Council Withdraws Funding for Group
Loss of $500,000 Shocks Leaders

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 16, 2007

The D.C. Council voted yesterday to yank $500,000 in funding from the Historical Society of Washington, an organization that has documented the happenings of the nation's capital for 113 years.

There was no debate, save for the request from council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), who cast doubt on the value of the group. "A question about the historical society: What do they do to deserve any amount of tax dollars?" he asked.

The council was silent. No one spoke up on behalf of the society.

Instead, the $500,000 was divvied up -- $100,000 to parks and recreation, $200,000 to the Office of Latino Affairs and $200,000 to Cease Fire . . . Don't Smoke the Brothers, an anti-violence group that targets youth.

The funding was part of the $5.7 billion fiscal 2008 budget, which the council initially approved and which will receive a final vote June 5.

Leaders of the Historical Society were shocked.

"What's disturbing for us is that this is a big red flag that we have not done a good job of letting the council know what we do," executive director Bell Clement said. "We've got to address that."

The $500,000 is a huge portion of the group's $1.3 million operating budget, she said.

The group previously received $650,000 for operating funds and $950,000 to pay down the construction loan used to restore the historic Carnegie Library and expand it into the City Museum of Washington, Clement said.

The City Museum, for which the group raised $24 million, was a commercial failure and closed less than two years after it opened with fanfare in May 2003.

In its first 15 months, the museum drew 36,536 paying patrons, a dismal attendance compared with the annual projections of 100,000 to 450,000 paying visitors.

Barry pointed to the museum flop as a factor in his recommendation to strip the funding.

However, Clement outlined the group's other activities in an interview. The society has 1 million photographs and 700 manuscripts in its collection, she said. "All of these are unique resources that tell the story of the District," she said. "We don't value our history, and we need to. . . . Washingtonians don't know Washington."

Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), whose ward includes the City Museum and library, had little to say yesterday. "I'm telling them to talk to Marion Barry," he said.

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) said it was clear that there was no support for the group, and he tapped its funds for the Office of Latino Affairs. "Once the challenge was made, it was clear to me that the money was going to go. I'm just glad it went to these worthwhile community groups," he said.

There may be hope for the society if the council changes its mind and finds money by the final vote June 5, said Vincent C. Gray (D), council chairman.

"We almost made the historical society history, didn't we?" he said.

Almost, Clement said.

"We'll find money," she said. "We're going to keep going."