Beginning in 2009 I’ve been publishing blog entries that highlight the historical efforts of District of Columbia residents to obtain full equality through amendments to the United States Constitution and through Statehood. This chronology consists of transcribed & copied newspaper articles, speeches, maps, pieces of legislation, Congressional debate, and chapters from books & peer-reviewed journals that were originally published between 1788 and 1993. All of this content was found on-line. Due to the impreciseness of optical scanning technology, many of these articles required manual transcription and may contain typographical errors here & there. Some content is still in copyright but is being used here under the “fair use” doctrine of United States copyright law. While this is by no means an attempt at a comprehensive historical listing, I hope you find these entries useful:

11/20/1993 – The D.C. Statehood Vote – The Washington Post
10/30/1993 – Tax Fairness for D.C. – The New York Times
01/13/1993 – D.C. Statehood – The Washington Post
12/02/1992 – Statehood for the District of Columbia – The Boston Globe
07/21/1992 – The State of Misgovernment – The New York Times
04/15/1992 – Grant D.C. Residents Full Rights – The Oregonian
11/25/1991 – The D.C. Plantation: Freedom Soon? – The New York Times
10/06/1991 – Free the Government’s Plantation – The New York Times
06/27/1987 – Statehood for the District of Columbia – The Minneapolis Star and Tribune
05/11/1987 – Why Not Statehood for D.C. Citizens? – Seattle Times
12/24/1973 – The District of Columbia Home Rule Act
03/31/1961 – The 23rd Amendment – Time Magazine
03/30/1961 – Map of the Ratification of the 23rd Amendment to the United States Constitution
03/30/1961 – Vote Victory Result Of Luck, Hard Work, Some Sweat, Tears – The Washington Post
01/25/1961 – Arkansas Is First To Reject District Voting Amendment – The Washington Post
06/17/1960 – Scan & Text of the 23rd Amendment to the United States Constitution
11/04/1930 – DC Colonist Cartoon: “Disenfranchisement” – Washington Star, November 4th, 1930
11/04/1924 – DC Colonist Cartoon: “Election Day” – Washington Star, November 4th, 1924
04/01/1921 – THE STATE OF COLUMBIA by Frank Sprigg Perry – Georgetown Law Journal, Vol 9, No. 3, p. 13-27
04/20/1919 – CRIME WAVE SWEEPS BONE-DRY CAPITAL – The New York Times
04/10/1919 – TO ASK FULL PRIVILEGES IN D.C. SUFFRAGE by Bill Price – The Washington Times
03/05/1919 – GOVERNORS PLEDGE AID IN FIGHT FOR D.C. VOTES – The Washington Times
03/04/1919 – GOVERNORS TO AID D.C. VOTE FIGHT – The Washington Times
03/04/1919 – An Appeal To The Americanism of Visiting Governors & Mayors – The Washington Times
03/04/1919 – D.C. VOTE CAMPAIGN BEARS QUICK FRUIT – The Washington Times
02/13/1918 – VOTE PLEA TO CONGRESS – Americanize 400,000, Urges D.C. Joint Citizens’ Committee – The Washington Post
06/29/1917 – Americanize the Capital as a Wise Measure of War Preparedness by Theodore W. Noyes, Editor of the Evening Star – The Washington Times
01/10/1917 – SENATES VOTES, 55-32 FOR DRY WASHINGTON – The New York Times
01/18/1910 – Does Virginia Own Alexandria County? – The Washington Herald
01/17/1910 – Letter from Hannis Taylor to Honorable Thomas H. Carter, United States Senator, Rendering An Opinion As To The Constitutionality of the Act of Retrocession of 1846
06/18/1909 – SIEBOLD FOLLOWER OF PATRICK HENRY – The Washington Times
06/09/1909 – ALEXANDRIA AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA – The Alexandria Gazette
06/05/1909 – STILL AFTER ALEXANDRIA – The Alexandria Gazette
06/01/1909 – A Bill To Extend The Limits of the District of Columbia – The Alexandria Gazette
05/10/1909 – TAFT STIRS CAPITAL BY SUFFRAGE SPEECH – The New York Times
05/09/1909 – PRESIDENT OPPOSED TO SUFFRAGE IN DISTRICT – The Washington Post
05/09/1909 – Justice Stafford Eloquent on Washington: Past, Present, and Future – The Washington Herald
11/18/1908 – AMENDMENT GIVES DISTRICT A VOICE – The Washington Times
10/16/1905 – GAMBLERS MAY GET ALEXANDRIA FOR US – The Washington Times
12/14/1902 – TO MAKE A STATE OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA – The New York Times
04/13/1902 – PLEA FOR RESTORATION OF ALEXANDRIA COUNTY – The Washington Times
08/12/1900 – EARLY SECESSION DAYS – The Washington Times
11/16/1894 – WANT 20,000 SIGNERS – The Washington Post
07/24/1890 – Anxious To Come Back – The Washington Post
03/10/1888 – Some of Washington’s Grievances – NO VOTES, YET NO GRIEVANCE? By Theodore W. Noyes, Washington Evening Star
07/10/1883 – Prof. Gregory Favors It – The Washington Post
01/24/1880 – Suffrage in the District – The Washington Post
01/20/1880 – HOME RULE FOR THE DISTRICT! GRAND MASS-MEETING OF CITIZENS AT ODD-FELLOWS’ HALL – The Washington Times
01/22/1879 – District Representation – The Washington Post
10/01/1875 – Phillips v. Payne, 92 US 130 – Supreme Court
08/17/1873 – RETROCESSION OF ALEXANDRIA – The New York Times
02/21/1871 – Text of the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871
02/01/1867 – THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SUFFRAGE BILL – Harper’s Magazine, Monthly Record of Current Events
01/08/1867 – District of Columbia Suffrage Bill – The President’s Veto — The New York Times
01/08/1867 – An Act to Regulate the Elective Franchise in the District of Columbia
01/05/1867 – President Andrew Johnson’s Veto Message to Congress Concerning A Bill to Regulate the Elective Franchise in the District of Columbia
04/23/1866 – S.280 – A Bill To Repeal an Act Entitled ”An Act to Retrocede the County of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, to the State of Virginia” – United States Senate
12/05/1865 – S.1 – A Bill to Regulate the Elective Franchise in the District of Columbia
04/16/1862 – The Full Text Of An Act for the Release of certain Persons held to Service or Labor in the District of Columbia
05/09/1861 – A Shower of Proclamations: Arlington Heights – The New York Times
07/02/1846 – Debate in the U.S. Senate Concerning An Act to Retrocede the County of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, to the State of Virginia
05/11/1846 – Text of H.R. 259 – An act to retrocede the county of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, to the State of Virginia
05/08/1846 – Debate in the U.S. House of Representatives Concerning An Act to Retrocede the County of Alexandria, in the District of Columbia, to the State of Virginia
05/08/1846 – RETROCESSION OF ALEXANDRIA – A Speech by R. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, before the U.S. House of Representatives
11/01/1833 – Joseph Story: Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, Book 3, Chapter 23 – POWER OVER SEAT OF GOVERNMENT AND OTHER CEDED PLACES
02/27/1801 – Text of the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801
11/11/1800 – President John Adams 4th Message to Congress
07/16/1790 – An Act for establishing the Temporary and Permanent seat of the Government of the United States
12/03/1789 – Act of Cession from the State of Virginia
07/02/1788 – Comments by Thomas Tredwell at the New York Ratifying Convention

LAST UPDATED: January 16th, 2011

As I add new entries I will periodically return to this page and update this timeline. However, if you happen to know of any articles that you feel should be included, please contact me so I can add them. Lastly, if you would like to view these articles in the order they were placed on-line, please click here to view all entries from the DC History category.