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Historic Chevy Chase DC

Historic Chevy Chase DC

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  • Projects
    • Black Land Loss: Chevy Chase DC in the Arc of American History
    • Historic District Campaign (2004-2008)
    • Lafayette-Pointer Project
    • Historic House Plaques
  • Oral Histories
  • House Histories
    • HOUStories: People, Places & Streets of Chevy Chase DC
  • Archives
  • About
  • Membership

Welcome to
Historic Chevy Chase DC

HCCDC is celebrating more than 32 years as a nonprofit historical society conducting research and documenting the history, design architecture, landscape, streetscape and development of Chevy Chase DC, a lovely circa-1907 community in Northwest Washington DC.

We have captured more than 32 oral histories of our residents, conducted a rigorous research study of the community’s desire for a Historic District, organize history-related talks and events and conduct a popular Historic Walking Tour every September, among many other activities. We welcome your involvement and interest!

Learn more
Take our Virtual Tour!
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Chevy Chase DC House
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Chevy Chase DC House
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Chevy Chase Home
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Northampton St Chevy Chase DC House
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Latest News

Book cover: Between Freedom and Equality by Barbara Boyle Torrey and Clara MYrick Green

“Pushed Out” Webinar Recording Now Available

January 21, 2023

A recording of the Jan. 18 webinar entitled, “Pushed Out: A Story of Race Relations in Chevy Chase DC,” is now available. Listen to the virtual discussion featuring authors Barbara Boyle Torrey and Clara Myrick Green here. The hour-long talk, hosted by Historic Chevy Chase DC and moderated by local activist Corey Shaw Jr., focused …

Read more“Pushed Out” Webinar Recording Now Available
Newlands Memorial Fountain, Chevy Chase Circle

Update on Newlands Fountain Signage

November 30, 2022

The U.S. Senate in the 1930s authorized a memorial on Chevy Chase Circle. Money was raised for the installation of Francis G. Newlands Memorial Fountain. Newlands’ white supremacist views led to proposals and local debate about renaming the fountain in 2014. Despite involvement by local members of Congress, no action has been taken as of …

Read moreUpdate on Newlands Fountain Signage
Edward Hayes of Historic Chevy Chase DC stands with the first Police/Fire Call Box Refurbishment on Connecticut Avenue in Chevy Chase DC

Call Box Refurbishment Project

November 30, 2022
Read moreCall Box Refurbishment Project
PBS - If You Lived Here - Chevy Chase DC

WETA Visits Chevy Chase DC

June 13, 2022

Chevy Chase DC was featured in the March 21, 2022, episode of WETA’s “If You Lived Here,” a show about available homes for sale and the communities that surround them. See this 3.5-minute segment of that episode that focused on Lafayette-Pointer Park and how the community has worked toward reckoning with its history of racial …

Read moreWETA Visits Chevy Chase DC

Events

Current Month

07jun7:00 pm8:15 pmA Conversation with Descendants of a Displaced Black CommunityChevy Chase DC in the Arc of American History

Event Details

Chevy Chase DC in the Arc of American History Register Now for the 7 p.m. June

Event Details

Chevy Chase DC in the Arc of American History

Register Now for the 7 p.m. June 7 Event

Join Historic Chevy Chase DC and the ANC 3/4G Committee on Race and Social Equity for a virtual webinar to hear directly from descendants of Black landowners who were displaced from Chevy Chase DC nearly a century ago. The program, titled “A Conversation with a Displaced Black Community: Chevy Chase DC in the Arc of American History,” is free and will feature a special pre-recorded session between descendants and the Rev. William H. Lamar IV, pastor of Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, DC.

HCCDC’s Charles Cadwell, a former ANC commissioner, will moderate a question-and-answer session at the end between the audience, the descendants and the ANC 3/4G commissioners.

The program is a major part of HCCDC’s collaboration with the University of the District of Columbia to explore multi-generational effects of Black land loss. HCCDC has been working with — and learning from — descendants of itsĀ  African American neighbors on Broad Branch Road who were driven from their homes in the 1920s so a whites-only school and park could be built.

Two families among the descendant group have connections that go back to George Washington and Mount Vernon — from slavery, to freedom, to nation building, to racial displacement.  As part of its effort to rediscover and acknowledge this neighborhood history, HCCDC has gathered the stories of the descendants. Read about their stories on the HCCDC website here.

Tune in to hear them in conversation about their experiences and perceptions on June 7.

more

Time

(Wednesday) 7:00 pm - 8:15 pm

GoogleCal

Virtual Event Details

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HOUStories Blog Logo

NEW! Read about the latest intrigues of Chevy Chase DC’s past in Cate Toups Atkinson’s most recent blog post. Reach her at cate.atkinson@gmail.com

5535 Chevy Chase Parkway NW

Hollywood Moderne: A House that Lived Up to Its Name

The house at the corner of Chevy Chase Parkway and McKinley Street has long been a curiosity for its unusual architecture. But few today recall that it actually produced a Hollywood star.

Continue readingHollywood Moderne: A House that Lived Up to Its Name

Our Projects

HCCDC’s initiative to recognize the history of Black landowners forced out in 1928 to create Lafayette Park includes a plan to rename the park to Lafayette-Pointer Park. The letter above was written in 1829 by George Pointer, a slave who bought his own freedom at age 17 and whose descendants settled on Broad Branch.

Read More

House Histories

Carl and Pam Lankowski in front of McKinley Street NW House Chevy Chase DC

HCCDC’s online archives hold a growing collection of social and architectural histories of Chevy Chase DC houses, including Pam and Carl Lankowski’s 1919 kit house on McKinley Street.

Read More

Historic House Plaques

Click here for more information

Join Us!

An annual contribution of just $25 a year supports our valuable work.

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Oral History Interviews

Judith Adams

Judith Clark Adams

Read moreJudith Clark Adams
Allen Beach

Allen Beach

Read moreAllen Beach
Ralph Benson

Ralph Benson

Read moreRalph Benson
Dallas Dean

Dallas Dean

Read moreDallas Dean

L. Bernice Degler

Read moreL. Bernice Degler
Barara Dresner

Barbara Dresner

Read moreBarbara Dresner

Visit our complete library of Oral Histories »

If you have any comments or questions about HCCDC or any of our projects, please contact us at hccdc@comcast.net
HCCDC | PO Box 6292, NW Station, Washington DC 20015-0292

© 2023 · Historic Chevy Chase DC· All Rights Reserved

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