Marie Satenik Nahikian papers
Object Details
- Scope and Contents
- The papers of community organizer and affordable housing developer Marie Satenik Nahikian measure 3.46 linear feet and date from 1971 to 1998. The collection contains correspondence; certificates; photographs; newsletters; campaign ephemera; editions of various Washington, DC community newspapers; as well as recordings of Nahikian's speeches. The bulk of the collection contains documents pertaining to Nahikian's work with the Adams Morgan Organization.
- The papers of community organizer and affordable housing developer Marie Satenik Nahikian measure 3.46 linear feet and date from 1971 to 1998. The collection includes copies of the Rock Creek Monitor, the newspaper of Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan and Mt. Pleasant communities of Washington, DC. Present in the collection are also proclamations, newspaper clippings, writings by Nahikian and materials related to her role for Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for ANC-1C (in Adams Morgan) and unsuccessful campaign for D.C. City Council.
- Biographical / Historical
- Marie Satenik Nahikian was a co-founder and the first Executive Director of the Adams Morgan Organization (AMO, founded in 1972). Before Washington, DC had Home Rule, AMO put into practice a local, elected self-governance structure that advocated for issues of concern to residents of the Adams Morgan neighborhood. AMO served as the main model for the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions that were created when Home Rule was implemented in Washington, DC. Marie S. Nahikian, particularly through her work with AMO, was a staunch advocate and partial architect of three landmark pieces of tenant rights and anti-displacement legislation in DC: the 1975 Rental Accommodations Act, the 1978 Residential Real Property Transfer Excise Tax, and the 1980 Rental Housing Conversion and Sale Act. Nahikian was elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for ANC-1C (in Adams Morgan) and twice ran for D.C.City Council (unsuccessfully). She was appointed by Mayor Walter Washington (1915-2003) to serve two terms as a Tenant Commissioner on the D.C. Rental Accommodations Commission. She later served under Mayor Marion Barry (1936-2014) as head of the Tenant Purchase Program that enabled largely low- and moderate-income tenants to purchase and become cooperative owners of their buildings. After leaving Washington, DC, she went on to work for Mayors in Philadelphia and New York City. Nahikian also worked in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Barack Obama. In 2023, Marie Satenik Nahikian hosts the Usable Past podcast, where activists share their stories of past and present organizing to create better lives for as many people as possible.
- Date
- 1971-1998
- Extent
- 5.83 Linear feet (5 boxes )
- Rights
- The Marie Satenik Nahikian papers are the physical property of the Anacostia Community Museum. Literary and copyright belong to the author/creator or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, and to obtain permission to publish or reproduce, contact the Museum Archives.
- Citation
- Marie Satenik Nahikian papers, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Gift of Marie Satenik Nahikian.
- Type
- Collection descriptions
- Archival materials
- Contact sheets
- Photographs
- Audio cassettes
- Topic
- Urban Life
- Community activists
- Community Organizations
- Newspapers -- Washington (D.C.).
- Place
- Adams Morgan (Washington, D.C.)
- Identifier
- ACMA.06-123
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
- Photographic copies of pinback buttons, undated
- "Speech to Feminist Alliance and Friends," featuring Nahikian
- "Quest: A Feminist Quarterly," article featuring Nahikian
- Tributes to Nahikian
- Block party flyer, undated
- Certificates
- "Grassroots Women Speak," article featuring Nahikian
- "Harper's Weekly," edited by Nahikian
- Wedding invitation
- Proclamation
- "The Washington Post," article featuring Nahikian
- Certificates
- "Off Our Backs," article featuring Nahikian
- Party invitations
- "The Adams Morgan Organization Supplement" article by Nahikian
- Fannie Hill materials
- Correspondence
- Biographical
- Proclamation
- "Latino Festival," article featuring Nahikian
- Obituaries
- "Is Southwest An Armed Camp?" article by Nahikian
- "Commercial Rehab Works," article by Nahikian, undated
- Correspondence