasonably certain that the development of the National Capital will be prosecuted along...

We cannot truthfully boast of or take pride in our capital city until we improve the conditions of our slum property and remove the festering plague spots which are equally a menace to the health and morals of the community . . . It may be a work meriting all praise to beautify a portion of the city in which we live, enhancing the value of property and of elevating human life. . . . But how incomparably better is the merit of the effort and toil spent in uplifting frail members of the human family.

William F. Downey, “How...

The New Deal ushered in a period of activism in national government that is now considered central to the American way of life. Given the devastating effects of a depression, especially in the nation’s cities, it was no surprise that Franklin Roosevelt’s administration would intervene in Washington, not just to extend the public works program considered necessary to serve the growing federal establishment, but also to rectify glaring social needs, most notably in housing. When public housing proved inadequate to the task, subsequent administrations developed new means to direct private investment into poorer neighborhoods. Washington, in fact, provided the first...

If Washington is to represent us fairly among the great world capitals; if it is to have the appeal it should have to the pride and affection of our own people, it must provide dignified, spacious, comfortable living conditions for those whose work calls them here or whose inclination prompts them to become residents. The prestige and appeal of the capital do not lie wholly in its governmental structures, but do lie largely in its dwellings. The latter cover by far the largest part of its area and in many ways make the strongest and most lasting impression.

John Ihlder,...

The people converging daily on the central business and government district of Washington are important. Not just as every individual in America is important, but more especially because the hope of the world rests in the hands of those administrators and their assistants through whom the goods of our factorks and the products of our fields are flowing to rehabilitate a war-torn world. The energies of these men and women should be devoted to their important tasks, not to the enervating grind of fighting unnecessary traffic tangles.

Transportation Plans for Washington,Report to the Board of Commissioners, December 20, 1946,...

Our Society will never be great until its cities are great and today, as we face the future, the frontier of imagination and innovation is inside these cities. . . . Washington as the nation’s capital is a unique city with its Federal buildings and monuments, long avenues, beautiful vistas, and government activities. But this is almost a facade for another Vv7ashington. . . . All the problems of the urban condition are present. . . . One Washington cannot be separated from

the other.

Annual Report of the Government of the

District of Columbia, Fiscal Year 1965

During the...

The restoration of an elected city government in 1974 and the subsequent election of civil rights and home rule activist Marion Barry as mayor brought promise that at last issues of social justice would gain the attention they demanded in Washington. Barry established an ambitious social welfare program for the city and recruited talent from around the country to put it in place. Continued federal meddling made Barry’s task particularly difficult, but such interference served at least to help maintain his political support. By appealing both to local antagonism against the government and to racial solidarity, he continued to dominate...