Join us “Live! at the Library” on Thursday, November 30, 2023, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the Home Rule Act of 1973. The law enabled Washington, D.C., residents to elect their own city council and mayor in 1974 for the first time since the nineteenth century.
The evening will include a panel discussion on “50 Years of Home Rule” (Room LJ-119 of the Thomas Jefferson Building from 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m.), moderated by WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi (“The Politics Hour”) and featuring:
- Tom Sherwood, longtime Washington, D.C., journalist and co-author of Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington, D.C.
- Judy Richardson, co-founder of The Drum and Spear Bookstore and Eyes on the Prize documentarian
- G. Derek Musgrove, historian and co-author of Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital
- Kyla Sommers, historian and author of When the Smoke Cleared: The 1968 Rebellions and the Unfinished Battle for Civil Rights in the Nation’s Capital
Items from the Library’s collections pertaining to the home rule movement will be on display for visitors in Room LJ-113 of the Thomas Jefferson Building from 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 pm (the display will be closed during the panel but reopen briefly following the panel’s conclusion).
In a celebration of home rule’s cultural impact, Go-Go stalwarts Mambo Sauce will perform following the panel discussion in the Thomas Jefferson Building’s Coolidge Auditorium from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., after an opening performance by students from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
All of the events are free, but a general timed-entry pass is required to enter the Library of Congress and attend the panel discussion. Click here to request a general entry pass; attendees are encouraged to register for timed passes for 4 p.m. or later. Additionally, the free concert requires a separate registration available here.
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