The Association of the Oldest Inhabitants of the
District of Columbia
As Washington, DC’s oldest civic organization, the Association of the Oldest Inhabitants is dedicated to preserving the District’s heritage through member reminiscences as well as preserving and promoting the L’Enfant, McMillan and Capital Framework Plans. Monthly luncheon programs (averaging 70-80 members and guests) feature h
istory, reminiscences, critiques of civic improvements and calls to action to save threatened heritage sites. Established December 7, 1865 -- immediately following the conclusion of the Civil War --the founding members were concerned that an influx of new residents, returning soldiers and government employees would distract attention from the city’s first 65-years of history. The founders wanted to foster pride in their Nation’s Capital. Its 31 prominent citizens and businessmen (including Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, Peter Force and J. Carroll Brent) wanted “…to keep alive the reminiscences of the past and the social and paternal communion of the present and future.” The original constitution emphasized respect for local governmental authority and national patriotism above sectional differences. In more recent years, the AOI has supported noteworthy organizations such as the Military Road School Preservation Trust, the First United States Colored Troops Cadet Regiment (formerly the Marie H. Reed Civil War Cadet Academy), the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. and its Kiplinger Research Library, the Heurich House Museum, the Masters of Tourism Administration studies program of the George Washington University, the Franklin School Coalition, the Friends of Pierce Mill, Professor Mark Mack’s archeological research of the Walter Pierce Park Cemeteries and the archeological examination of Yarrow Mamout’s property in Georgetown . Among its noteworthy accomplishments is the ‘return’ of the Governor Alexander Robey Shepherd statue to the grounds of the John A. Wilson (District Building) in 2005 after a 25-year long effort to return the U.S.G. Dunbar sculpture to its place of prominence near its original location where dedicated in 1909. In 2010, the AOI placed a biographic, memorial plaque at the base of the statue detailing Shepherd’s life and civic accomplishments and it was unveiled with the help of students from the Shepherd Elementary School and DC Council Members. In time for its 150th anniversary, AOI President Bill Brown indexed more than 4000 membership records and photos in AOI’s archives at the Kiplinger Research Library to permit on-line queries by AOI members and researchers. In its efforts to preserve and promote the L’Enfant and McMillan Plans, and now the Monumental Core Framework Plan, the AOI has taken strong positions on maintaining and/or restoring District streets to the original L’Enfant vision by speaking out against the rerouting of L & M Streets in the vicinity of the new convention center, the restoration of the 900 block of G Street in front of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, ensuring the restoration of 10th and I Streets in the planned development of the ‘old’ convention center site and, most recently, supporting the efforts of the NCPC to reclaim historic L’Enfant rights-of-way affected by planned re-development of the 10th Street, SW corridor. Additionally, the AOI supports and/or partners with like-minded civic organizations and preservation interests to stabilize, conserve and restore the Civil War Circle Forts Parks, provides input on plans for restoring, protecting and improving the National Mall, supports efforts to ensure the survival of Adolf Cluss’ buildings such as the Franklin School and the Smithsonian’s Arts & Industries Building, ensuring the autonomy of the DC War Memorial and providing testimony before the HPRB in matters of historic building designation, where appropriate. One of AOI’s more intriguing recent initiatives involves the efforts of to identify and contact past members of The Association of the Oldest Inhabitants (Colored), Incorporated, an African American organization founded in 1916 which paralleled the goals and mission of the AOI. AOI Colored, Incorporated faded into obscurity in the early 1970s but after several years of research, in 2011 the AOI connected with a granddaughter of a past president of the organization and arrangements have been made to preserve and archive his records for posterity and research purposes at the Moorland-Spingarn Library at Howard University. On the occasion of its sesquicentennial AOI not only turned over all of the historic DC Fire Department apparatus and artifacts in its possession to the Friendship Fire Association Museum but also donated $150,000 in $25,000 grants among its six, favorite heritage organizations: The Military Road School Preservation Trust, the Friendship Fire Association Museum, the Heurich House Museum, the Kiplinger Research Library of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., the Committee of 100 on the Federal City and the George Washington University’s School of Business’ Masters of Tourism Administration Program. At its monthly members’ luncheon and annual elections on November 16, 2018, AOI members elected their first female president: Jan A.K. Jan is the granddaughter of the District’s premier brewer Christian Heurich (also an AOI member) and served as AOI’s first female Vice-President. The AOI invites “Young and Old Alike to Join in Remembering the Past and Working for An Even Better Future.”
Web: www.aoidc.org
or email: [email protected]
