Capitol Hill Restoration Society

2021-2022 CHRS Board of Directors

Elected Members

President: Beth Purcell

Beth Purcell moved to Capitol Hill in 1987, and later joined the CHRS board, serving as President from 2009 to 2012. After a career at the Treasury Department, she earned an MS in historic preservation from George Washington University and chairs the CHRS Historic Preservation Committee. In 2020 she wrote Capitol Hill: Past & Present (published by Arcadia Publishing). She is also the President of Trees for Capitol Hill and a member of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City.  In her spare time she walks her dogs.

Past President: Elizabeth Nelson

Elizabeth Nelson and her husband, Nick Alberti have lived on Capitol Hill since 1985. She joined the Board in 2005 serving three terms as an At-Large member before becoming Community Relations Chair in 2010, webmaster in 2014 and President in 2016.  Elizabeth is a prolific knitter with an interest in arts education. She volunteers at Maury ES and organizes exhibits for the Hill Center’s Young Artists Gallery. She also serves as Treasurer of Trees for Capitol Hill. She’s committed to preserving Capitol Hill’s charm and neighborhood feel and to maintaining public space as a community asset.

First Vice-President: Angie Schmidt

Angie Schmidt moved with her family to their circa-1881 house on Capitol Hill in 2002. Her career began in editing and publishing and she currently works part-time handling the books and scheduling for a small business on Capitol Hill. She started volunteering with CHRS in 2016, serving as an editor for the CHRS News, which she continues to edit. Angie has always loved cities (her degree at GWU focused on the urban environment) and thinks that Capitol Hill encapsulates all the best parts of what Washington has to offer, both in the very old and historic, and the new and improved.

Second Vice-President: Tina May

Tina May moved to Capitol Hill in 1982 for an affordably-priced rental house with college friends and has lived here ever since. Soon thereafter, she and her husband Peter bought their first house in need of restoration. Working with little more than a subscription to the Old House Journal and a lot of patience, they completed that house, and then a second, and are now working on their third, and most challenging, house. Meanwhile, she raised three sons and works in the music business doing concert production. They have been members of CHRS since at least 2002—back in the days when a membership included a subscription to the OHJ.

Treasurer: Nick Alberti

Nick Alberti moved to Capitol Hill in 1985 with his wife, Elizabeth Nelson. They were attracted to the charming architecture of the Hill and are grateful to have found a home in the Historic District. Nick retired from a career as a statistician with the Census Bureau in 2010. He served as a commissioner in ANC 6A where he was initially the Treasurer and later the Chair. He was appointed to the DC Alcohol Beverage Control Board in 2008, serving eleven years. He is currently a member of the Capitol Hill Village Endowment Board, the CHRS Endowment Committee, the CHRS Zoning Committee and the ANC 6A committees providing advice on zoning and alcohol beverage licensing.

Secretary: Maygene Daniels

Maygene Daniels and her husband Steve have lived on Capitol Hill for more than 45 years and raised their children here. She began her career as an archivist at the National Archives, where she advocated for preservation of historic DC Building Permits, which remain a key resource for house histories on Capitol Hill. Subsequently, she founded the archives at the National Gallery of Art, where she worked for more than 30 years. In her decades of archival work, she explored subjects relating to the history, urban development and architecture of the city of Washington, the Mall and Capitol Hill. She presented the February 2021 Preservation Cafe on the subject of House History Research. Maygene is also Chair of the CHRS Membership Committee.

At-Large Member: Jim Thackaberry

Jim Thackaberry is a registered architect. He moved to Washington in 1974 to work for Harry Weese Associates, the Metro architect. He has been both in private practice and government employment having concluded his career working many years at the District Department of Housing and Community Development. Upon arriving in the city, he settled on Capitol Hill and immediately loved living here. He then bought the townhouse that he’s been renovating and restoring. He joined the Restoration Society shortly after moving here. He is also a member of the CHRS Historic Preservation Committee.

At-Large Member: Chris Mullins

Christine Mullins and her husband Daniel have lived on Capitol Hill since 2003 when they moved here from Adam’s Morgan. They came to love the Capitol Hill community through their involvement in Maury Elementary School with their two children. Chris has been happy to call Washington, D.C. her home, where everyone and everything seems to have an intriguing and thought-provoking story! She led a higher education nonprofit that advocates for community colleges that teach online for nearly 25 years, and now works with faculty to create free online courses for college students across the globe. Chris brings her love of historic buildings, tin ceilings, old fixtures, finished wood, and walled gardens to CHRS. She organizes the CHRS Preservation Cafés.

At-Large Member: Beth Hague

Beth Hague’s lifelong appreciation of historic buildings, preservation, and community led her to fall in love with Capitol Hill when she arrived in Washington, DC.  Turning to CHRS and the city for expertise, and inspired by community involvement in land use planning, Beth was heavily involved in the effort to establish the Emerald Street Historic District, where she has lived since 2002. Beth serves on the CHRS Board and Zoning Committee, and organizes Membership Meetings. During the week, Beth specializes in China issues at the State Department.  In her free time, she enjoys walking through Hill neighborhoods, singing with the Capitol Hill Chorale and serving on their board, attending Chiarina concerts, and hiking with her husband Libo and son Nathaniel.

 

At-Large Member: Joanna Kendig

Joanna Kendig (At-large) became a Capitol Hill resident in 2008. Since then her attachment to this historic neighborhood has grown and deepened.  Having grown up in post war Europe where many historic cities endured horrific destruction, she savors living in this city where much of the original historic and social fabric remains intact, being largely spared the ravages of urban renewal.  Joanna is a firm believer in preserving the past while supporting compatible change.  In her architectural career, she worked on both new and historic preservation projects. She serves on the CHRS Historic Preservation Committee and is proud to support CHRS’s mission to “promote, preserve and enhance the character of our historic neighborhoods”.

At-Large Member: Jackie Krieger

Jackie Krieger moved to the Washington DC area over 40 years ago. Landing on Capitol Hill, she immediately fell in love with the area’s history, architecture and community spirit and never left.  Jackie recently retired from a career at the Environmental Protection Agency, working primarily in the areas of climate change and pollution prevention.  She is currently serving on the CHRS House and Garden Tour committee, managing the advertising and assisting with house selection, and staffing for the event.  She also serves as our Little League rep. Jackie currently lives just off Lincoln Park with her 17-year old son Adam.  She enjoys working in her garden, travel, studying the Italian language, and walking with her dog Lucky around the neighborhood.

At-Large Member: Gary M. Peterson

Gary Peterson, with his wife Trudy, moved to Capitol Hill in 1969 and bought their current home on Capitol Hill in 1976. He has volunteered with the Society ever since, initially with the House Tour and later serving terms as Secretary, Vice-President, President, and long-time Chair of the Zoning Committee. He recently stepped down from this last position but, lucky for us, he will continue as a committee member.  Gary was instrumental in the Capitol Hill Community Foundation’s fundraising efforts to restore the Eastern Market after the 2007 fire.  He is an avid petanque player and a rabid Washington Nationals fan.

 Chairs of the following committees also serve on the Board:

Budget & Administration (Nick Alberti), City Planning (Monte Edwards), Communications (Karine Semple), Community Development (Chuck Burger), Community Relations (Elizabeth Nelson), Environment (Joanna Kendig), Historic Preservation (Beth Purcell), House Tour (Elizabeth Nelson), Membership (Maygene Daniels), Public Safety (Undine Nash), Zoning (Beth Hague)