The Special Collections and University Archives collect and preserve materials relating to the history of the District of Columbia. These historical materials cover the time period 1814 through 2005 with the bulk of the records falling within 1920-2000. Capitalizing on Washington, D.C.’s diverse communities and its role as the nation’s capital, the Washingtoniana Collection documents the city’s political, economic, social and cultural history. These materials encompass a variety of topics including the Metro, the District of Columbia government, local businesses, neighborhoods, and civic associations. Our collections are composed of letters, diaries, maps, reports, journals, photographs, and books.
Strengths of the collection
The primary source materials related to Washington, D.C. are in the form of individual papers, family papers, and organizational records which document the economic, political, social, and cultural history of the District of Columbia and the Metropolitan Washington Area. Subject interests for the collection include city planning, public transportation, dance, literature, local politics and government, business, and communities and neighborhoods.
The Department has the papers of D.C. political figures including former Congressman Walter E. Fauntroy, the late District Commissioner, John B. Duncan, and former D.C. City Council members: Polly Shackleton, John Wilson, and David Clarke. The Department also has the papers of important political, civic, and business organizations including the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington, Friendship House Association, C & O Canal Association, and Greater Washington Board of Trade.
The largest grouping of maps in the collection support Washingtoniana research. Included are maps and views by decade from 1790 to the present in either original or facsimile. Notable early originals in the collection include the Thackara and Vallance (1792), the Samuel Hill (1792), the Tiebout (1792), the Baker (1793), and the Ellicott (1793). The division also holds an original manuscript map of Port Royal by James Dermott (1796). Special Collections also houses a strong collection of maps from the Holy Land. These maps were donated to the collections by Dr. Samuel Halperin and Mr. Henry Epstein. Some of the map makers represented here include Gerhard Mercator, Sebastian Munster, Christian von Adrichem, and Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d' Anville.
Research Tools
The Special Collections and University Archives Department provides various access tools that allow researchers to locate useful materials. The tool used to locate non-book materials such as manuscripts, maps, and photographs is GENIE. To locate books and maps related to your topic use the Library’s online catalog ALADIN. Each processed collection has a finding aid. These finding aids describe the types of materials, subjects, and date ranges found within the collection.
In addition to these tools, Special Collections staff members are available for reference consultations to discuss a research topic, help formulate search strategies, and locate useful materials.
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Search Archives and Manuscripts:
• Visit the Genie Search page for additional information.
Search Books and Other Formats:
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To limit your Aladin search to books housed in Special Collections, use the "Set Limits" button found on the right side of the page and choose "GW: GELMAN Special Collections" as the location field.
To further limit your results to books related to Washington, use the "Guided Keyword" search, using Washington D.C. as a keyword in addition to the other keywords or subjects in your search. An example is a search for books about the history of the police department in Washington, D.C. If you do a keyword search for police having already limited the search to Special Collections the search result is 71 items. If, however, while using the keyword police also use the keyword Washington, D.C. then the results are lowered to 36 items.
For additional guidance use ALADIN help.
