This project documents the homes of literary authors who once lived in the greater Washington, DC region. We wanted to honor the widest range of literary authors possible, including authors of different backgrounds, writing styles, and influences. We include novelists, poets, playwrights, and memoirists. We do not include writers who were solely journalists, and, with few exceptions, authors of genre literature. We have tried hard to include authors from a range of time periods, from the city’s founding in 1800 through the present.
Recent Additions
What’s New?
We got a great review in the Washington City Paper in August 2020, calling our project “an online database of more than 300 writers and their D.C. homes [that] offers a glittering who’s who of Washington literary history.”
Our official relaunch celebration took place on November 29, 2018. After a decade of implementing this project independently, co-editors Kim Roberts and Dan Vera were pleased to celebrate the project’s new permanent home. Sponsored by HumanitiesDC, this updated version of the website features a responsive design easily navigable by desktop or smartphone users. They have promised to continue and preserve our research on writers’ homes in perpetuity.
HumanitiesDC is one of 56 state humanities councils and the capital’s local affiliate for the National Endowment for the Humanities.
With our latest additions, we are now documenting the homes of 405 writers who lived and wrote in the greater Washington, DC region!
Just some of our many homes...
Fletcher Knebel
4832 Langdrum Lane, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
Fletcher Knebel
1528 Wiscasset Road, Bethesda, MD, USA
Margaret Louisa Sullivan Burke
1602 15th St NW, Washington, DC, USA
Walter Kerr
1003 Varnum St. NE
Hugh J. Parry
4814 Falstone Ave.
Mery Berri Chapman Hansbrough
1100 Alabama Ave SE, Washington, DC, USA
Mildred Cram
1227 S St. NW, Washington DC
Stephen Spender
323 Second Street SE, Washington DC
Josiah Henson
11420 Old Georgetown Rd.
Anna Julia Cooper
201 T Street NW, Washington DC
Mary Stone Hanley
304 Aspen St NW, Washington, DC, USA
Yoonmee Chang
5004 Fulton St NW, Washington, DC, USA
L. Ron Hubbard
1812 19th St NW, Washington DC
Cecilio J. Carneiro
2015 Belmont Street NW
Lee Lally
4110 Emery Pl. NW
Edith Brown Mirick
3314 Newark St NW, Washington, DC, USA
Edith Brown Mirick
1638 R Street Northwest, Washington, DC, USA
Stanley Kunitz
19 2nd St. NE, Washington DC
Thomas Nelson Page
1759 R St. NW, Washington DC
Barbara F. Lefcowitz
4989 Battery Lane, Bethesda, MD, USA
Mary P. Burrill
1716 17th St. NW
Mary P. Burrill
1256 Kearney St. NE
Mary P. Burrill
1758 T St. NW, Washington DC
John Philip Sousa
636 G St SE, Washington, DC
Cyrus Adler
1627 R St NW, Washington DC
Latest from Twitter
A Twitter List by TwitterDevAuthor Birthdays
in August
Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779)
Charlotte Forten Grimké (August 17, 1837)
Charles Warren Stoddard (August 7, 1843)
Anna Julia Cooper (August 10, 1858)
Florence Bailey (August 8, 1863)
Edith Hamilton (August 12, 1867)
Mabel Cornish Bond (August 24, 1867)
Paul Claudel (August 6, 1868)
Herbert Hoover (August 10, 1874)
Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876)
Mary P. Burrill (August 1, 1881)
Evalyn Walsh McLean (August 1, 1886)
Zenobia Camprubí Aymar (August 31, 1887)
Conrad Aiken (August 5, 1889)
Maria Martins (August 7, 1894)
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (August 8, 1896)
Louise Bogan (August 11, 1897)
Ezra Taft Benson (August 4, 1899)
Courtland Darke Baker (August 23, 1899)
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (August 18, 1900)
Myrna Loy (August 2, 1905)
Julia Child (August 15, 1912)
Edward Weismiller (August 3, 1915)
James Tiptree, Jr. (August 24, 1915)
Ben Bradlee (August 26, 1921)
Edwin Palmer Hoyt (August 5, 1923)
Russell Baker (August 14, 1925)
Blanca Varela (August 10, 1926)
Rod Jellema (August 11, 1927)
Ann McLaughlin (August 29, 1928)
Vasily P. Aksyonov (August 20, 1932)
Vernon Jordan (August 15, 1935)
John Phillips (August 30, 1935)
Hugo Black (August 19, 1937)
John Elsberg (August 4, 1945)
Nan Fry (August 6, 1945)
Hilary Tham (August 20, 1946)
Cecilia Cassidy (August 20, 1948)
Tim Dlugos (August 5, 1950)
Chasen Gaver (August 7, 1953)