Janice Mynchenberg became pastor of the Georgetown Lutheran Church in 2013. In this interview she reflects upon the history of this church which occupies the northwest corner of Volta Place and Wisconsin Avenue. The church established itself in 1766 when a group of Lutheran Germans, attracted by an offer of cheap land, selected the location at 4th and High Street for their church. They built a log cabin in the same location that the existing church stands today. The cornerstone was laid in...

In an intimate and informative interview with Cathy Farrell, Eve Thompson and her husband Ken Thompson recall various events from their Georgetown years that involved Mildred Barnes Bliss, Robert Woods Bliss, and Beatrix Farrand. All three were lifelong friends of Eve’s grandfather, Royall Tyler and his wife, and her father, William R. Tyler who served as director of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection from 1969 to 1977. Eve’s grandparents and the Blisses were close friends from...

In a remarkably informative interview with Emma Oxford, brothers Richard and Philip Levy relate a complete social and commercial history of Georgetown from the early 1920s to the present day. Beginning with the extended family’s relocation from Southwest DC to M Street, the brothers discuss the expansion of a vibrant Jewish merchant class that developed along M Street and was well established by the early 1940s when these sons of Sam Levy were born. The brothers recall a Georgetown that has...

Approaching his 100th birthday, Guy Martin spoke candidly with interviewer Constance Chatfield-Taylor about his beautiful old home on the corner of 33rd and O Streets. Built in 1855, the house was briefly occupied by the likes of Douglas MacArthur (who described it as a “cottage in Georgetown”) and blue-blooded Englishmen including the Queen’s cousin. Martin and his wife moved in 1963 and raised four children. The family experienced Georgetown through the assassination of President Kennedy and...

Anne Emmet’s lively and personal commentary about her experiences weaves together her deep Washington family history with memories of half a century of life in Georgetown. Her first residence was on Dent Place in the early 1940’s. Her aunt, Mrs. David Finley, wife of the then head of the National Gallary of Art, owned three houses on Dent. Anne and her mother moved into one while her father was away in New York during the early years of World War II. Her mother walked her to St. Patrick’s...

Ev Shorey moved to West Lane Keys in 1986 with his wife, Joan, after raising four children in Cleveland Park. Originally from Illinois, Ev moved to Washington in the early 1960s as the Deputy General Council of the Foreign Aid Administration. He became very active in the Citizens Association of Georgetown in the early 1990s, eventually becoming President of the organization in 1992. Ev created the successful block captain system and the Guard Program. In his interview with Constance...

Margaret and Franz Oppenheimer bought their home on O Street in 1950, raised three children in Georgetown, and continue to live there. While they aren’t completely positive, they believe a relative of Napoleon Bonaparte may have lived in their house before them. In their April 1, 2010 interview with Joyce Lowenstein, the Oppenheimers describe how they came to Georgetown in 1947 when Franz as a young lawyer got a job at the World Bank and Margaret worked at a school for children with learning...

Eugene “Toddy” Lyddane was born at the old Georgetown University Hospital on 35th and N Streets in 1911. Toddy grew up on Hall Place, in Glover Park just north of Georgetown, and worked in his father’s grocery store, which had been opened a generation earlier by Toddy’s grandfather, on 1408 Wisconsin Avenue. He pulled a little wagon full of groceries to different customers’ houses; people rarely went to grocery stores and just called in orders. After moving into Georgetown in 1929, just before...

John Hays is a second-generation owner of the Phoenix, Georgetown's longest surviving retail store. John's mother, Betty Hays opened the Phoenix with her late husband in the 1950s, after deciding it would be much more exciting to sell Mexican arts and crafts than to work for the government. In his interview with Elizabeth Barentzen, John discusses his experiences growing up in the Georgetown area, from integration and Martin Luther King's famous speech on the National Mall to the present-day...

Steve Kurzman moved to Georgetown with his wife in 1961 after he began working on Capitol Hill - He and his first wife, Ellen, loved the neighborhood because of its quaint charm and architecture, especially appreciated by his architect wife. The first house the Kurzman family rented was 22 feet long and 11 feet wide on 26th Street – a "charming house." In his fascinating interview with CAG Oral History volunteer Arlene Alvarez, Mr. Kurzman describes integration in the DC public school system...