Robert Pohl worked for many years as a computer programmer but recovered from that and became a full time stay-at-home dad. With his son now in school, he has expanded his horizons and become a self-taught historian. He has written books about his house as well as Emancipation in the District of Columbia. You can reach Robert at Robert[at]thehillishome.com
When we think of what the government does today, we think in terms of abstract things: Laws, regulations, standards. In the 19th century, however, government was on occasion more concrete. For instance, a pound today is determined in terms of the kilogram (which, in turn, is determined by the weight of water and the length of a […]
In the early days of Washington D.C., many came to the new capital to make their fortune. Well-known among them were James Greenleaf, Thomas Law, and William Mayne Duncanson, all of whom managed to go broke –or close to it– over the next few years. Only with the arrival of the federal government in 1800 did people […]
Everyone on Capitol Hill knows the Mary McLeod Bethune statue by Robert Berks in Lincoln Park – if only because of its use as a sledding hill during large snowstorms. Those who have taken the time to read the words of her “Last Will and Testament” around the base also can learn much about how […]
As long as books have been written, they have been banned. For being anti-establishment. For being filthy. For espousing the wrong religion. The epitome of this was the book burnings in Germany during the 1930s; however, many other countries have tried during the 20th Century, with greater or lesser success, to ban some books. Today, […]
Last week, we looked at the design and building of a tunnel to move books from the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress over to the Capitol. Today, we’ll look at its completion and use – as well as repairs that were necessary not long after it opened. Unsurprisingly, the tunnel was of great […]