CAG Salutes Oral History Pioneers at City Tavern Club January 19:
Fond Memories and Funny Stories
View Oral History Interviews
 Oral History meeting at City Tavern Club
The Oral History Project celebrated
its inaugural year by
honoring the first ten Georgetowners
to record their memories of
living, working, and raising families
in Georgetown over the years. These
“Oral History Pioneers,” Frida Burling,
Betty Hays, Hugh Jacobsen, Ray
Kukulski, Jack Lynch, Lucy Moorhead,
John Prince, John Richardson,
Al Wheeler, and Page Wilson, each
shared their favorite memories with a
standing-room-only crowd of 140 at
the City Tavern Club on Tuesday,
January 19. CAG President Jennifer
Altemus introduced the honored
guests and also acknowledged the
hard-working oral history committee
and interviewers. The City Tavern
Club hosted this special CAG
evening and manager Steve Andronica
and City Tavern Association President
Richard Meyer also welcomed
the crowd. Celebrating its 50th
anniversary this year, the club was
the perfect setting for an evening of
Georgetown memories.
Annie Lou Berman gave an
overview of the first year of the project
and then turned the microphone to the
honorees for some great stories. John
Prince began the evening by revealing
he was the first manager of the City
Tavern Club when it opened in 1959.
He was hired a year before the club
opened and helped make many decisions
about the interior design of the
club. He said most of the paintings at
the club came from the basement of
Evermay and he chuckled as he
remembered the wallpaper of the ballroom
originally being “a much
brighter silver.” Architect Hugh Jacobsen
explained that the ballroom was at
one time a courtyard with no ceiling
where coaches pulled in and let guests
enter the inn through the elegant staircase
now at the back of the room.
 John Prince and Frida Burling share a laugh Several of the pioneers noted the
neighborhood has changed very little
in some ways. Frida Burling, who has
resided in Georgetown for over fifty
years, said, “We are a community and
we love each other ... Georgetown is
my home, and I love it.” Lucy Moorhead,
who moved here when her husband
was elected to the House of Representatives,
described a party she and
her neighbors threw at the end of the
Kennedy administration. She detailed
how it was crashed by a young couple
and quipped “You see? Nothing has
changed in Washington!”
John Richardson’s story about
his brother-in-law and former
CAG president, Juan Cameron,
had the crowd laughing: Cameron
was on his way to a CAG meeting
about crime, when he was accosted
and shot in the leg. He entered
the meeting saying “I’ve been
shot!” — but didn’t want medical
attention, just to discuss what
could be done about crime! Others
finally persuaded him to go to
the hospital.
Honoree Betty Hays recalled how
she and her husband, following a trip
to Mexico where they fell in love
with the crafts, founded The Phoenix
to sell the station wagons’ full of
clothing and jewelry they brought
back from many subsequent trips.
Jack Lynch, a third-generation
Georgetowner, reminisced about the
horse-drawn milk carts from Chestnut
Farmers Dairy in Chevy Chase
that used to ride down N Street and
how he and his buddies roller skated
in the garage near Martin’s Tavern.
Al Wheeler highlighted the changing
landscape of the Georgetown
waterfront. What used to be a
bustling port and smelly industrial
center is now replaced with restaurants,
office buildings, and a brand
new park. Page Wilson gave the rapt
audience a “guided tour” down Q
Street and described eccentric neighbors
and the “darling house” she
bought that had a tombstone on the
roof. Her young son and his friends
later “surprised” her by lowering the
tombstone off the roof with ropes —
and it’s now in her backyard.
The tone of the evening was
summed up by Ray Kukulski who
thought it was a great idea for everyone
to go to “the local pub for some
dinner and a drink!” Annie Lou
Berman thanked each honoree for
sharing their intriguing — and often
hilarious — memories of Georgetown.
She urged people to volunteer to
become part of the program so “this
kind of celebration will continue with
the growth and expansion of this project!”
-Elizabeth Maloy
|
