Can’t thank you enough, Nina Zafar for mentioning Mapping Georgetown in your great article about Georgetown in today’s Washington Post Real Estate Section! Now you have a Georgetown story that we’ll be looking forward to!
Wow, Jennifer! Do you know that the portrait of Yarrow Mamout by James Alexander Simpson that hangs in the Peabody Room is Jerry McCoy’s favorite thing! Thank you for your story! We can only imagine how interesting the project!
This is sooo exciting! Here a few links:
Yarrow Mamout Residence Site, African American Heritage Trail
Thank goodness for Adele Dodson! She has gathered the troops..family and friends who have crafted a picture of growing up in Georgetown in the 50’s!
We can’t thank you and yours enough for the time and energy that went into these extraordinary accounts!
Margaret talks about the Phillips School.
“The Phillips school was built in 1890 to serve east Georgetown’s large African-American population. It was named after the abolitionist Wendell Phillips. ” Read all about it here in the Georgetown Metropolitan. Thank you to Topher Mathews for this trip through time!
So much fun for soo many years….Rose Park Playground!
Jo Anne attended Jackson School…
“Sometimes it seems that there are few children living in Georgetown. While GM has tried to rebut that perception with statistics, it is undeniable that before the late 20th century, there were many more children in Georgetown. What is more proof of that than the presence in Georgetown of no fewer than nine historic school buildings?” Topher Mathews did such a nice job digging into the history of Georgetown Schools.
I love how Jo Anne mentions that ‘tennis is her life’.
Robyn Hickey gives a stunning eye witness account of the legendary Georgetown Public Library fire! Thank you Robyn!
For more gripping details of this memorable day that went down in infamy for Georgetown view this article in The Hoya by James Hilson from May 1, 2007.
“That’s the one painting that I’m most upset about,” librarian Jerry McCoy said, pointing to an 1840 portrait of Yarrowmamout, a slave in 19th-century Georgetown. “This is what I was going to save if this ever happened.”
The Yarrowmamout portrait is part of the Peabody Collection, the library’s most valuable collection, which was kept on the building’s second floor, which is where the fire is thought to have started. It housed documents unique to the neighborhood’s history including Civil War-era maps, bound newspaper volumes and bound public records.The extent of the damage to the collection is unknown, however the Yarrowmamout portrait only suffered small damage, however McCoy said that the background of the painting appeared lighter than normal.
This story has vibrations! Thank you, thank you, thank you Melinda!
My daughter Elizabeth and I were ecstatic with our happen chance run in with Melinda. I suggested she not miss the McCoy/Peabody Room up on the 3rd floor and be sure to introduce herself to Jerry McCoy. Receiving this story in the mail was such a treat, especially because I did not know that Jerry had given Melinda a map template. Another lesson in everyone has a story!
Thank you Jerry, for creating another Georgetown ‘church’ for those of us who love to visit as well as those just passing through!
Thank you for the personal time and effort that you put into your story!
We need your help showcasing the personality of Georgetown in 2020!
You can request a map template like this one, to create and add your story. You can send an e-mail request to mappinggeorgetown@gmail.com or by stopping by any of these local personalities who would be delighted to see you:
Jerry McCoy at the Peabody Room of the Georgetown Public Library at the corner of R Street and Wisconsin
Christa at Ella Rue at 3260 P Street off of Wisconsin
Carolyn at Just Paper and Tea at 3232 P Street at Wisconsin
Tuckernuck at 1053 Wisconsin, just below the canal
Jean Pierre Antiques at 26th and P
Stachowski’s at 27th and P
