BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Anacostia Community Museum -- Exhibit: East of the River: Continuity and Change

DC -- Anacostia Community Museum -- Exhibit: East of the River: Continuity and Change:

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Description of Pictures: East of the River: Continuity and Change
September 15, 2007 – November 9, 2008
To celebrate the museum's 40th anniversary, this exhibition documents the development of community life of neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River beginning with the original inhabitation by Native Americans up to the present, while offering possible visions for the future. It covers the struggle over land, who owns it, who controls it, who profits from it, and how residents determine their own destiny.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SIAMER_071103_009.JPG: Barry Farm: Charged with assisting the ex-slaves in Washington after the end of the Civil War, General Oliver Otis Howard, the head of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (the Freedman's Bureau), purchased 375 acres from the Barry family, long-time land owners in Far Southeast. General Howard divided the land into one-acre plots and made them available to black families in 1867 for prices ranging from $125 to $300 an acre. Each purchaser was also provided with $76 worth of lumber and was obligated to construct a house on the property. Payments averaged $10 a month, and most of the homes constructed were modest A-frames. Free black families also purchased lots. Those with means bought additional lots and extra lumber and built larger homes. The Freedmen's Bureau opened schools in Far Southeast to serve the growing black population. The Bureau opened a school in Good Hope in 1865 and Howard School in Barry Farm in 1867. In 1871, Hillsdale School opened, the first public school for African Americans across the Eastern Branch. By the 1890s Barry Farm was a thriving community of black homeowners, attracting skilled craftsmen, truck farmers, businessmen, and professional. Just as in Uniontown, an active community association, the Hillsdale Civic Association, quickly formed and began to put pressure on city officials to improve conditions in the new community.
2. SIAMER_071103_013.JPG: Emancipation: On April 16, 1862, President Lincoln signed into law a bill outlawing slavery in the District of Columbia. The bill also provided funds to compensate slave-owners for the loss of their slaves. Slave-owners who were unhappy with the amount of compensation could appear before a local commission to appeal. Henry Naylor, George Washington Talbert, James L. Addison, J. Fenwick Young, and Thomas Blagden were among slave-owners in Far Southeast who petitioned this commission. Because a large number of southern black immigrants to the city were former slaves with few or no resources at all, many of them remained impoverished and lived in squalid, unsafe conditions in alley tenements. Some Washington homeowners constructed cheap frame housing on their own lots accessible only by back alleys and rented these to poor families to take advantage of the severe housing shortage. The Freedmen's Bureau housed some of these families in District buildings which formerly served as barracks. From there, the able-bodied sough work, but jobs were scarce for the freedmen, as native Washingtonians exhibited some bias and no little resentment towards the newcomers. Some African Americans, with better means to earn their livelihoods and with pre-existing networks of friends and family in the area, settled in the Good Hope area. They preferred the fresh air and open spaces of rural Good Hope, rather than the crowded, dangerous alley dwellings. Allen Chapel remained at the center of this rapidly expanding black community. In 1865, the Freedman's Bureau opened Good Hope School to serve this population.
3. SIAMER_071103_018.JPG: Civil War: The outbreak of the war in 1861, and the mobilization of troops and material brought tremendous changes to the nation's capital. It also brought great opportunities for many of those held in bondage nearby. By the summer of 1861, there were over 50,000 troops camped out around the city, including in Uniontown. They provided a ready market for vendors of prepared food, fresh vegetables and fruit, sea food and fish, laundry, and other domestic services. Union soldiers also often provided assistance to escaping slaves. By 1865, there were 68 forts surrounding the capital, 11 of them along the Eastern Branch and in the southeast quadrant of the city. The forts attracted many escaping slaves from Virginia, Maryland, and other nearby states. Forts also employed a large number of free blacks and escaped slaves. There were three large forts constructed in Far Southeast: Fort Stanton, Fort Greble, and Fort Carroll. There was also a cavalry depot in Giesborough. Almost 15,000 horses and mules were stabled there. The clearing of forests along the Eastern Branch and the impact of the vast number of horses and mules pastured at Giesborough greatly degraded the land along the Eastern Branch and caused further silting of the river.
4. SIAMER_071103_025.JPG: Civil War Era: The decades before the Civil War saw important developments in far southeast Washington. In addition to the new suburban development of Uniontown, the mid-1800s saw the establishment of the Government Hospital for the Insane, a federally funded institution for the mentally ill. Partly as a result of activist Dorothea Dix's lobbying for improved treatment of mental patients, Congress provided funds for the purchase of 320 acres of the original St. Elizabeth tract in 1852. Dr. Charles Henry Nichols supervised the construction, staffing, and oversight of the facility. During the Civil War, the hospital expanded to care for soldiers injured in battle. In the last half of the century, the hospital added many new structures and developed the campus further. St. Elizabeths, as the hospital came to be called, quickly became one of the area's biggest employers and one of its most important cultural assets thanks to its commanding vistas of the city and the beautiful landscaping of the expansive grounds. The Civil War also brought significant changes to the area as soldiers, ex-slaves, and others involved in the war effort migrated to Washington in the wake of the Union Army. The military constructed forts along the Eastern Branch to protect the Navy Yard and the approaches to the city. Three of them -- Fort Carroll, Fort Greble, and Fort Stanton -- guarded Far Southeast, along with another major military establishment, the Giesborough Cavalry Depot. After 1865, the area became a popular location for middle class summer cottages and large family homes for working class whites. The new residential community of Barry Farm was developed specifically for African Americans, many of them ex-slaves or ex-soldiers. Many slaves born in Far Southeast had been allowed to lease their own time and live in the central part of the city. But there were still many slaves working on the small farms and large plantations near the Eastern Branch. Some of these ex-slaves were the first African Americans to buy land in the area after war's end.
5. SIAMER_071103_032.JPG: The Village of Good Hope The first major settlement in Far Southeast developed at Good Hope Hill sometime in the 1820s. The village grew around Good Hope Tavern, a small establishment at the ridge of steep hill, at the conjunction of Good Hope and Naylor Roads. Were it not for the buildings and trees obscuring the view, one could still enjoy a breathtaking vista of the city from that vantage point. Because this arduous road was one of the well-traveled entryways into the city from southern Maryland, a tavern sprang up there. It was one of the first and longest-lasting businesses, offering sustenance to early travelers for over a century. Shortly thereafter, across the road from the tavern, came a blacksmith shop for repairing wagons, carriages, and carts, and a stable to care for injured horses and to secure fresh horses. It is not known when the first tavern was built there. Maps show a tavern there as early as 1839, and early accounts indicate that it was already old by that date. The tavern, first known as Good Hope Tavern, also did business as Spaulding's Tavern, Smoot's Tavern, Jenkins' Tavern, Vermillion's Tavern, and also Duvall's Tavern. In the 1920s, in a nod to the advent of the automobile, a filling station was added alongside the tavern. By the 1930s, the tavern had disappeared entirely. Other early landmarks were Tom Anderson's blacksmith shop and the Good Hope Post Office, established in 1847. Good Hope resident Judson Richardson was the community's first postmaster. He or his son served as postmaster until the post office was closed in 1886.
6. SIAMER_071103_042.JPG: Anacostia: In the early 1850s, as the central portions of Washington City began to fill in, the land across the Eastern Branch once again became the subject of interest by investors and speculators, Some farmers sold their property in small lots (less than 50 acres) to wealthy families to build summer homes in the area. Other landowners, some of whom worked at the Navy Yard, sold portions of all of their property to developers. They realized that the land was more valuable for housing and residential development than for raising crops. Also, by this time it was clear that the Eastern Branch could not sustain heavy sea-going vessels, and thus could not serve as a major shipping route. In 1854, Enoch Tucker, who worked at the Navy Yard and had earlier leased his land to sharecroppers, sold 100 acres of his 240-acre property, part of the old Chichester land tract, to the Union Land Association. Controlled by John Van Hook, John Fox, and John Dobler, the association divided Chichester into a grid with 700 rectangular lots 24 feet wide and 130 feet deep. Early advertisement for the newly created Uniontown promoted easy access to downtown Washington and quotes and payment plans affordable to blue collar workers. The association sold lots to white families for as low as $3 per month. White Good Hope and other locations in the area were hilly, Uniontown's flat, even terrain allowed for the maximum amount of development. H.A. Griswold, an Anacostia resident, organized the Anacostia and Potomac River Street Railroad Company, which began operations in 1875. Initial stockholders included John Van Hook and Lewis Douglass, Frederick Douglass's son. The company began with two one-horse cars providing service from the Navy Yard gate to Uniontown. By the outbreak of the Civil War, however, Uniontown had experience little growth, due to reduced hiring by the Navy Yard and other nearby employers and the sale of low cost properties in Washington City. By the late 1870s, the Union Land Association (by then the Union Land Company) had failed; and the Anacostia and Potomac River Street Railroad Company struggled to survive. John Van Hook was forced to sell his grand home, Cedar Hill, to satisfy his debtors. In 1877, Frederick Douglass bought the Cedar Hill estate and brought his family to live there.
7. SIAMER_071103_047.JPG: Frederick Douglass house
8. SIAMER_071103_049.JPG: Early Settlers: Many of the earliest Europeans who held title to land east of the Anacostia River owned large tracts which they held for investment purposes. Seventeenth century maps and records show the names of prominent owners of Far Southeast tracts, including John Charman, Thomas Dent, Luke Green, Dr. John Meekes, William Middleton, James Pencott, George Thompson, and Thomas Wentworth. When advantageous, these investors bought more land, sold entire tracts, or divided them up or sold smaller parcels in an effort to maximize their profit. For example, Thomas Dent originally owned Giesborough (or Giesboro), which he later sold to George Thompson . By 1662, Thompson held two tracts, including Blue Plains (Blew Playne). In 1663, John Charman acquired and immediately sold the Saint Elizabeth tract to John Meekes, who then sold it to Thompson (who also kept Blue Plains). Thriving communities later developed on all these large tracts. Plantations and even small farms in the area initially raised tobacco; later the land produced fruits and vegetables for local and regional markets. African slavery provided the labor for the plantations found along the Eastern Branch. By the mid-1800s, a significant population of free black families could also be found here. In 1790, Congress passed the Residence Bill, which authorized establishment of the national capital in this region. After George Washington announced the location for the new location for the new District of Columbia, many people expected that the southeastern quadrant of the city would quickly expand and develop to take full advantage of both the Potomac and Eastern Branch rivers. The construction of the Navy Yard in 1798 on the Eastern Branch and the need to house its growing number of workers also seemed to indicate that the city might grow in this direction. People eager to make a profitable investment bought land along the Eastern Branch expected it to increase greatly in value over a short period of time. Investors included James Barry -- for whom the Barry Farm neighborhood is named -- and William Marbury, principal in an early landmark Supreme Court case.
9. SIAMER_071103_056.JPG: Encounters with Adventurers: When the first Europeans arrived in this area, they found ongoing competition and armed warfare between the different Native American towns, villages, and confederations. Early European settlers often took advantage of the conflict to strengthen their own positions. Captain John Smith was the first to explore the region. Between 1607 and 1609 he led a party of soldiers, adventurers, and settlers who established a settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Captain Henry Fleet, another adventurer, arrived in the area around 1621. He intended to make his fortune through trade with a local population of Native Americans. The Nacotchtank captured Fleet during a raid in 1623 and held him for five years. After he left them, he used the knowledge he gained of local languages and cultures to begin a successful trading enterprise of exporting beaver pelts to Europe. At that time in Europe, the beaver hat was a high-fashion accessory in great demand, but the European beaver had been largely killed off. By the early 1800s, the population of American beaver had also been decimated by the export to Europe of beaver pelts. By the end of the 1600s, the Nacotchtank and other members of the Piscataway Confederation had lost most of their land. Warfare (with European settlers and with other Native Americans, particularly the Susquehannock) and diseases brought over from Europe destroyed Piscataway villages and forts in the area. The European system of private land ownership also helped push the Piscataway from their traditional lands.
10. SIAMER_071103_061.JPG: Modernization: Bridges connecting the area to the central city have always been important to residents in Far Southeast. Also of importance to residents was the extension of paved streets, which provided access to major roads and relief from the muddy, often hilly terrain. In 1890, the rebuilding of the Eastern Branch (Pennsylvania Avenue) Bridge brought a new wave of development and land sales in Far Southeast. As the central and southwestern parts of the city developed in the 1880s, another land boom began. Increasing land values prompted several landowners to subdivide their farmland into suburban lots and sell them to would-be homeowners. Anacostian H.A. Griswold sold over 200 subdivided lots right next to Uniontown. His success prompted other landowners in the area to do the same. New communities sprang up east of the river. One of the most successful investors in the 1890s was the Bliss-Havemeyer syndicate, which purchased land along the Eastern Branch. The land was a tract known as Danforth's Farm, originally purchased in 1807 from Anthony Addison by William Marbury and still owned by Marbury's family. Randle Highlands, adjacent to Pennsylvania Avenue and developed by Colonel Arthur Randle, was another new residential development. Dr. Arthur Christie, owner of Fairlawn, a 120-acre plantation near Anacostia, installed bear pits, wandering peacock, and dog kennels, and made the place a showcase in the region. Later Fairlawn was divided into building lots of developed in 1911. In 1898, Colonel Randle's electric trolley company installed tracks across the Navy Yard Bridge for trolley cars. The route went from the Navy Yard all the way down Nichols Avenue and south up Asylum Hill past St. Elizabeths Hospital through the rural countryside. The access provided by this trolley line allowed Randle to develop the old Giesborough tract into the residential community of Congress Heights. Businesses flourished in Far Southeast, especially in the communities of Good Hope, Uniontown, and Barry Farm. Business establishments settled primarily along Good Hope Road and Nichols Avenue, and these two thoroughfares became the main business corridors of Far Southeast by the turn of the 20th century.
11. SIAMER_071103_064.JPG: Camp Marks on the Anacostia Flats, along the Eastern Branch, where the Bonus Army camped.
12. SIAMER_071103_069.JPG: Bonus Army: In 1924, each World War I veteran received a "compensation certificate" from the federal government entitling him to a future payment averaging around $1,000. After the onset of the Depression and the economic suffering that it brought, veterans demanded their "bonus" check immediately. In May 1932, about 15,000 unemployed veterans formed a "Bonus Expeditionary Force" (BEF) led by Walter Walters and marched on Washington, D.C. They camped out in tents and makeshift shanties on the Anacostia Flats. A few months later, U.S. army troops wielding nightsticks and batons broke up the camp.
13. SIAMER_071103_072.JPG: East of the River Transformed: World War II brought thousands of new residents to Washington to work in war-related industries. Many chose to live in Far Southeast, where the population double during the 1940s. In response to this new local housing crisis, the federal and District governments created vast war-housing projects around the city, including those of Barry Farms and Naylor Gardens in Far Southeast. After the war ended, these projects were razed, converted into public housing, or sold to private owners. Situated across the Anacostia River away from the central city, and blessed with cheap available land, Far Southeast was designated as the area to receive most of the city's low-income apartment projects. By the end of the 1940s, multi-family apartment projects converted the earlier, almost rural, village-like atmosphere into a modern urban landscape. Although the majority of residents had public water and sewage services by the mid-1940s, as did homes in Barry Farm, many Far Southeast citizens still lacked basic city services. In the early 1950s, the excesses of the city's slum clearance programs destroyed neighborhoods and displaced hundreds of black families in southwest Washington. Many families found new housing in low-income apartments in Far Southeast, soon transformed from an area comprised primarily of homeowners to a place dominated by tenants. Some resident and neighborhood organizations sought to stop construction of public housing projects'; others focused on lobbying city officials to provide improved infrastructure and increased neighborhood facilities for the expanding population. The construction of Suitland Parkway in 1943 also created a barrier within the Barry Farm community, displacing over 100 families and dividing the neighborhood in half. The Parkway was built to provide access between the various military establishments in the area, including Camp Springs (later Andrews Field) and Bolling Air Force Base, and federal and military offices downtown.
14. SIAMER_071103_079.JPG: Integration: In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was a violation of the Constitution. Part of the Court's decision was based upon legal petitions filed by District of Columbia residents in Far Southeast. Represented by attorneys James M. Nabrit and George E.C. Hayes in what became a companion case to Brown v Brown of Education, Spottswood T. Bolling, a student denied entrance at Sousa Junior High School, was one of the plaintiffs arguing for integration of the schools in the District. The Supreme Court had already outlawed the enforcement of racially restrictive housing covenants in Shelley v. Kraemer in 1948, effectively allowing the full integration of previously white communities such as Uniontown and Congress Heights. The area's many public housing projects were not integrated until 1953. Partly as a result of integration, many white families in the District of Columbia removed their children in large numbers from public schools. In 1946, for example, more than 55% of public school students were white; by 1966, just over 9% were white. The overall percentage of white families living in Far Southeast declined from approximately 82% in 1950 to nearly 68% in 1960 to 14% in 1970. Through the early 1960s, Far Southeast remained a racially diverse area, with black neighborhoods and white neighborhoods often divided only by strips of parkland or hilly terrain. After initial demonstrations against integration of recreational facilities and swimming pools, there was little organized resistance. Despite anti-integration demonstrations at Anacostia High School, students quickly adjusted after a flurry of media attention. Resident and neighborhood associated were also racially divided for the most part. Associations in white communities called themselves "citizens' associations," while associations of black residents preferred the term "civic associations."
15. SIAMER_071103_084.JPG: Decline of Neighborhoods: By the late 1960s, Far Southeast suffered from a concentration of high-density residential apartment projects, many of them two- and three-story garden apartments. Much of the new construction was financed through the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) 608 program, which guaranteed loans to developers covering 90% of the project's costs. Growth and new construction in the area was haphazard and uncontrolled. Far Southeast also had long absorbed many new families pushed out of the central city by urban renewal initiatives. Despite the expanding population and increasing pressure on social and recreational services, local officials offered few new public facilities or infrastructure development. Schools, employment centers, police services, garbage trash removal, shopping centers, public libraries, recreational facilities, health care centers, child care facilities, and transportation did not keep pace with the demands of residents. Unemployment, drugs, and crime plagued many of the neighborhoods. By 1970, city zoning laws designated almost 75% of the land area in Far Southeast for apartment buildings. Such zoning served to promote the interests of private investors and to encourage land speculation at the expense of community and public interests. One of the most harmful results of poor zoning in Far Southeast was to discourage home ownership in the area. High-rise and garden apartments crowded out single-family houses. Because of deteriorating conditions, neighborhood workers, employed by Southeast Neighborhood House with funding by the United Planning Organization, helped area residents organize protests directed at city officials. Organizers focused their efforts on families living in Barry Farm Dwellings. They helped a number of groups to successfully challenge housing and welfare officials to improve some of the worst conditions. Youth groups demanded paved streets, new streetlights, and more recreational facilities. Civic, professional, and business groups in other east of the river neighborhoods also sought to improve conditions.
16. SIAMER_071103_092.JPG: Today and Tomorrow: Today, neighborhoods in Far Southeast are once again experiencing growth and rapid change. Current zoning regulations reflect a more balanced view of development in the area, and new townhouses, row houses, and detached single homes are an important part of the new construction. Developers and investors also propose to build new shopping centers, homes, recreational facilities, and a soccer stadium on Poplar Point. The federal government is pursuing plans to develop the west campus of St. Elizabeths Hospital into offices for the Department of Homeland Security. (Today, the majority of land here is still publicly owned, with the federal government holding almost 23%.) At the turn of the 21st century, there was more vacant land in Far Southeast than in any other quadrant of the city. This fact, combined with the high cost of housing in the central city and the wider metropolitan area, fueled interest in buying property in Far Southeast. Would-be homeowners, who might not have earlier considered living east of the river, are now purchasing homes in the area. Neighborhoods are attracting many new residents, creating more cultural and racial diversity in the area. The rapid growth and development have spurred fears of displacement in some residents, however. The high costs of homeownership cause many family to fear that they may be unable to purchase homes in the area. Some African American residents have complained that black families are being priced out of the city and are being forced to move to Prince Georges County. Today the role of the community activists is more important than ever. Lobbying developers and city officials to address residents' concerns; reviewing the design and appropriateness of proposed developments, and fighting to protect community assets are all critical in ensuring that growth is well balanced and responsive to community needs.
17. SIAMER_071103_109.JPG: The First Anacostians: People settled on the shores of the Potomac River's Eastern Branch (or Anacostia River) as early as 9500-1200 BCE. Native Americans established several large villages and fortified towns or "forts" south of the Eastern Branch, with the river providing a convenient means of food and transportation for goods and people. By the 1600s, at the time of their first encounters with Europeans, there were three major political groups vying for power in the region: the Susquehannock in Pennsylvania; the Piscataway Confederation in southern Maryland; and the Powhatan Confederation in Virginia and areas farther south. Most of these tribes spoke some variant of the Algonquian language. Localized wars were frequent, and major towns were heavily fortified and protected by sturdy wooden palisades. The Nacotchtank (from whom Anacostia got its name) were generally part of the Piscataway Confederation. Their settlements stretched along the river from Giesborough Point (now Congress Heights, southeast Washington DC) almost to the town of Bladensburg, Maryland, at the mouth of the river. Their largest town, also called Nacotchtank, was located near the neighborhood of Good Hope. This fort was the home of the most important werowance, or leader, of the Nacotchtank, and the site of a good storage facility, an ossuary (burial ground), and other important buildings. The Nacotchtank were expert traders, often introducing goods to tribes throughout the region. Nacotchtank raised crops on the land surrounding their towns. Where warfare was intense, palisades also enclosed the fields. Families burned or cut down trees in the forests to form fields, and then they cultivated the land by hand with wooden and stone implements. Towns and villages controlled large areas of land, not only for farming, but also for forage and hunting. Large and small animals made up a major part of the diet; hunters often ranged far from their village in search of game.
18. SIAMER_071103_112.JPG: East of the River: Continuity and Change: Thirty-one years ago, the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum decided to explore the history of Far Southeast. Historian Louise D. Hutchingson developed a powerful exhibition and publication, The Anacostia Story 1608-1930, and educator Zora Martin [Felton] created complementary programming that focused on the history of individuals, families, and neighborhoods in Far Southeast -- that part of the District of Columbia that lies south of Pennsylvania Avenue and east of the Anacostia River. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the founding of what is now called the Anacostia Community Museum, we example Far Southeast once again to try to answer several crucial questions. What has been the history of this place? How did it get like this? What kind of people lived here? Who lives here now? What has become of the community since 1930 (the end of The Anacostia Story) and the opening of the museum of 1967? The overwhelming impression is one of change, sometimes steady and constant, and at other times cyclical, disruptive -- even violent. Change is the underlying theme in the history of Far Southeast. It begins with the appearance of the first Europeans and the resulting change in the lives of the Native American people residing here. It continues with the development of new communities such as Uniontown and Barry Farm. The growth of modern infrastructure transforms land use in the area, in later years, the concentration of dense housing complexes here after World War II alters the nature and make-up for Far Southeast. And yes, continuity of local traditions also characterizes the neighborhoods of Far Southeast -- traditions of citizen activism, strong families, and men and women determined to achieve despite the odds. There also remains an abiding underpinning of civic activism, leadership, and community -- a network of individuals, families, religious institutions, and organizations that connects the dynamic history of Far Southeast through all of the changes. Now is a good time in which to look back at this history and at the residents and people attached to Far Southeast to see where we have been and what we have done, to recognize what we have endured and overcome, and to understand what we share in common, in order to build a future that embodies the goals and objectives we share.
19. SIAMER_071103_123.JPG: The South and Southeast: Born out of the mix of funk and hip-hop, go-go music is unique to the District of Columbia and its surrounding areas. It is rarely heard live farther south than Richmond or north of Baltimore. In Western Europe, hardcore fans and radio stations cannot seem to get enough of the go-go beat. The music combines the call-and-response of the African American church with percussion instruments playing multiple rhythms. Musicians modify rhythms through syncopation (accenting the weak beat of a musical bar). Go-go is popular throughout the Washington Metropolitan area but is particularly important to the residents of Southeast DC, whose life experiences helped shape and define the music from its beginnings to the present. Katio Hammond states, "It's the way we think. The way we talk. What we war. It's the decisions we make. Maurice Shorter, lifelong resident of Far Southeast, former manager of the Junkyard Band, and current president of the Go-Go Coalition, adds, "Go-go is an entire culture... it's a feeling. It's a way of life. I love it and I'm gonna live it!"
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