2019 Washington DC history books
What follows is a list of books on Washington DC history (and biography) published in 2019. A Goodreads link is included for those available to provide more details on each title, the author, and book availability*. In addition, a link to this blog’s interview with the author has been included (or will in future as interviews are completed–so check back).
2019
American University Museum. Moves like Walter : new curators open the Corcoran legacy collection : American University Museum collection.
Paula C Austin. Coming of age in Jim Crow DC : navigating the politics of everyday life. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45007257-coming-of-age-in-jim-crow-dc
Lonnie G Bunch. A fool’s errand : creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the age of Bush, Obama, and Trump. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43508673-a-fool-s-errand
Heather Butts. Healing Civil War veterans in New York and Washington, D.C.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36406410-healing-civil-war-veterans-in-new-york-and-washington-d-c
Christopher P Cavas. Pennsylvania Avenue. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42844213-pennsylvania-avenue
Estella M Chung. Marjorie Merriweather Post : the life behind the luxury. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50065643-marjorie-merriweather-post
James B Conroy. Jefferson’s White House : Monticello on the Potomac. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35037648-jefferson-s-white-house
Matthew R. Costello. The Property of the Nation: George Washington’s Tomb, Mount Vernon, and the Memory of the First President. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45062196-the-property-of-the-nation Interview with the author: https://matthewbgilmore.wordpress.com/2019/10/21/matthew-r-costello-interview-with-a-washington-dc-history-author-the-property-of-the-nation-george-washingtons-tomb-mount-vernon-and-the-memory-of-the-first-president/
Chris DeRose. Star spangled scandal : sex, murder, and the trial that changed America. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40816612-star-spangled-scandal Interview with the author: https://matthewbgilmore.wordpress.com/2019/07/19/chris-derose-interview-with-a-washington-dc-history-author-star-spangled-scandal-sex-murder-and-the-trial-that-changed-america/
Alexis Fleisig. Soulside: Washington, DC, 1986–1989. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48712805-soulside
Virginia Walden Ford. School choice : a legacy to keep : a memoir. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48143882-school-choice
Donatella Galella. America in the round : capital, race, and nation at Washington D.C.’s Arena Stage. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41855083-america-in-the-round
Michelle Goldchain. DC by Metro : a history & guide. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42844206-dc-by-metro
Amy S Greenberg. Lady first : the world of first lady Sarah Polk. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40230287-lady-first
Faye Haskins. The Evening Star: The Rise and Fall of a Great Washington Newspaper. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43983983-the-evening-star Interview with the author: https://matthewbgilmore.wordpress.com/2019/10/25/faye-haskins-interview-with-a-washington-dc-history-author-the-evening-star-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-great-washington-newspaper/
Maureen DeLay Joseph; Michael Commisso; H Eliot Foulds; Daniel Taylor Weldon; Michael W Stachowicz. Cultural landscape report, National Park Service golf courses in the District of Columbia, East Potomac Park, Langston, and Rock Creek : treatment guidelines. NPS digital copy: https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/627310 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50231534-cultural-landscape-report-national-park-service-golf-courses-in-the-dis
Sarah A. Leavitt. St. Elizabeths in Washington, D.C.: Architecture of an Asylum. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43235647-st-elizabeths-in-washington-d-c
Kip Lornell. Capital bluegrass : hillbilly music meets Washington D.C. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46179076-capital-bluegrass
Richard Massimo. A walking tour of the Georgetown Set. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26586221-a-walking-tour-of-the-georgetown-set
Jenny Masur; Stanley Harrold. Heroes of the underground railroad around Washington, D.C. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41123369-heroes-of-the-underground-railroad-around-washington-d-cInterview with the author: https://matthewbgilmore.wordpress.com/2020/01/06/jenny-masur-interview-with-a-washington-dc-history-author-heroes-of-the-underground-railroad-around-washington-d-c/
John McNamara. The Capital of Basketball: A History of DC Area High School Hoops. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46046740-the-capital-of-basketball
Alan L McPherson. Ghosts of Sheridan Circle : how a Washington assassination brought Pinochet’s terror state to justice. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44675489-ghosts-of-sheridan-circle
Roland Mesnier. Creating the Sweet World of White House Desserts: A Pastry Chef’s Secrets. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48613982-creating-the-sweet-world-of-white-house-desserts
Stephen Moore and G T Keplinger. John Duffey’s bluegrass life : featuring the Country Gentlemen, Seldom Scene, and Washington, D.C. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45457265-john-duffey-s-bluegrass-life
Joshua C Myers. We Are Worth Fighting For: A History of the Howard University Student Protest of 1989. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44601420-we-are-worth-fighting-for
Mark Opsasnick. Rock the Potomac : popular music and early-era rock and roll in the Washington, D.C. area. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43627405-rock-the-potomac
Mike Osborne. Federal triangle. https://gnomicbook.com/Federal-Triangle https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50233558-federal-triangle
Lauren Pearlman. Democracy’s capital : black political power in Washington, D.C., 1960s-1970s. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44601378-democracy-s-capital
Jennifer Boswell Pickens. Entertaining at the White House : decades of presidential traditions. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50233891-entertaining-at-the-white-house
Harry Rand. Horatio Greenough and the form majestic : the biography of the nation’s first Washington Monument. [delayed to 2020] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50231929-horatio-greenough-and-the-form-majestic
William Seale. To live on Lafayette square : society & politics in the president’s neighborhood. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50230282-to-live-on-lafayette-square
Susanna F Schaller. Business improvement districts and the contradictions of placemaking : BID urbanism in Washington, D.C. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41861061-business-improvement-districts-and-the-contradictions-of-placemaking
Harvey Solomon. Such Splendid Prisons: Diplomatic Detainment in America during World War II. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44294978-such-splendid-prisons
Brandi Thompson Summers. Black in place : the spatial aesthetics of race in a post-Chocolate City. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44601382-black-in-place
Martin Summers. Madness in the city of magnificent intentions : a history of race and mental illness in the nation’s capital. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46806588-madness-in-the-city-of-magnificent-intentions
Antonia Tricarico. Frame of mind : punk photos and essays from Washington, DC, and beyond : 1997-2017. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43306978-frame-of-mind
Regennia N Williams; Sandra Butler-Truesdale. Washington, DC, Jazz. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41825857-washington-dc-jazz
Chris Wilson; Bret Witter. The master plan : my journey from life in prison to a life of purpose. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40949894-the-master-plan
PREVIOUS YEARS
2018 — https://matthewbgilmore.wordpress.com/2019/02/21/2018-washington-dc-history-books/
2017 — https://matthewbgilmore.wordpress.com/2017/12/25/2017-washington-dc-history-books/
2016 — https://matthewbgilmore.wordpress.com/2016/12/21/2016-washington-dc-history-books/