Thursday, March 31st
Speaker Series: "Georgetown: An Untold History of the Iconic Neighborhood"
Location
Panelist Discussion will be held in the Drawing Room of The Woodrow Wilson House, followed by light refreshments in the Dining Room.
The webinar will also be available Online (Register for Zoom Link).
Schedule
Doors Open: 5:00 pm
Panel/Webinar: 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Reception: 6:30 pm - 7:00 PM
Admission
FREE, suggested donation $10
Registration required
Event Details
Long known for its high-end shops, charming cobblestone streets, and expensive homes, a deeper look into Georgetown reveals a long history of the displacement of the Black community that once called it home. Join our panel as we discuss the shifting demographics and changing identity of this iconic neighborhood.
PANELISTS:
Ramona Greene is a real estate agent and longtime Georgetown Resident. Before becoming a certified real estate agent, Ramona worked as a real estate property appraiser gaining invaluable knowledge about the real estate field. Then the proverbial light went off and she began buying multiple properties and renting them. Finding that real estate was her true passion, and with the impact of the strong female matriarchs in her family, Ramona became a licensed Realtor(R), representing the buying and selling of properties in the DC area. She is a Howard University grad, has been in the real estate business for over 25 years and is an active, single mom in the DCPS system.
A. Raleigh Marshall is a 4th generation Georgetowner having grown up in the neighborhood, and is the current steward of the historic family home on P St. in Georgetown. Raleigh currently works for Microsoft Corp. as a Customer Engineer with Microsoft Federal, serving in Diversity & Inclusion leadership roles within his company, and a member of the Racial Injustice and Inequality Committee (RIIC) within his organization. In these roles, Raleigh helps these organizations tell a more complete history of our nation’s beginnings to promote unity and understanding today. In 2019 JMU named a residence hall after Raleigh’s third-great-grandfather Paul Jennings, who served as US President James Madison’s enslaved valet both at Montpelier and in the White House and went on to be a notable community leader and abolitionist. Raleigh supports community organizations such as The Pearl Coalition (Build the “Spirit of the Pearl” Schooner - Welcome to The Pearl Coalition Home) as a board member, institutional organizations such as the James Madison University Center for Civic Engagement where he serves as an external board member (James Madison University - Madison Center External Advisory Board (jmu.edu)), and the Montpelier Foundation (Montpelier Foundation History | Montpelier) as a special advisor and liaison.
Dr. Monica Roaché is a 5th generation Georgetowner who served two terms as Commissioner on Georgetown’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission. In June 2019, she was elected as the At Large Committewoman on the DC Democratic State Committee. Monica has been an Assistant Principal in both elementary and middle public schools in Northern Virginia for the past fifteen years, as well as an Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University and Trinity College. Her family has resided in DC’s East village of Georgetown for five generations and was featured in the book and video Black Georgetown Remembered and the 2004 Washington Post article “We’re Still Here.” She has served on the Parish Council for Epiphany Catholic Church in Georgetown, originally founded by her ancestors. She is a Co-Block Captain for the Citizens Association of Georgetown (CAG) and organized and championed the concerns of her Georgetown community. She recently was invited to contribute to the 30th Anniversary Edition of the book “Black Georgetown Remembered” which is now available for purchase. Monica feels that some of her greatest achievements in her Georgetown Community was when she assisted with leading the efforts to rename the Rose Park tennis courts after two African American Georgetowners and tennis stars—sisters Margaret and Matilda Roumania Peters. Monica also led the efforts in partnership with Georgetown Visitation School and ANC 2E Commissioner Joe Gibbons to hold two clean up Days at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church/Female Union Band Cemetery. Monica also spoke at a DC Council Hearing to ask the city to continue to support the lease extension for the Jackson Arts Center. The lease was renewed.
Neville Waters has extensive experience in marketing, communications, content development and event management, including the management of various creative artists; stints with the WNBA and the NBA Development League; Marriott Hotels and the DC Sports & Entertainment Commission, producing a radio magazine show and a local Washington, DC community affairs television program. He currently works for the District government. Other achievements include the NBC Fellowship Award; the National Black MBA Scholarship; the Walter Kaitz Foundation Award; the Achievement in Radio Award; an Addy Award; an Effie Award for advertising effectiveness, the Adrian Award from the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association and Jack the Rapper’s Radio Program Director of the Year. A sixth-generation Washingtonian, Mr. Waters graduated magna cum laude from Springfield College (MA); received a master's degree from there two years later, and later earned an MBA from Georgetown University. He has served on the Board of Directors for the Sidwell Friends School Alumni Association and currently serves on the Board of Center City Public Charter Schools and leads the Mt. Zion-Female Union Band Foundation that is working to preserve the oldest African American cemetery in Washington, DC.
MODERATOR:
Edward Gerber has served on the Advisory Council of the Woodrow Wilson House for over 40 years. Ed spent much of his professional life in Georgetown, serving first as Vice-President of a minority-controlled Savings and Loan Association in DC, founded in 1968 immediately after the civil disturbances following Martin Luther King’s assassination with the goal of combat “red-lining” in lending. He then worked at The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation during the infamous S&L crisis of the 1980s, where he organized nationwide teams that closed insolvent thrift organizations. Passionate for historic preservation, he has been involved in multiple DC preservation groups, including Historic Georgetown Inc.
He has since moved back to his native Connecticut, with the intention of saving the historic Sturges–Wright House built in 1796. The newly announced Edward F. Gerber Urban Preservation Fund will support preservation of historic private owner-occupied properties in key urban areas of Connecticut, allowing Historic New England to continue its work to build a powerful network of historic preservation and community stakeholders by providing critical support to historic residential property owners in Connecticut’s urban centers.