How the Project Came Together
hometown DC is the result of an unprecedented collaboration between the city’s leading humanities organizations.
As part of HumanitiesDC’s DC Oral History Collaborative, 21 Washingtonians from a variety of backgrounds gave oral history interviews for the project. Some were relative newcomers to the city, while others were lifelong residents with multi-generational Washington families. All call DC their hometown.
The stories collected are presented in conversation with past oral history interviews from the People's Archive at the DC Public Library, historic photographs from the DC History Center, and works by local artists from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities's Art Bank.
Lily Pads Tutu by Ann Van Epps, 2008
Courtesy of the Art Bank Collection, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Zoma Wallace, hometown DC narrator interviewed by Claude L. Elliott
Photo by Farrah Skeiky.
This project would not have been possible without the following contributors.
Researcher
Izy Carney
Exhibit Designer
Adrienne Gaither
Performers
John Johnson and
Verbal Gymnastics
Theater Company
Photographer
Farrah Skeiky
Oral Historians
Jasper Collier
Claude L. Elliott
Phillip Gragg
Paul Grant
Rhonda Henderson
Kristy Li Puma
Thank you to the hometown DC oral history narrators who shared their stories.
Dahlia Aguilar
Mark Beckford
Armonte Butler
Ernestine Byrd Hamilton
Pearl Eni
Adan Hernandez Nova
Pacyinz Lyfoung
Tim Ma
Miya Nixon
Babatunde Oloyede
Flor Rivas
Marcia Rock
Sally Schwartz
Nancy Shia
Edward Underwood
Seshat Walker
Zoma Wallace
Patricia Wheeler
Courtney Williams
Desiree & Greg Wright
This project is part of the following initiatives:
By the People: Conversations Beyond 250 is a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils across the United States, its territories, and the District of Columbia in collaboration with local partners. Together, these programs explore 250 years of the nation's cultural life and imagine its shared future. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage as a complement to the 2026 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Learn more here.
Sponsored by:
And in connection with:
Federation of State Humanities Councils
Government of the District of Columbia, Mayor Muriel Bowser
National Endowment for the Arts