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
If you have a couple of hours to kill, I can highly recommend the website Shorpy. Filled with pictures from bygone eras, it captures everything from the earth-shaking to the mundane. I was happily paging through it the other day when I came across a picture of a rather ordinary wooden building with two men […]
I was researching some of the infill developments on the Hill recently, and discovered that one of them was built on the former site of a Catholic school. I wanted to know more about it, but struck out in my usual sources. Fortunately, the church connected with the school had done the research, and posted […]
Demonstrations have become a routine on Capitol Hill, to the point where we barely notice them any more. And today, demonstrations usually mean a bunch of people waving signs and chanting. In the old days, things were actually, well, demonstrated.
After I published last week’s column, a friend pointed out an egregious error that I had made in writing it: I had entirely failed to mention the name of the sculptor of the piece. This was particularly painful in that he had truly put his life into the work. So, today I will rectify my […]
My definition of Capitol Hill is, well, loose. I like to look past the confines of the strict definition of our neighborhood, especially if a good story beckons. Such as the one about a statue that sits at the base of Capitol Hill.