FOGGY BOTTOM ORAL HISTORY
​
Welcome to the new FBA History Project Oral History page. We seek to collect, document and preserve the stories and memories of Foggy Bottom residents by recording their remembrances and making them accessible to all. It is important to preserve this unrecorded history that may be lost as Foggy Bottom experienced demographic shifts and as older residents move or pass away. Foggy Bottom was a very different place prior to urban renewal in the 1950s and recording memories is a critical way of preserving that history.
We need volunteers to (1) share their stories and add to FB history, (2) identify other narrators with stories to tell, and (3) conduct interviews. Let us know if you are interested at
- Frank Leone (FLeoneDC@gmail.com)
- Denise Vogt (DeniseV@foggybottomassociation.org)
FBA History Project Interviews
Colbert King – Feb. 16, 2022 – Mr. King is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist. The interview conducted by Frank Leone for the FBA HP/Foggy Bottom West End Village focuses on the 1940s-1950s, when Foggy Bottom was majority African American – watch it HERE
​
Foggy Bottom West End Village Interviews
​
Leo Warring - March 20, 21 - The FBWE had an excellent discussion with Leo Warring, author of The Foggy Bottom Gang: The Story of The Warring Brothers of Washington, D.C., which details his family history, including in bootlegging and gambling, in the Foggy Bottom area.
George Washington University Interviews
Voices from Foggy Bottom’s Past – Feb. 29, 2012 – Columnist Colbert King and panelists Mary Brown, W. David Riley and James Briscoe spoke about their memories of growing up in Foggy Bottom. Watch it: Voices: Celebrating the African American Legacy in Foggy Bottom (youtube.com)
​
Interview Transcripts:
Mary Brown – June 3, 1997 – Foggy Bottom resident since the 1920s.
Eric Marlow – Aug. 18, 1997 – Foggy Bottom in the 1950s.
James Briscoe/W. David Riley – Dec. 5, 2011– Foggy Bottom in the 1950s and 1960s.
GW Digital DC: A Community History Project – 2013-2014 – Interviews with people about the greater Foggy Bottom Community including longtime FBA Activist Ellie Becker.
D.C. Public Library
D.C. Public Library People’s Archive Oral History Collections
St. Mary’s Court Oral History Project – Never Too Old to Learn – 1992-1993 - interviews by residents of the senior living facility in Foggy Bottom. Residents, volunteers, and staff members of St. Mary’s share their personal histories and discuss topics including African-American family life, growing up in D.C., and the district’s changing landscape:
Home/Brewed – 2020 – Oral histories related to the Christian Heurich Brewery (formerly located in Foggy Bottom):
DC Oral History Resources
DC Humanities Oral History Collaborative
Survey of DC Focused Oral History Collections
.png)