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Washington, D.C.

The Fight for Equality: A Historic Look at Washington, D.C.

Program No. 25152RJ

Learn about the people, places and events in our nation’s capital that have shaped movements for civil and human rights for more than a century.

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Length

6 days

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2,599

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6 days

5 nights

13 meals

5B 4L 4D

Check-in, Orientation, Welcome Dinner, Lecture

Virginia

Women’s History Walk, DAR Museum

Virginia

Civil Rights, Black Broadway Walk, Anacostia Museum

Virginia

LGBTQIA+ History, Pride Walk

Virginia

Lecture, Volunteer Kitchen

Virginia

Program Concludes

Virginia

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At a Glance

Learn about the people, places and events in our nation’s capital that have shaped movements for civil and human rights for more than a century.

Activity Level

Keep the Pace

Moderate walking; some uneven ground. Standing up to two hours

Small Group

Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.

Best of all, you’ll…

Experience private, expert-led walking explorations of sites and neighborhoods integral to each movement you study.
Support Black and woman-owned restaurants and others supportive of the LGBTQ community.
Enjoy expert lectures providing context and commentary on the pivotal figures and events of the nation’s human and civil rights movements.

Featured Expert

All trip experts

Steve Flynn

Steve Flynn was raised in Oregon. He pursued graduate work in intercultural studies and has extensive experience leading educational groups for students and adults both within and outside the U.S. A current resident of Washington, D.C., he has spent his professional career working in international student exchange programs for the University of North Carolina system.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Steve Flynn View biography

Ella Schiralli View biography

Ella Schiralli is a certified D.C. group leader with a passion for sharing the culture, history, and modern vibrancy of our nation’s capital. She graduated from George Washington University with a B.B.A. and E.M.B.A. Ella values diversity and is passionate about leadership. She has had the opportunity to work and volunteer in organizations that range from advanced homeland security solutions and public policy advocacy, to women’s military achievements, the performing arts, and children’s advocacy.

Suggested Reading List (10 books)

Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop

You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.

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The Fight for Equality: A Historic Look at Washington, D.C.

Program Number: 25152

Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington

by James Kirchick

For decades, the specter of homosexuality haunted Washington. The mere suggestion that a person might be gay destroyed reputations, ended careers, and ruined lives. At the height of the Cold War, fear of homosexuality became intertwined with the growing threat of international communism, leading to a purge of gay men and lesbians from the federal government. In the fevered atmosphere of political Washington, the secret “too loathsome to mention” held enormous, terrifying power.

Fellow Travelers

by Thomas Mallon

In a world of bare-knuckled ideology and secret dossiers, Timothy Laughlin, a recent college graduate and devout Catholic, is eager to join the crusade against Communism. An encounter with a handsome State Department official, Hawkins Fuller, leads to Tim's first job and, after Fuller's advances, his first love affair. As McCarthy mounts a desperate bid for power and internal investigations focus on “sexual subversives” in the government, Tim and Fuller find it ever more dangerous to navigate their double lives while moving between the diplomatic world of Foggy Bottom and NATO's front line in Europe.

Here Because We're Queer

by Brian Miller

A year after the Stonewall riots in New York, the Gay Liberation Front of Washington, D.C., held its first meeting on June 30, 1970. GLF-DC's activities included protests, publications and communal living experiments. Although the group faded quickly, in part because of disorganization and divisiveness about goals, activities and actions, its attendees established openly gay community organizations, including some long-lasting institutions in Washington-Capital Pride, Whitman-Walker Health, the Metropolitan Community Church and Lambda Rising bookstore. The book is based on interviews with more than 50 participants.

Black Broadway in Washington, DC

by Briana Thomas

Before chain coffeeshops and luxury high-rises, before even the beginning of desegregation and the 1968 riots, Washington's Greater U Street was known as Black Broadway. From the early 1900s into the 1950s, African Americans plagued by Jim Crow laws in other parts of town were free to own businesses here and built what was often described as a "city within a city." Local author and journalist Briana A. Thomas narrates U Street's rich and unique history, from the early triumph of emancipation to the days of civil rights pioneer Mary Church Terrell and music giant Duke Ellington, through the recent struggles of gentrification.

The House of Eve

by Sadeqa Johnson

“A triumph of historical fiction” (The Washington Post), an instant New York Times bestseller, and a Reese’s Book Club pick, set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.

The Food Fighters: A History of DC Central Kitchen Second Edition: Revised and Expanded

by Alexander Justice Moore

Robert Egger did not want to start a charity, or even volunteer at one. But after his wife dragged him out one night to serve meals on the streets of Washington, DC, Egger realized that most of what society called “charity” did more to reward the people giving their time and money than it did to liberate those on the receiving end. He set aside his career running nightclubs and vowed to come up with something better. Egger named his gritty front-line nonprofit DC Central Kitchen. Today, it is one of America’s most beloved and respected solutions to hunger and poverty. From its improbable beginnings 35 years ago, the organization has redefined the issues of food waste, unemployment, mass incarceration, school nutrition, and chronic disease through award-winning programs and a gutsy, risk-taking mindset that allowed it to hurdle one obstacle after another. Written by an organizational insider, this expanded second edition of The Food Fighters shows how DC Central Kitchen’s path-breaking approach to combating the root causes of hunger is more relevant today than ever before. Packed with practical perspectives from award-winning nonprofit professionals, inspiring first-hand accounts from survivors of homelessness and incarceration, and the exclusive insights of high-profile partners like José Andrés, Spike Mendelsohn, Craig Newmark, and Michael R. Klein, The Food Fighters equips readers to take on hunger in their own communities while challenging traditional notions of what it means to do good.

Historically African American Leisure Destinations Around Washington, D.C.

by Patsy Mose Fletcher

From the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, African Americans in the Washington, D.C. area sought leisure destinations where they could relax without the burden of racial oppression. Local picnic parks such as Eureka and Madre's were accessible by streetcars. Black-owned steamboats ferried passengers seeking sun and sand to places like Collingwood Beach, and African American families settled into quiet beach-side communities along the Western Shore of Maryland. Author and public historian Patsy M. Fletcher reveals the history behind Washington's forgotten era of African American leisure.

111 Places in Women's History in Washington That You Must Not Miss

by Kaitlin Calogera and Rebecca Grawl

Women's history is everywhere in Washington, if curious locals and adventurous tourists know where to look. As the District of Columbia evolved into one of the world's top tourist destinations, women emerged as pioneers and a town created to house the federal government matured into a gilded city affluent in feminist culture. Historic houses, hidden alleyways, and neighborhood parks stand as memorials to America's founding mothers who built the nation's capital. This book records the legacies of these women and encourages readers to explore their names on headstones, street signs, and buildings, while also discovering where hidden history is unmarked.

Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait?: Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Fight for the Right to Vote

by Tina Cassidy

In this “heroic narrative” (The Wall Street Journal), discover the inspiring and timely account of the complex relationship between leading suffragist Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson in her fight for women’s equality.

Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C.

by Ashante M. Reese

In this book, Ashanté M. Reese makes clear the structural forces that determine food access in urban areas, highlighting Black residents’ navigation of and resistance to unequal food distribution systems. Linking these local food issues to the national problem of systemic racism, Reese examines the history of the majority-Black Deanwood neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, Reese not only documents racism and residential segregation in the nation’s capital but also tracks the ways transnational food corporations have shaped food availability. By connecting community members’ stories to the larger issues of racism and gentrification, Reese shows there are hundreds of Deanwoods across the country.

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