Lisa and Laura talk about how the People's Archive preserves and amplifies local stories. In this episode, they explore the Washingtoniana periodicals collections and celebrate Washington City Paper’s 40th birthday with a look back at DC in the 1980s.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
dc, periodicals, dc public library, newspapers, washington, rat, titles, lisa, include, laura, newspaper, dig, issue, posers, personals, district, focuses, describe, 40th birthday, memorial library
SPEAKERS
Laura Farley, Lisa Warwick, Labs DCPL
Labs DCPL 00:00
DC Public Library Podcast is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and is a production of the Labs at DC Public Library.
Lisa Warwick 00:11
[old timey music playing] Hello, and welcome to the People's Podchive coming at you from the Labs at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. I'm Lisa Warwick, Reference and Outreach Coordinator.
Laura Farley 00:24
And I'm Laura Farley, Digital Curation Librarian.
Lisa Warwick 00:27
We work at The People's Archive, DC Public Library's Local History Center. We collect all kinds of materials that document the district's culture, politics and day to day life. But before we get started, I've got a big announcement. Are you ready, Laura?
Laura Farley 00:44
Lisa, I am so excited.
Lisa Warwick 00:46
We are open. [crowd applauding] All DC public library locations are now open to the public. That means you can make a research appointment to come into The People's Archive or just walk in and talk with us on the fourth floor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. Please remember to bring a mask with you, but come talk to us. We've missed you. It's been so long. Now on to the show.
Laura Farley 01:20
Today, we're talking all newspapers all the time. We're highlighting local newspapers in our collections because we have been busy cranking out all kinds of content into Dig DC, our digital portal for archival materials. And spoiler alert, there's so much more than what's online. We have over 350 unique periodicals in the Washingtoniana Periodical Collection alone, plus more titles in our DC School Newspaper collection, and we're going to go through each and every one. No, Lisa, I'm kidding. We're not going to go through them all.
Lisa Warwick 01:57
Ok, good. Newspapers in the United States go way back, the earliest newspapers circulated in the colonies and predate the United States. These newspapers were created in Europe and sent across the ocean making them very out of date and not at all local by the time they arrived. Colonists began printing their own new sheets in the 1600s, beginning with Boston, then Philadelphia and New York. Here in DC the earliest newspapers were published in Georgetown in 1789. Since then, there have been so many newspapers published in DC. Many of these titles were dedicated to super specific topics with small circulation. Our collection reflects lists with titles like Dollars and Sense, that's S E N S E. And yes, it's about financial issues. The word play in our catalog is strong. Other examples include the Southwesterner, In the Anacostia, Cathedral Chimes, and Taxi Topics. If you're looking for some excellent newspaper puns, I recommend browsing our catalog.
Laura Farley 03:12
Now, you can't find all 350 plus titles in Dig DC. But we do have seven titles that cover life in the District from the early 1960s up to about 2001. These titles include three underground and experimental papers: Quicksilver Times, Unicorn Times and Washington Free Press, which focus on the 1960s things like civil rights, counterculture and the Vietnam War. Dig DC also includes three LGBTQ+ newspapers all created for and by the community. That includes: Blacklight, which focuses on black gay life in the district; Women in the Life, which focuses on black lesbian life in the District; and the Washington Blade, which focuses on the spectrum of LGBTQ+ rights, politics and culture. And the last title and Dig DC is the Washington City Paper, which is celebrating its 40th birthday this year.
Lisa Warwick 04:14
Happy Birthday, City Paper! [kazoo sound]
Laura Farley 04:18
Just like the Washington Blade, Washington City Paper is still in print. You've probably seen their newspaper vending machines around town or visited their websites.
Lisa Warwick 04:29
So in honor of the City Paper's 40th birthday, we thought it would be fun to do a little time traveling and see what was happening on this day, July 29, some 40 years ago. The closest exact date we could get to was July 29, 1983. And let me tell you, this cover has a big mood. The headline reads "Rats: Defending Yourself Against DC Rodents" and features a very large drawing of a trio of rats in profile. The writer talks about rat burrows in his backyard and I can relate. When I first started working in DC and I was downtown, I was on my lunch break, and out of nowhere, broad daylight, a rat jumped on my foot. On my bare young foot.
Laura Farley 05:19
That's disgusting.
Lisa Warwick 05:21
It was bad.
Laura Farley 05:23
When I first moved to DC, I lived in a group house with a rat burrow in the front and back yard, so I too can relate.
Lisa Warwick 05:32
Question, Laura, did you buy an air pistol and take rat control into your own hands?
Laura Farley 05:39
No, I did not.
Lisa Warwick 05:40
Because that's what this guy did. And I don't recommend it. Other articles in that issue of the City Paper include: CIA surveillance of American students; Scandal in the congressional page program; Accounts for veterans about the long term effects of Agent Orange. This issue still feels really fresh in a lot of ways and is tackling really big topics from the time.
Laura Farley 06:07
My favorite part of old newspapers is the pop culture spread throughout the pages and advertisements, wanted ads, and personals. There's so much good content here that sheds light on what Washingtonians were reading, watching, eating and wearing; as well as what arts and causes they supported in 1983. Also, it's just such a thrill to see advertisements for things like VCRs, Walkmans, a rollerskates shop in Capitol Hill, and Teletunes, a company that taped custom musical greetings. And Lisa, did you know that Georgetown was home to a new wave club called Posers that was among the first in the district to play music videos?
Lisa Warwick 06:52
I did not know about posers but I'm learning a lot about what DC in the 80s was like. The wanted ads in the back of the paper include expected things like roommates or office work, but also people looking for writing partners, someone to share a road trip with and tickets to a David Bowie concert. The personal section is solid gold may be a little too risky for this podcast episode, but I encourage you to check it out. I will just say a person is promising an opportunity to meet and I quote the "male prototype for the 80s". There are also a lot of personals in the Washington blade with very good quotes.
Laura Farley 07:34
That is really quite steamy.
Lisa Warwick 07:36
Oh wow. Yeah, it's a lot in the personals ads. All the newspapers and Dig DC are keyword searchable and rather enlightening to browse. A patron recently told us that at the beginning of the pandemic, they started reading the Washington Blade on Dig DC from the very first issue in 1969. And I just loved that idea. These papers are treasure troves of DC life and how the city has changed over time as well as how it has stayed the same.
Laura Farley 08:05
But as we mentioned at the top of the show, there are so many more periodicals in our collection that are online. Why is that? Well, it takes time to digitize and describe periodicals. And some content is just too incomplete to justify digitization. But another big factor is copyright. We're able to make available the periodicals in Dig DC because we have relationships with the publishers and have partnered with them to host their collections. But for many periodicals the publishers are unknown or long since defunct, making copyright very tricky. So for now, we prioritize digitizing periodicals that are in public domain.
Lisa Warwick 08:48
And you can help. We've been holding describe-a-thons where members of the public spend a couple of hours on a Saturday morning, helping us describe what's in an issue of a newspaper so it can go up in Dig DC. The next Describe-a-thon is Saturday, August 21. And we will be working on City Paper issues from the 2000s. You can sign up using the link in our show notes or contact us at peoples.archive@dc.gov. That's peoples.archive@dc.gov
Laura Farley 09:23
But wait Lisa, there's more.
Lisa Warwick 09:25
Wow!
Laura Farley 09:26
If you have a DC public library card you also have access to all kinds of digital newspaper databases, including local titles like the Washington Eveningstar, The Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun. These periodicals are also keyword searchable and are an essential tool for placing historical events in context.
Lisa Warwick 09:48
I definitely agree. Thanks for including that Laura.
Laura Farley 09:52
Hey, you got it. Before we say goodbye, we wanted to share what's new in Dig DC. In the DC Oral History Collaborative new collections include: Experiments in housing organization; Voices of the DC Fort Totten storytellers; Flowers and families the stories of Kenilworth aquatic gardens; Pandemic to protest: black bartenders in DC; History of the first Latin American Festival on the mall 1989 to 1990; Over the river and through the woods: longtime residents and parklands of Ward eight; and the Washington section National Council of Negro women monument or movement: yesterday, today and tomorrow. Plus we're always adding more issues of the Washington Blade and the Washington City Paper.
Lisa Warwick 10:43
That's our show. [old timey music playing] Join us next time to take another peek into the stacks of The People's Archive. Until then, get vaccinated, wear a mask where it's required, and come see us on the fourth floor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library.
Laura Farley 11:00
This episode was written by me Laura Farley,
Lisa Warwick 11:03
and Lisa Warwick
Laura Farley 11:05
Sound engineering was provided by Robert LaRose and Siobhan Hagan. Shout out to the staff in the Labs at DC Public Library for their help with this episode.
Lisa Warwick 11:15
Check out our show notes for links to the Washingtoniana Periodicals Collection, newspapers in Dig DC, and the DC Public Library newspaper databases. Find us on Facebook at The People's Archive at DC Public Library. If you have any questions call us at 202-727-1213 or email us at People's archive@dc.gov
Labs DCPL 11:45
You just tuned into DC Public Library Podcast. Listen and subscribe a DClibrary.org/podcasts or wherever podcasts are available. Send us your comments @DCPL on Twitter, or follow us at DC Public Library on Instagram and Facebook. Thank you for listening.