Peace King Center

Formerly owned by the Mormons, this church is now the property of
the Unification Church--more commonly known as the Moonies

Once the pride of the Mormons in Washington, D.C., this stately church building at 1610 Columbia Road NW is now the property of the Unification Church (official name: The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity; colloquial nickname: The Moonies) and houses the Peace King Center. Aside from a brief mention in an article in the Washington Post in 1997, I'm unable to find any additional information about the building or how/why it changed hands on the web and, the day I photographed it, it was closed.

Interestingly, etched into the marble on the side of the building are two of Mormonism's most oft-used mottos: The Glory of God is Intelligence and The House of the Lord: Holiness to the Lord. That last phrase is also seen on Mormon temples and leads me to speculate that at one time, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may have intended to convert this church building into a temple. The architecture of the building bears striking likenesses to the church's second-largest religious edifice, the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 2/08

Daniel Webster

Memorial to statesman and orator Daniel Webster

On the west side of Scott Circle is a larger-than-life statue of New England statesman and orator Daniel Webster. Born in 1782, Webster led a distinguished political career as a representative from New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives, as a senator from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate, and as Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, and Millard Fillmore.

Close-up of a bas relief showing Daniel Webster debating the illegality of secession in the Old Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol

This statue was sculpted by Gaetano Trentanove, an Italian-American immigrant from Florence who settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The memorial to Webster was commissioned by his friend and fellow New Hampshirite Stilton Hutchins, founder of the Washington Post. Daniel Webster was best known for his oratory skills and his anti-secessionist politics (though not necessarily for his leadership skills or financial management.) The side panel on this memorial is a bas relief frieze showing Webster debating in the Old Senate Chamber in the U.S. Capitol. The topic: Why it is (was) illegal to secede from the Union.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 2/08

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oy Oy Oy!

The Embassy of Australia at 1601 Massachusetts Avenue NW

Located prominently on Scott Circle is the Embassy of Australia. It's a rather unpretentious building and while I've never actually seen anyone go in or out of it, I have seen plenty of Australian military attaches walking to or from it. Australia's ambassador to the United States is Dennis James Richardson. Prior to his appointment, he was Director General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (the equivalent of Britain's MI-6 or the U.S.'s CIA.)

According to the Australian Government's website, Australia has a population of more than 20.6 million and "is the only nation to govern an entire continent. It is the earth's largest island and the sixth-largest country in the world in land area." It is believed to have been inhabited for at least 60,000 years prior to the arrival of Europeans. The first European settlement was established by Great Britain in 1788.

Memorial commerating Australia's worst
non-combat-related air crash of World War II

Located at the back of the embassy grounds and next door to First Baptist Church is this tiny memorial to causalities of a plane crash in Australia during World War II. On July 14, 1943, a B-17 Flying Fortress took off from Bakers Creek in Queensland en route to New Guinea. The passengers were American servicemen who'd been on R&R (rest and relaxation) in Australia. Of the 41 passengers and crew on board, only one survived--Koye Kenneth Roberts of Wichita Falls, Kansas.

The Bakers Creek Air Crash was kept a secret because the Americans and Australians didn't want the Japanese to know U.S. forces were in the area. The secret remained for many years after the war, as well. In 2006, through the efforts of surviving family members and buddies of the deceased, the Australian government erected a monument to this non-combat tragedy.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 2/08

Two Things Challenge: Numbers / Letters

Diptych #1: Cool Dash and Neon Florist
(Dashboard lighting on a Volkswagon and Buckingham Florist in Arlington, VA)

I tried to have fun with this one and took a bunch of pictures of street signs, recipes in cookbooks, nutritional information on packages, crossword puzzles and word searches, and so forth. I thought about photographing license plates, but decided against that since it felt like an invasion of privacy and because I'm not willing to post my own license numbers on the internet. (Same goes for house numbers.)

Diptych #2: Analog / Digital
(The alarm clock in my bedroom and the clock radio in the office)

I thought about running downtown this morning and taking pictures of the different typefaces on the federal buildings, commercial spaces, and museums, but that requires a lot of time. (Besides, I've been downtown so many times in the last two weekends, I'm starting to look and act like the tourists!)

Diptych #3: Coast-to-Coast T-Shirts
(Places I've been in my travels: San Luis Obispo, California, and Charleston, South Carolina)

Then I thought about photographing only things with numbers and only things with letters, but that's nigh unto impossible. I finally settled on three subjects and created diptychs of each: t-shirts, clocks, and glowing/neon signs. My favorite diptych is #3, but mostly because the backs of these two t-shirts represent places I love and I have very fond memories of time spent in both!

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 4/08

National Baptist Memorial Church

National Baptist Memorial Church:
Serving the community for over 100 years

National Baptist Memorial Church (1501 Columbia Road NW) is located at the crossroads of Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant. It is across the street from All Souls, Unitarian and kitty corner from the Scottish Rite Temple and the King Peace Center (of which I will post a picture next week.) Unfortunately, the internet is yielding no information about this architecturally prominent church among the churches of 16th Street, though I did find a brief mention that the church is over 100 years old. Beyond that, nothing.

Anyone in Meridian Hill, Columbia Heights, or Mount Pleasant know anything about this house of worship?

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 2/08

Bay Bridge

Chesapeake Bay Bridge looking southeast from Sandy Point State Park

Spanning the Chesapeake in Maryland is the William Preston Lane, Jr., Memorial (Bay) Bridge. Approved for construction in 1927, the bridge was delayed for more than 20 years as a result of the Great Depression and World War II. Finally, in 1949 building commenced and was finished in 1952. Upon completion, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge was the longest fixed-span bridge of its time in the world at 4.3 miles. The original first span was two lanes wide and cost $45 million to build. Today, this span carries traffic eastbound and is the primary route from Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Annapolis, and points west of the bridge to the shores of Maryland and Delaware.

In 1969 construction commenced on a second span--this one to carry traffic westbound--and was completed in 1937 at a cost of $148 million. The westbound span is three lanes wide. During the evening rush hour, one of the lanes is reversed and heads eastbound to accommodate higher traffic volume. (The picture to the left is of the three-lane, westbound span with all lanes open.)

Over the years, the bridge has weathered several hurricanes and high wind storms with little or no damage. Occasionally, drivers fail to obey the speed limits on the bridge or improperly secure trailers and spectacular, horrific accidents have resulted. The most recent was in 2007 and involved seven cars and resulted in three deaths. In 2008, the bridge saw approximately 28 million cars cross its spans. (The photo on the right shows traffic on the westbound span with the eastbound span to the left.)

For those who enjoy bridge walks, the Bay Bridge holds an annual event that draws walkers from all over the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan Area. The walk has been canceled for 2008 and 2009, though, due to preservation projects currently underway, but when the weather cooperates, it's suppose to be a great way to see the bridge and the bay!

Chesapeake Bay Bridge from the parking lot of Northrup Grumman looking east

Click on the images to enlarge them.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 4/08

Annapolis: Oldest State House

The Maryland State, Annapolis, Maryland:
The oldest state house still in legislative use in the country

Yesterday found me in Stevensville, Maryland, meeting with a retired doctor who knits caps for cancer patients. On my way home, I stopped at Sandy Point State Park to take pictures of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I'll post pictures of that next week. I also stopped in Annapolis en route to Washington and did a quick (less than two hours) walk around Maryland's state capitol and capital city snapping pictures here and there. This is the first in three or four entries I'll post featuring this lovely city on the Bay.

According to the Maryland Historical Society, the Maryland State House in Annapolis is the "oldest in the nation still in legislative use." It was in this state house that General George Washington resigned his commission before the Continental Congress in 1783. The following year, Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris to end the Revolutionary War. In 1786, the Annapolis Convention issued a call to the states, which resulted in the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia.

The town, located on the Severn River 26 miles south of Baltimore and 35 east of Washington, D.C., was founded by Puritan exiles from Virginia in 1649. At that time, it was called Providence. Later, its name changed to Town at Proctor's, Town at the Severn, and Anne Arundel's Town. In 1694, it was renamed Annapolis after Princess Anne of Great Britain who would later become queen of the same. Annapolis distinguished itself in the colonies as a rather wealthy, cultured city. (Unfortunately, the bulk of its wealth at the time was centered in slave trading.) Today, Annapolis is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and the capital of the State of Maryland.

Construction on the Maryland State House commenced in 1772 and was completed in 1779. It was the eleventh capitol of the United States from November 1783 - August 1784, but the first peacetime capital following the Treaty of Paris. The building has the largest wooden dome constructed without nails in the nation. The grounds of the capital feature statues of native Marylanders Thurgood Marshall, a champion of Civil Rights and the first black Supreme Court justice; Roger B. Taney, fifth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; and Johann Baron de Kalb, a German soldier and volunteer and general in the Continental Army.

In addition to being the state's capital, Annapolis also has the distinction of being the home of the United States Naval Academy: the training ground for America's naval and marine officers' corps.

Click on the smaller images to enlarge.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 4/08

All Souls Church, Unitarian

All Souls Unitarian Church:
A progressive religious community for more than 185 years

All Souls Church, Unitarian (2835 16th Street NW) was founded in 1821 as First Unitarian Church. It's mandate then was to stand against slavery. Over the decades, the church has engaged in many social justice causes, including education reform, women's rights, desegregation, civil rights, poverty, and neighborhood revitalization, as well as opposition to the Vietnam war, support of anti-apartheid, and creation of youth and housing programs for the surrounding neighborhoods. The church's website isn't clear on this, but sometime in the 1950s or 1960s, the church changed its name to All Souls Church, Unitarian. The church primarily serves the neighborhoods of Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, and Mount Pleasant.

In 1969, Rev. David Eaton became the church's first black minister. Then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover considered Eaton a radical and a threat and placed an agent in the church to spy on Eaton with the purpose of removing him from the congregation. The church found out about the plan through the Freedom of Information Act, sued the government, and won.

Some additional interesting facts: When slaves aboard the ship Amistad revolted, church members John Quincy Adams and John C. Calhoun were involved in their court case; Adams for the slaves, Calhoun for the prosecution. Adams won and the slaves returned to Africa. The church's bell is a Revere Bell, cast by the son of Paul Revere and funded in part by President James Monroe. The church served as a hospital site during the Civil War. The Freedman's Relief Union for assisting former slaves was organized at First Unitarian. At around the same time as the formation of the FRU, its pastor, Rev. Wm. Henry Channing, helped form the Miner Normal School, which later become Howard University.


Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 2/08

Water

Even though I post a photo (or two or three)-a-day on D.C. Confidential, I'm not a registered City Daily Photo participant. As a result, I never know what the month's theme is until I look at the blogs of those who are registered. Coincidentally, though, I've managed to post a picture of a monthly theme twice now prior to the first of the month. Last month's theme was Mural/Graffiti and I posted this on February 26.


April's theme is Water. I think some of my pictures from the Cherry Blossom Festival over the last couple of days qualify, but I won't rehash those ones. Instead, I give you pictures of the waterfalls at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial on the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. When I was out on Friday photographing the blossoms, I walked back to my car through the FDR Memorial. In addition to the history it conveys, it also includes a number of water features. These are three of the waterfalls within the memorial. Enjoy!


To see a full list of participants in City Daily Photo, visit anyone of these excellent blogs: BostonScapes, Quincy Daily Photo, Chicago Daily Photo, Cheltenham Daily Photo, Paris Daily Photo, and Vienna Daily Photo. These are just a sample of the more-than-175 photo and city enthusiasts around the world who post pictures of the places they live and work on a daily basis!


Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 3/08

Jefferson

The Jefferson Memorial at 6:30 this morning.

The last few days have featured pictures of the cherry blossoms on the Tidal Basin. In several pictures, the Jefferson Memorial also features in the photos. This elegant, stately memorial to one of America's leading founders and great thinkers is one of four presidential memorials or monuments on or near the National Mall. The four presidents are: Jefferson, the Author of Independence; Washington, the Father of Our Country; Lincoln, the Preserver of Our Union; and Roosevelt, the Defender of Democracy.

The Jefferson Memorial, honoring America's third president, Thomas Jefferson, sits on the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. The memorial has a direct line of sight to the White House and is one of the first things every sitting president sees when he gets up in the morning. (Assuming he's looking out the window.) The Jefferson Memorial was designed by John Russell Pope and mimics the architecture of Jefferson's Rotunda at the University of Virginia. The cornerstone for the memorial was laid in November 1939 and the edifice was dedicated on April 13, 1943--the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth.

Jefferson, surrounded by his writings.

Inside the rotunda of the memorial is a 19 ft (5.8 m) statue of Jefferson sculpted by Rudulph Evans; it was added to the site in 1947. On the walls surrounding the statue are excerpts from the writings of Thomas Jefferson, including the preamble to the Declaration of Independence. Encircling the space is this famous and vigilant quote from Jefferson:

I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, (as did his friend and fellow patriot, John Adams.) He is buried in Charlottesville, Virginia, on the grounds of his beloved estate, Monticello, and within view of the school he founded, the aforementioned UVA. On his tombstone is engraved the epitaph he wrote himself: Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.

The Jefferson Memorial at sunset last Friday.

At a dinner in the White House for the winners of the Nobel Prize in the Western Hemisphere in April 1962, President John F. Kennedy said, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."


Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential, 3/08