Washington, DC Women Speak

Women share their memories, opinions, and experiences of community. Listen to their stories recorded between the 1970s and 2010s.

Photograph by Victor Keppler depicting a Trinidadian seaside landscape with mountains in the background. — "Water, mountains, and sky," a photograph by Victor Keppler, depicts the natural beauty of Addie Green's native country, Trinidad and Tobago, c. 1930s-1950s. National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. PG.006262.J

Addie Green Food and Belonging in Caribbean D.C.

Portrait of Anne-Marie Hogarth — Anne-Marie Hogarth moved to the United States from Haiti in 1961 to complete her college education at Nazareth College in Kentucky. *Black Mosaic* Exhibition Records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution. ACM-ACMA_BLM0412

Anne-Marie Hogarth Immigrating from Haiti

Portrait of Carmen Robles — Carmen Robles, undated. Courtesy of Carmen Robles.

Carmen Robles Reflections on Race and Identity

Two children on a boat in the water — Dominican children play on a boat called a cayuco in Sánchez, the small town on the Bay of Samaná where Casilda Luna grew up. Photo by Héctor Mota, Oct. 14, 2012. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Casilda Luna Advocacy in Adams Morgan

Portrait of Della Lowery. — Della Lowery, c. 1950s. Courtesy of the Lowery family.

Della Lowery Empowering Schools in Anacostia

Photographic portrait of Dianne Dale — Portrait of Dianne Dale. Dale-Patterson Family collection, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Dianne Dale.

Dianne Dale Interpreting Black Community History

Photograph of a Bonus Expeditionary Force ribbon. — Vol. 1, No. 1 of *The Bonus Expeditionary Forces News*, June 25, 1932. Published by veteran Joseph L. Heffernan, former Municipal Court judge and mayor of Youngstown, Ohio, the newspaper covered World War I veterans' efforts to receive cash payment of Service Certificates granted to them by the Adjusted Service Certificate Law of 1924. Bonus Expeditionary Forces Newspapers, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution. acma_10-12.6.1_01

Effie Beall Eyewitness to the Bonus March of 1932

Portrait of Enid Bogle. — Portrait of Enid Bogle, undated. Courtesy of Enid Bogle.

Enid Bogle National Heroes and Family in Jamaica

Photograph of peppers and thyme, which is used frequently in Jamaican cooking. — Classic Jamaican flavorings like peppers and thyme help create a distinct variation of pepperpot soups and stews.

Enid Bogle Place, Cooking, and Memory

Portrait of Georgia Mills Jessup. — Georgia Mills Jessup, c. 1970. Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution. GF-162

Georgia Mills Jessup District of Columbia Art Association

Georgia Mills Jessup paints a portrait of Zora Martin-Felton on a mural. Adjacent is stylized text, "Anacostia Neighborhood Museum," arranged in a circle. — Artist-in-residence Georgia Mills Jessup paints a portrait of Director of Education Zora Felton on a mural at the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum's garden wall in August 1970. A portrait of Director John R. Kinard is partially visible behind Jessup. Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution. acma_01-JK109-S

Georgia Mills Jessup Painting a Portrait of Anacostia

Portrait of Georgie Jennings. — Portrait of Georgie Jennings, c. 1996.Footsteps from North Brentwood Exhibition Records. Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Harold Dorwin.

Georgie Jennings Growing Up in North Brentwood

Black and white photographic portrait of Lillie Vaden. — Lillie Vaden, c. 1996. *Footsteps from North Brentwood* Exhibition Records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Harold Dorwin.

Lillie Vaden Family Love in North Brentwood

Madame Lillian Evanti's custom-built Fisher piano — This custom-built Fisher piano belonged to Madame Lillian Evanti. Like Evanti, María Rodríguez composed, performed, and taught music in Washington, D.C. Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution. 2002.5001.0001a-b.

María Rodríguez Music, Food, and Friendship in Adams Morgan

Photographic portrait of Marie Nahikian. — Marie Nahikian stands next to a mural in Washington, D.C.'s Adams Morgan neighborhood in 2017. *A Right to the City* Exhibition Records. Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Susana Raab.

Marie Nahikian Confronting Displacement in Adams Morgan

Portrait of Marjorie Kinard. — Marjorie Kinard, 1992. *A Different Drummer: John Kinard and the Anacostia Museum, 1967-1989* by Zora Martin-Felton and Gail S. Lowe. Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 1993.

Marjorie Kinard Launching a Museum in Anacostia

Portrait of Ophelia Settle Egypt. — Portrait of Ophelia Egypt by Frank R. Jackson, c. 1940-1957. Photographic print. Frank R. Jackson Papers, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Gift of Carole Hyman. acma_06-068-078

Ophelia Settle Egypt Protest and the Performing Arts

Ophelia Settle Egypt Welcoming Neighbors in Garfield Heights

Portrait of Thelma Hodge. — Thelma Hodge, c. 1996.Footsteps from North Brentwood Exhibition Records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Harold Dorwin.

Thelma Hodge On A Life Fulfilled

Photograph of Theresa Howe Jones. — Theresa Howe Jones receiving the Anacostia Community Museum Community Service Award at the museum's 46^th anniversary luncheon, held at the National Press Club in 2013. Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Photo by Susana Raab. ACM-20130913-025

Theresa Howe Jones Conceiving a Neighborhood Museum

Photograph of Virginia Hool wearing a knit cap. — Virginia Hool, 1974. *Washington Star*-Newspaper, Reprinted with permission of the DC Public Library, Star Collection © Washington Post.

Virginia Hool A View of Washington, D.C. in the 1920s

Photograph of Zora Martin-Felton seated at her desk. — Education specialist Zora Martin-Felton pictured in her office at the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum in 1983. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Smithsonian Institution. SIA-2003-19552

Zora Martin-Felton Envisioning Museum Education

Explore Stories by Topic

Oral History Interviews

Access information about the interviews from which the stories were drawn

Addie Green | June 2, 1993

Anne-Marie Hogarth | 1993

Carmen Robles | July 10, 1991

Casilda Luna | June 28, 1991

Della Lowery | March 1971 | November 14, 1991

Dianne Dale | December 5, 1991

Effie Beall | November 14, 1975

Enid Bogle | January 13, 1993

Georgia Mills Jessup | July 17, 1991

Georgie Jennings | November 29, 1993

Lillie Vaden | November 29, 1993

María Rodríguez | May 16, 1993

Marie Nahikian | July 21, 2017

Marjorie Kinard | June 15, 1991

Ophelia Settle Egypt | December 9, 1970

Thelma Hodge | November 1993

Theresa Howe Jones | July 14, 1992

Virginia Hool | October 14, 1975

Zora Martin-Felton | December 16, 2016

About the Project

In their own voices, women of the Washington, D.C. area share their memories, opinions, and experiences of community. They talk about childhood, food, music, and schools, as well as the importance of history and the complexities of race and identity. Several women recall their involvement in community-building work or the impact of actions they took. Many express gratitude for those around them who shaped their neighborhoods and their lives.

These women’s perspectives bring fresh insights and topics to the fore. They renew conversations about community and belonging, collaboration, and the “silent leaders,” as one puts it, whose influence is felt if not always recognized. They speak to the connections and relationships that breathe life into a community.

Learn More

Jennifer Sieck and Will Tchakirides, pointing, look at framed portraits hanging on a grid-like wall.

Researchers Jennifer Sieck and Will Tchakirides discuss portraits of Anacostia residents by artist Phillip Ratner in the museum’s collection vault, October 2022. Photo by Miriam Doutriaux.