Capitol Hill Restoration Society

Capitol Hill’s Rainbow History – Overbeck Lecture

Posted on August 15th, 2016

On Monday, September 19, 2016 the Overbeck History Lecture Series welcomes speaker Mark Meinke  who will highlight the role of Capitol Hill residents, organizations and entertainment establishments in Washington’s emerging LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) movement.  In a powerpoint presentation, Meinke, co-founder of both the Rainbow History Project and Rainbow Heritage Network, will share his deep knowledge of the 1960s – 1980s when the Hill became known as one of the “go-to” areas for gay and lesbian activism and socializing.  Meinke will re-introduce many of the sites and people that contributed to the LGBTQ community on Capitol Hill and the city.

In addition to Meinke’s involvement with the Rainbow History Project (a local archival and historical organization that provides a web-based digitized archive of primary documents) and the Rainbow Heritage Network (organized for the recognition and preservation of LGBTQ sites, history and heritage nationally), he is a member of the National Park Service’s Scholars Roundtable for its LGBTQ Heritage Initiative.  He prepared the nominations for the Capitol Hill Furies Collective (219 11th Street SE) and for the Bayard Rustin Home at 340 W. 28th Street in New York City that were recently added to the National Register for Historic Places.

The lecture will be held at the Hill Center at 921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE at 7:30 pm.  As always, admission is free but a reservation is required due to limited seating.  Call 202-549-4172 or visit the Hill Center website, www.hillcenterdc.org.