Cultural Tourism DC Presents Washington at Home Authors Discussing DC Migrations

Washington, DC – Cultural Tourism DC and Busboys and Poets presents four contributing authors to Washington at Home: An Illustrated History of Neighborhoods in the Nation’s Capital, edited by Cultural Tourism DC Founding Executive Director Kathryn Schneider Smith, as they consider the nature of migrations and its impacts on the city. Jim Byers, author of the chapter on East Washington Heights, Kia Chatmon (Deanwood), Alison K. Hoagland (Downtown) and Brian Kraft (Columbia Heights) will describe their neighborhoods’ development as they consider how people have moved into, out of, and around DC. Contributing Editor and Cultural Tourism DC Historian Jane Freundel Levey will moderate. The panel discussion will be at Busboys and Poets, 14th and V Streets, NW on January 25 at 6:30 pm. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

About Washington at Home: An Illustrated History of Neighborhoods in the Nation’s Capital
After two decades out of print, the revised and expanded second edition of Washington at Home takes readers to all eight wards with individual essays on 26 distinct DC communities. Published by Johns Hopkins University Press, its 515 pages reveal the city’s history with an array of photos and maps geared to delight both the browser and the serious researcher. A portion of the proceeds from book sales go to support the free programs of Cultural Tourism DC.

About the Panelists 
Jim Byers (East Washington Heights) serves as marketing director for Arlington Cultural Affairs in Arlington, Virginia. He has been a freelance music critic for the Washington Post and now hosts Latin Flavor, a radio program on WPFW-FM. 

Kia Chatmon (Deanwood) holds a BA degree in anthropology from Stanford University. She is the chair of the Deanwood History Committee, and worked with community members on the Deanwood Neighborhood Heritage Trail, sponsored by Cultural Tourism DC, the first such trail east of the Anacostia River.

Brian Kraft (Columbia Heights) has led tours of Washington neighborhoods for the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian Institution, and is the historian for the Columbia Heights Neighborhood Trail sponsored by Cultural Tourism DC. He is the creator and editor of the D.C. Building Permits Database.

Alison K. Hoagland (Seventh Street/Downtown) is professor of history and historic preservation at Michigan Technological University. Before moving to Michigan, she lived in Washington and coordinated the volunteer survey of historic buildings for the preservation group Don’t Tear It Down (now the D.C. Preservation League). She has written books and articles on Alaskan buildings, fort architecture, and workers’ housing.

Jane Freundel Levey (moderator / consulting editor) is director of Heritage Programs for Cultural Tourism DC and a DC historian. A past editor of Washington History: Magazine of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and author of books and articles on the city’s history, she oversees the DC Neighborhood Heritage Trails Program.

About Cultural Tourism DC
An independent nonprofit coalition of more than 230 culture, heritage, and community-based organizations, Cultural Tourism DC and its members help residents and visitors experience DC’s authentic culture and heritage. For more information, visit www.CulturalTourismDC.org or call 202-661-7581.

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