Words and photos by Matt Steenhoek from Juxtaexposed + ReadysetDC.

Today, it just might be another busy junction to many of the District’s pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers, but in the history of the District, the intersection of 14th and U Streets, NW has been center stage for many pivotal phases, a street corner that has seen renaissance, riot, and rebirth,

Sitting just within the boundaries of L’Enfant’s Federal City, the 14th and U Street area was originally heavily wooded with rugged terrain. Eventually, the land was cleared and converted to orchards and farmland when it was purchased in 1760 by a Georgetown tobacco merchant. The area stayed relatively free of development until 1862 when Congress granted the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company the right to lay tracks for horse-drawn streetcars. The 14th Street line eventually developed into a major thoroughfare, connecting residents from Florida Avenue down to the Federal City.

Much of the housing that exists today in the 14th and U area was constructed by speculative developers during the forty years after the start of the streetcar line, a response to the housing demand following the Civil War, the growth of the Federal government, and the general expansion of the Washington economy.

In the late 1800’s, the area residents were a socio-demographically mixed group. With increased segregation across the city, the 14th and U neighborhood emerged in the early 1900’s as a “city within a city” for the black community. Howard University’s nearby location made the greater U Street area a logical home for the artists and scholars in the black community. In years between 1895 and 1920, the number of black-owned businesses in the neighborhood increased drastically from 15 to more than 300. The U Street neighborhood was, at the time, the largest urban African American community in the nation. Harlem took this prize from U Street in 1920.

During this renaissance period, U Street became known as “Black Broadway.” A famous quote states that U street was so grand that “you had to wear a tie” just to walk down the street. Duke Ellington, the District’s native son and jazz great, spent his formative years just a couple blocks from 14th and U, living on the 1800 block of 13th St. Still today, Duke looks down upon the metro entrance from his painted likeness in a U Street mural. The culture of jazz still lives on, too, in a number of jazz clubs such as Twins and Bohemian Caverns located within a few blocks from 14th and U.

For the next few decades, 14th St remained a tenuously shared boundary between the predominantly black residents to the east and predominantly white residents to the west. The neighborhood’s dominance in the African American community began to wane in the 1960’s when racially restrictive real estate covenants were declared unconstitutional. With this ruling came many more housing opportunities for blacks in other parts of the city and surrounding jurisdictions. The exodus of professional African American families had already began over a decade earlier, and the courts decision, amongst other contributing factors, further exasperated the trend of both blacks and whites abandoning the city proper.

By the mid-1960’s, the glitz and glamour of “Black Broadway” had worn thin and 14th and U had deteriorated into an open drug market and drug trafficking nerve center of Washington, DC. Dr. King’s assassination on April 4th, 1968 was the spark that ignited riot in the already volatile greater U Street neighborhood. Within hours of Dr. King’s passing, a crowd gathered at 14th and U Street. Originally peacefully requesting that businesses close down out of respect for King, the crowd eventually grew agitated and turned riotous, starting with a brick thrown through the window of the Peoples Drug store. In the four days of rioting that followed, over 1,200 buildings were burned, three-quarters of which were stores, creating damages in excess of $165 million (in today’s dollars). The human toll of the estimated 20,000 rioters was twelve dead, over 1,000 injured, and more than 6,100 arrested. In the days that followed, Stokely Carmichael, of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, petitioned police for special permission to allow Ben’s Chili Bowl to remain open after curfew, giving food, shelter, and protection to the people working desperately to restore order from the chaos. The devastation of the race riots left a lasting scar not only on this area, but on the entire city’s collective memory.

Eighteen years after the riots burnt much of 14th and U to the ground, the neighborhood was still without notable revitalization or recovery. The rebirth of this area, that is still underway today, was jump-started by a $50 million dollar investment in a new municipal building by then-Mayor Marion Barry. This building, the Reeves Municipal Center, is located on the NW corner of 14th and U and is named after local lawyer, Frank D. Reeves. Reeves, a graduate of Howard University, was an accomplished civil rights lawyer who worked on Brown v. Board of Education and was the first African American to serve on the Democratic National Committee. The area was further catalyzed by the construction of the Green line Metrorail in 1991, with stops that provided better access to the neighborhood.

The Reeves Center, despite being a source of rebirth, has not been without tragedy. On February 13, 2005, a person was stabbed to death following an altercation and two women were assaulted on the dance floor at night club Club U, which operated on the weekends out of the Reeves Center’s glass atrium lobby, As one of the women was being brought to an ambulance outside, shots were fired in an effort to kill her. The nightclub was shut down, and no longer operates out of the Reeves Center.

More recently, the NE corner of 14th and U has seen significant restaurant and nightlife development. Many of the establishments in the area pay homage to great African American creatives. Popular bookstore and eatery Busboys and Poets is named after Langston Hughes, (it’s spinoff Eatonville for Zora Neal Hurston), and bar and restaurant Marvin is so named in honor of Marvin Gaye. Patty Boom Boom, a Caribbean carry-out/bar/lounge, recently opened and construction is underway on music and arts club, Cuckoo Marans, and upscale steak house, Café Society. 14th and U’s revitalization has also brought hundreds of new upscale condominium and apartment residences to the immediate area. Just this past winter, 14th and U, was briefly thrust on to the national stage after a DC police officer brandished his weapon during a mass snowball fight.

Though tough economic times have slowed development across the city, it appears that 14th and U will continue to prosper from the revitalization of the greater U Street area. In due time, 14th and U will again be home to three streetcar lines – a major infrastructure investment that will continue the neighborhood’s renaissance. For all the changes that the neighborhood has seen, it is often still known for great jazz and half-smokes.

For a more in depth history, check out the Cultural Tourism brochure here.

Cross-posted at Juxtaexposed and ReadysetDC.

Video by Vincent Gallegos. Photos by Tracy Clayton. Much thanks to  ReadysetDC for the crosspost!

Well over 300 cyclists had met in an alley behind the corner of 8th and H Street NE by noon. All dressed in their finest retro attire, it was a truly surreal scene. Three properties were in use in this alley, one for bike mechanics, one for registration/check-in and one for breakfast and portraits. As the crowd spilled out onto the sidewalk pre-ride, you could see people stopping and staring to see just what in the world was going on.

At about noon, cyclists took to the streets in smaller groups. We headed south on 8th Street NE towards Eastern Market. A large crowd at the market cheered, yelled and stared. The route included a scenic stretch on Constitution Ave, riding past the Capitol, up 7th Street through Penn Quarter and Chinatown, and a stop in front of the White House. There we were greeted by tourists, joggers and protestors, the general White House crowd. Conversations of those walking past us included “What’s this for?” and “Yeah so it’s that’s the first Tweed Ride in DC…” Rumor is that the First Lady greeted a few riders, however that is unconfirmed.

Then it was up 17th and Connecticut Ave, where everyone gathered and rode about three or four laps around Dupont Circle. Looking across the Circle, the perimeter was completely lined with dandies and quaintrelles. Then it was east on P Street, through Logan with a turn on 14th Street toward U Street. As we traveled 14th, people spilled out of shops, restaurants and cafes to watch, take pictures, clap and cheer. Smiles were everywhere. Groups descended in waves at Marvin, where there were temporary bike racks provided by WABA.

The party went on for hours on Marvin’s roof deck, where people were chatting, drinking, dancing and laughing. Taking the time to look back at the day, it was the most interesting time I have seen in recent memory. I have not been to a Tweed Ride before, but the feeling I felt was that this is truly something great that DC may become known for in the near future. This will be a semi-annual happening, so the next one is planned for April. This was an overwhelming success for the first ride. I suspect that the next one will be much bigger.

We will have a feature video soon with footage from start to finish!

Words by @chrisloos and @bloch_party
Photos by @vincentgallegos

Twitter geeks from across the DMV region and beyond converged on the Grand Hyatt last Thursday for TWTRCON DC. Being quite the Twitter geeks ourselves (Tweeks?), ReadysetDC was there to soak up the social media goodness in all its 140 character glory.

Speakers from a range of backgrounds gave talks on everything from personal branding, to the downfall of newspapers, to geolocation, to the power of real-time communities. One of the highlights was a talk early on from Craig Newmark (founder of Craigslist) moderated by Alan Murray, the deputy managing director of the Wall Street Journal. While a techno-socialist and a super-capitalist make for strange bedfellows, they also make for a fascinating debate.

Photos and TOP TEN #TWTRCON TWEETS after the jump:

Local HR guru, blogger, and Twitter advocate Jessica Lee was also on hand to give an informative and entertaining talk on recruiting with Twitter. One interesting takeaway from her talk: By creating a new communication channel for job seekers to contact HR professionals, Twitter has created a way around the “black hole” problem where job seekers send their resumes in without ever even receiving an acknowledgment that it has been received.

It was slightly disappointing (and ironic) how few speakers actually made use of Twitter to engage the conference goers at a conference devoted to engaging people through Twitter. Two large screens flanking the stage displayed any tweets containing the #twtrcon hashtag, so there was a lot of potential to use these for interaction back and forth between speaker, audience, and the larger audience outside the room. Instead, the screen was filled with tweets and retweets from the audience simply quoting the speakers, ad nauseum. It became giant live-blogging, echo-chamber for most of the the conference.

Things finally got fun towards the end when ReadysetDC’s own @bloch_party promised a cookie to the 200th person that followed him.

#cookiebribe, indeed.

TOP TEN #TWTRCON TWEETS (via @bloch_party)

1. RT @MiddleOfMayhem: A-M-E-N. There is no social media expert. #TWTRCON(via @aslesinski)

2. RT @chrisloos Analogy of the day: RT @Jeanne23 Twitter is a sushi conveyor belt moving at 100mph. #twtrcon

3. Incredible presentation by @scottharrison about online organizing for offline causes like @charitywater thru events like @twestival #twtrcon

4. RT @danaschwartz83: RT @cuennie “the truth is, this is the most exciting time for journalism that I’ve experienced” @wsj #twtrcon

5. RT @TWTRCON: “People should tweet, not brands” #twtrcon

6. Just test drove new analytics app @PeopleBrowsr… Super cool way to gauge the reach of your Tweets. #twtrcon

7. RT @MiddleofMayhem http://twitpic.com/mhjxv – Twitter nerds. And proud.#twtrcon

8. #twtrcon – My friend, a DC public school teacher, used @DonorsChoose last year to get supplies for her classroom. It works!!

9. I’d rock this on a T-Shirt! RT @cuennie “if you aren’t failing you aren’t trying” @afpaa #twtrcon

10. RT @chrisloos Too. Much. Metatweeting. #twtrcon

MANY more photos from Vincent Gallegos on Flickr and @ReadysetDC.

Words by Allicia and Dafna Steinberg
Photography by Tracy Clayton

Artists from across the country submitted artwork featuring Red Bull‘s iconic can to enter the annual Art of Can creative competition. This year marks the eighth year of the event, which takes place in Washington, DC.

Local Artist, Dan Barojas

Inspired by the colors of Red Bull Energy Drink and Red Bull Simply Cola, each artist incorporated the colors of red, blue and silver into their designs. The material used to construct all the pieces were made from Redbull cans to form sculptures, graphic designs as well as clothing. Val Lewton, Cheif of Design and Production at Smithsonian’s American Art Museum, is the curator for this exhibition at Union Station.

Winners

Fifty-six pieces are currently on display to the public at Union Station’s main hall (entrance). Yesterday, Tracy and I had the opportunity to attend the the cocktail reception and preview the exhibition. Red Bull invited DJ Rich Medina to provide the entertainment, as Philippa Hughes and Adrian Loving hosted the gala. As I walked through the exhibit, I noticed that Red Bull had chosen local artists to participate in the show. Above is Dan Barojas’ piece, who is also a jewelry designer based out in Fairfax, VA.

The artists whose work is on display come from as far away as Vietnam and Israel. The winner of the competition (which was announced at the Gala opening) was Kathryn J. Beale from Granger, Texas. Her piece “Common Ground” shows the politically symbolic Liberal Donkey and Conservative Elephant drinking from the same can of Red Bull through two straws. The piece seem an appropriate winner for the Washington DC extravaganza.

The exhibition will run through October 19th and open to the public at Union Station.

Words by: Allicia + Justin (ReadysetDC)
Photos by: Justin

Teams are still working full-force on the National Mall for the Solar Decathlon, an international design competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Twenty teams selected from top colleges and universities across the world have designed and are building and livable energy-efficient solar-powered homes on the National Mall. In a series of ten contests, each team will be judged based on aesthetics and performance. As we face environmental challenges throughout the world, the Solar Decathlon will promote renewable energy, energy-efficiency, and efficient design.

Walking around yesterday, well into the evening, you could see that the teams were still working hard. Some teams seemed to be ahead of others. If you’re a fan of modern architecture, you’ll love what you see. Some of the homes use solar panels as the exterior wall siding. There are lush gardens (VT’s home has a pond). Compared to your average American home, these are small, yes, but most are the size of a moderately sized apartment. Aesthetics aside, these homes will produce equal or more energy from renewable sources than is consumed by its lighting, appliances and more. The lessons learned here go a long way in solving the challenges of climate change.

The public opening of the Solar Decathlon will debut this Friday, October 9th. Public tours and free consumer workshops instructed by industry professionals will also begin on opening day and close on October 14th. The opening ceremony will take place on Thursday, October 8th at 1 PM.

Solar Decathlon
National Mall
(Between 10th + 14th Streets, Madison + Jefferson Drives)
October 9th – 13th, 15th – 18th

Schedule (Click here for more information)
Mondays – Fridays: 11 AM – 3 PM
Saturdays – Sundays: 10 AM – 5 PM

Goals: “To educate the student participants—the “Decathletes”—about the benefits of energy efficiency, renewable energy and green building technologies. As the next generation of engineers, builders, and communicators, the Decathletes will be able to use this knowledge in their studies and their future careers.

1. To raise awareness among the general public about renewable energy and energy efficiency, and how solar energy technologies can reduce energy usage.
2. To help solar energy technologies enter the marketplace faster. This competition encourages the research and development of energy efficiency and energy production technologies.
3. To foster collaboration among students from different academic disciplines—including engineering and architecture students, who rarely work together until they enter the workplace.
4. To promote an integrated or “whole building design” approach to new construction. This approach differs from the traditional design/build process because the design team considers the interactions of all building components and systems to create a more comfortable building, save energy, and reduce environmental impact.
5. To demonstrate to the public the potential of Zero Energy Homes, which produce as much energy from renewable sources, such as the sun and wind, as they consume. Even though the home might be connected to a utility grid, it has net zero energy consumption from the utility provider.”

For live updates from the field (including photos and video) follow Solar Decathlon on twitter. More photos are posted on ReadysetDC.