Boundary Stones - WETA's Washington DC Local History Website

The Meeting that Changed Country Music — Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons in D.C.

Isabel Bozarth — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 13:57:09 +0000

The Meeting that Changed Country Music — Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons in D.C.

Before Emmylou Harris became a renowned musician, singer, songwriter, and activist, she was a struggling single mother in the D.C. area. A meeting at Clyde's in Georgetown would change her life.

Isabel Bozarth Thu, 09/04/2025 - 09:57

George Washington's Complicated Relationship with His Mother

Noah Brushwood — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 20:27:31 +0000

George Washington's Complicated Relationship with His Mother

When one thinks about George Washington they probably think of the general that led America to victory in the Revolutionary War or the first president of the United States. What they may not think about is someone with a sometimes complicated relationship with his mother.

Noah Brushwood Tue, 08/26/2025 - 16:27

The Temperance Fountain Just Might Be the Ugliest Statue in Washington

Paige Little — Wed, 20 Aug 2025 02:00:55 +0000

The Temperance Fountain Just Might Be the Ugliest Statue in Washington

In a city full of monuments and memorials like Washington, not all of them can be beautiful. Exhibit A: The Temperance Fountain at Seventh Street and Indiana Avenue, NW. So how did we come in possession of this strange piece of public art?

Paige Little Tue, 08/19/2025 - 22:00

The Anti-Flirt Club: The Movement to End Unwanted Attention in the 1920s

Lily Applebaum — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 14:21:16 +0000

The Anti-Flirt Club: The Movement to End Unwanted Attention in the 1920s

In the 1920s, a group of D.C. women formed the Anti-Flirt Club to put a stop to the increasingly annoying, and at times dangerous, problem of men harassing women from motor vehicles and street corners.

Lily Applebaum Thu, 08/14/2025 - 10:21

How to Exhibit the Enola Gay Was a Decades-Long Struggle for the Smithsonian

Isabel Sans — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 15:49:45 +0000

How to Exhibit the Enola Gay Was a Decades-Long Struggle for the Smithsonian

In the early 1990s, the Smithsonian found itself embroiled in national controversy over one of its planned exhibitions, making enemies of newspapers, veterans groups, and even Congress. What was the right way to display the plane that dropped the atomic bomb?

Isabel Sans Fri, 08/08/2025 - 11:49

“I have served my Country long & faithful”: George Farragut, Spanish-American Revolutionary

Isabel Sans — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 02:17:49 +0000

“I have served my Country long & faithful”: George Farragut, Spanish-American Revolutionary

You may know that Farragut Square is named for our first Navy Admiral: but have you heard of his father? George Farragut left a merchant's career in Spain to dedicate his life to the American experiment as a sailor, cavalryman, artilleryman, and civil servant. But his dogged service in the Revolutionary War has become a historical footnote in the life of his more famous son.

Isabel Sans Sun, 10/11/2026 - 22:17

Operation Monopoly: The FBI’s Ill-Fated Attempt to Tunnel Under the Soviet Embassy

Ethan Ehrenhaft — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:55:05 +0000

Operation Monopoly: The FBI’s Ill-Fated Attempt to Tunnel Under the Soviet Embassy

Washington, D.C., has a long history of espionage activity, especially during the Cold War as U.S. and Soviet agents shadowed each other throughout the city’s streets, parks, and alleyways. But, in a plotline not even James Bond author Ian Fleming could have cooked up, one of the most audacious and ill-fated attempts at spying in D.C. took place almost entirely underground.

Ethan Ehrenhaft Tue, 10/06/2026 - 11:55

An Experiment: D.C. History in Color

Mark Jones — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 13:47:39 +0000

An Experiment: D.C. History in Color

Over the next several weeks, we’ll be rolling out a video series called “D.C. History in Color,” on the WETAPBS YouTube channel. This project uses AI to restore and colorize black and white footage from the Universal Newsreels collection at the National Archives. True to the local history mission of Boundary Stones, the stories we’ve selected are focused on life in the Washington, D.C. area.

Mark Jones Tue, 09/22/2026 - 09:47

The First Female President Was Never Elected and Didn’t Want the Job: Edith Bolling Galt Wilson’s Work in the White House

Kira Quintin — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 21:36:07 +0000

The First Female President Was Never Elected and Didn’t Want the Job: Edith Bolling Galt Wilson’s Work in the White House

Woodrow Wilson's 1919 stroke had a devastating effect on his ability to serve as president. His wife, Edith, stepped up as nurse and politician, making her arguably America's first female president.

Kira Quintin Wed, 09/02/2026 - 17:36

U-1105 “Black Panther”: How a Nazi Submarine Ended up in the Potomac River

Ethan Ehrenhaft — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 17:49:26 +0000

U-1105 “Black Panther”: How a Nazi Submarine Ended up in the Potomac River

Just 80 miles south of Washington, D.C., in the brackish waters of the Potomac River, sits one of the most peculiar shipwrecks of World War II. Resting on the river bottom about a mile offshore from Piney Point, Maryland, partially obscured by silt, is the U-1105, a one-of-its-kind German U-boat known in its day as “Black Panther” that stalked Allied ships in the final days of the war.

Ethan Ehrenhaft Fri, 07/31/2026 - 13:49