A Community Exploring Its Past

While most Americans probably think of Capitol Hill as simply the site of the U.S. Capitol, those who live here know it as an old and thriving residential neighborhood, a small town within a large city. The Overbeck Project captures the history of this community by recording the recollections of its longtime residents and preserving other records of its fascinating past.

Project volunteers collect and transcribe interviews for posting on this site. We also sponsor a highly successful lecture series exploring our city's history. We urge you too to get involved in this exciting effort, sponsored by the Capitol Hill Community Foundation.

Transcripts newly added April, 2012: These five interview transcripts were added during April: Bill Driscoll, Harold Engle, Harry Ford, John Parker, and Frank Reed.

Overbeck Project Teams with Capitol Hill Village

On February 11, 2012, Capitol Hill Village sponsored an informal gathering of people who remember the 1963 March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his "I Have a Dream" speech. Overbeck Project volunteers supported the effort by recording and transcribing the presentations and discussion that took place. The full transcript of that session is now available. View Online | View PDF

The success of the 2012 event has prompted the two organizations to initiate plans for a similar program in February, 2013, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the march. We hope to involve people who were eyewitnesses in 1963, as well as young people from the Capitol Hill neighborhood, to ensure that the stories are passed down to new generations. A planning session for the 2013 event is scheduled for May 19 at the Hill Center in the 3rd floor Frager’s Conference Room. All are welcome. Teachers, librarians, scouting leaders and others who work with young people are particularly encouraged to attend. Please call the CHV office, 202-543-1778, by Thursday, May 17 to indicate you wish to attend.

Exciting News 

The Overbeck Project has gone into publishing, with a wonderful new book by Washington writer Mary Z. Gray describing the Capitol Hill of her 1920s childhood. Go to the Overbeck History Press page to learn more about 301 East Capitol: Tales From the Heart of the Hill, and watch for announcements of book-signing events in the neighborhood.

Now 93, Mary Gray grew up above her family's inherited funeral home at 301 East Capitol (a building owned today by the Folger Shakespeare Library) and was a regular contributor to The Washington Post, The New York Times and other publications for over half a century. Cul de Sac cartoonist Richard Thompson calls her "one of the funniest raconteurs I know." Her book is available at local shops and at Amazon.com.