Journalist/activist Sam Smith and journalist Derrick Ward discuss urban renewal and the impact of federal experiments on daily life in DC.
About this Event
How does the lack of voting representation in Congress touch the lives of Washingtonians? Today more than 700,000 people are without a voice when the country’s lawmakers decide to go to war or impeach the president. The founders thought proximity to power would mean access to power for Washingtonians. Instead the city’s position as home to the federal government and under its legal control has often made DC into a laboratory for such federal experiments as urban renewal, in which citizens and local lawmakers have no say.
What are some of the federal experiments that reshaped the city? When and how did Washingtonians band together to take control of their destiny? Where were federal government programs when we most needed them?
The DC History Center presents journalist and activist Sam Smith, in conversation with Derrick Ward, reporter for NBC4. They will start with the history of urban renewal across the District to consider implications of federal control for our current day.
This program is the latest installment in our Context for Today series of online conversations with thoughtful and thought-provoking historians.
Participation instructions and the Zoom link will be sent to registrants prior to the event.
Sam Smith is a native Washingtonian who covered his first Washington story in 1957 as a 19-year-old radio news reporter. He has edited alternative journals for over 56 years, most recently the online Undernews. An activist and social critic, Smith is also the author of four books, including Captive Capital: Colonial Life in Modern Washington and, in the 1970s, was a co-founder of the DC Statehood Party. Smith now lives in Maine with his wife, historian and author Kathryn Schneider Smith.
Derrick Ward is a native Washingtonian. He lived through the 1968 riots and attended HD Woodson High School and the University of Maryland. Ward's journalism career began in radio. He worked for WPFW, WAMU and WTOP, covering major stories such as the Iran-Contra hearings, the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon, and the Washington-area sniper shootings. He has been reporting for NBC News 4 since 2006.
The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization that makes local history available to the public to promote a sense of identity, place, and pride in Washington and to preserve this heritage for future generations. Visit us at www.dchistory.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @dchistory.
This educational program is supported by grants from the Office of the Secretary of the District of Columbia, the Kiplinger Foundation, and HumanitiesDC and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.
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