The centennial celebration booklet of the First Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, argued that the earliest Presbyterians in the United States of America could trace their heritage of democratic government, free institutions, and popular education back to John Calvin, in Geneva.
Washington’s Presbyterians counted many statesmen in their numbers, such as John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Abraham Lincoln.
Walk back in time to the first century of Washington, DC!
Image: Library of Congress
“Millennials Overtake Baby Boomers as America’s Largest Generation” – https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation
P.S. I invite you to visit www.wellnesslibrarian.wordpress.com in case you missed the historical background of my research project (on early places of worship in Washington, DC), which led to publication of the book Steeples & Domes. Learn why and how the beliefs and buildings of the settlers of our nation’s capital are relevant to Americans today!
More than a hundred years ago, there were about 1 in 20 persons age 65 and over in the United States. “In 2020, about 1 in 6 people in the United States were age 65 and over” (United States Census Bureau).
Someone has said that it is the fault of Baby Boomers that succeeding generations are lacking basic civics knowledge of the founding of America, with its living instruments unique in the world (Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights).
Helen Andrews hopes “that the Boomers will finally make a graceful exit, having clung to power for so long, and realize that it’s time for younger generations to have their day in the sun and for the country to move on from the Boomers and their preoccupation.”
“Did the Boomers Ruin America?” (2021) https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2021/02/10/did-the-boomers-ruin-america-an-interview-with-helen-andrews/
On this day thirty years ago my father passed away. He was an honorable man who served his country as a naval officer in World War II and the State of Texas as a legislator and assistant attorney general. Then it was on to Washington, DC, for federal government appointments. Today I pray for more young men and women to serve their country and their families with the same honor and dignity he did. May my research into the backwoods of the nation’s capital affirm the stones, both tangible and intangible, that this country was built on.
The original boundary stones of the District of Columbia marked the location of the nation’s young capital. I enjoyed researching and “marking” the stones (and bricks and boards) of the early places of worship there, and it has been a pleasure to share how residents’ beliefs then relate to us today.
Several people have asked how they can get the book. I’ll soon have a URL for ordering Steeples & Domes, but in the meantime I can easily mail you a copy—delivered not in a coach and four, the way President Madison arrived at the US Capitol for worship services—but in a perhaps equally old-fashioned way by today’s standards: USPS.
It’s a 6” x 9”paperback, with lots of vintage illustrations and abundant references, suitable for framing reading in the quiet of your study or taking with you on a Washington outing. Special reduced price with free shipping from now until the end of April. You can avoid the “big guys” charges and email The Wellness Librarian directly, annslattery1889@gmail.com.
Take a walk back in time to the first century of Washington, DC!
L’Enfant’s Plan for the nation’s capital, 1791:
You and your children and grandchildren will be surprised to discover how the lofty ideals of the nation’s founders played out on the streets of the new republic’s capital, where a congressman might rent a room in a boarding house, rub shoulders with the working men of the city, and walk to work at the Capitol. Along the way, he might stop to purchase Dutch lace or Irish linens as a gift for his wife.
You can peek through a different window of our nation’s history in Steeples & Domes. It describes the early years of the USA as experienced by the early residents of the nation’s capital, showing how their beliefs and
buildings are relevant to us today.
Decades of research and writing went into this project. As a freelance researcher/writer/librarian, I wanted to publish it myself to maintain the high quality of the creative work of its artists. It would be beautiful (the book as art!) but also contribute to the scholarly record. It contains 55 illustrations (about half in color, with many 19th-century images and vintage photos), almost 200 references, and an extensive bibliography for further research.
You can visit www.wellnesslibrarian.wordpress.com for historical background and the writing process, in posts beginning January 31, 2024 (“America, Where Are You?”) to the present.
— (Thank you from Ann H. Slattery.)
Next: How you can get the book.
This is Peter Waddell’s original oil painting Washington in 1800, after I brought it home from the framer, Gold Leaf Art Gallery & Frame Shop in Tyler, Texas. I commissioned Peter to do this work for the cover of my book Steeples & Domes: Early Places of Worship in Washington, DC. It depicts Washington’s three houses of worship in 1800: one at the foot of Capitol Hill, and two others in downtown Washington.
Here are the creative people who helped make my vision a reality:
Again, Peter Waddell, historical/architectural painter, https://peterwaddell.com/,
Chris Costello, art director/graphic designer (https://chriscostello.design/),
Lizzie Lane, graphic designer (https://lizzielanedesigns.myportfolio.com/),
Brian Kraft (who graciously created a story map for Steeples & Domes at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/368b1c774470443aadf7a25aa8a9b1ac), digital historical map artisan
and Dan Slattery, painter/ceramist/preparator.
Thank you one and all for making the text of Steeples & Domes come to life.
Walk back in time to the first century of the USA while helping your children and grandchildren understand more about its founding.
Here are some titles that describe or celebrate the origins of America:
A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, July 4, 1776 (The Declaration of Independence)
The Constitution of the United States of America
The Federalist Papers, by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
America on Trial: A Defense of the Founding, expanded edition, by Robert R. Reilly
God Bless America: Prayers & Reflections For Our Country (published by Inspirio, the gift group of Zondervan)
This watercolor, painted in 1800 by William Russell Birch (1755-1834) shows the only completed portion of the US Capitol at that time. It is where the US Congress, the Supreme Court, and the DC courts met, and where the Library of Congress housed its collection.
It is also where some Washingtonians gathered to worship on Sundays. Steeples & Domes will tell you more about this odd (to us) practice of using government buildings for religious purposes. It is just one of many curiosities in early Washington, DC history. And these curiosities dot Washington, and American, history right up to the present day.
Image source: Library of Congress, Control Number 2004661947
Here’s a church that needs no introduction:
Still standing after all these years!
Baroness Hyde de Neuville painted St. John’s Church, and the Richard Cutts House, from a third floor window at Decatur House, Washington, DC, in 1822.
Credit: Henry Luce III Center for the Study of American Culture, New-York Historical Society
They arrived and they look beautiful. Thank you, 48 Hour Books, for a superb print job.
And . . .
. . . thanks to art director/graphic designer Chris Costello (https://chriscostello.design/),
graphic designer Lizzie Lane (https://lizzielanedesigns.myportfolio.com/),
historical/architectural painter Peter Waddell (https://peterwaddell.com/),
digital historical map artisan Brian Kraft (who graciously created a story map for Steeples & Domes at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/368b1c774470443aadf7a25aa8a9b1ac),
and preparator Dan Slattery . . .
for making the text come to life.
Take a walk back in time to the first century of Washington, DC!
 | Diane Sloan on Pause |
| Benefits of Cinnamon… on Cinnamon or Cassia? | |
 | Alexandra on Thought for the Day |
 | Cindy Meredith on Staying Cool |
 | Chanti on Word for the Day |
The Wellness Librarian 