Today we visited the Smithsonian's Museum of African Art. We recommend you exit Metro at the Smithsonian Metro Station. As you get there, you head through the Enid Haupt Garden, which we note is a free wireless HotSpot! We note that this means you can download WTC right there in the heart of the Smithsonian!

We enter the museum, go through security, past the information desk and the coat room, and talk a little about photography in the Museum, and about getting in. On the first sub-level we note that a major exhibit is not yet opened. (4:09)

We visit the exhibit on The Art of the Personal Object. Mark makes a very tasteless joke, but Julie manages to keep him at least partly in check. (6:58)

We Play Djibi by Mamadou, a West African artist currently living in Massachusetts, which comes to us from The Podsafe Music Network. (6:56)

We continue on to the exhibit titled Body of Evidence, which is an exhibit of contemporary African Art. (15:58)

We head to the second floor, talk a little about some of the smaller exhibits, and go in an. (18:42)

We play Oyebisi Nga, by South African group Egyptian Nursery, which also comes to us from The Podsafe Music Network. (19:49)

We visit the Exhibit from the New Orleans Museum. Unfortunately, I think this exhibit has ended, and another one has started up again. So you may not be able to see this exhibit, unless you go to the New Orleans Museum of Art (24:25)

We finish up by visiting the ground floor and the ceramics collection, and then the gift shop. (38:03)

Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover!

• feedback@washingtontravelcast.net
• Julie@washingtontravelcast.net
• Mark@washingtontravelcast.net

Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our closing theme this week is Chicago Breakdown by Louis Armstrong's Hot 7. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia.

Check out our great Photo Album, to see some of the pieces we talk about today. We were not able to photograph the collection from the New Orleans Museum of Art but we were able to photograph in the rest of the museum.

Today we head to a corner of Washington not well known to the average tourist, but with a lot of history, the Anacostia neighborhood, and the Anacostia Museum, a museum of the Smithsonian Institution. We recommend you exit Metro at the Anacostia Metro Station, and then take the W2 or W3 Bus toward the Southeast Community Hospital, getting off at the museum.

We travel to the Anacostia neighborhood to visit the Smithsonian's only community Museum, the Anacostia Museum. While waiting for the bus, Julie talks about the history of the Anacostia neighborhood. (2:31)

We Play Gentle Whisper by Washington, DC R&B Artist Ebony Jackson, which comes to us from The Podsafe Music Network. (6:56)

We ride to the museum and describe the architecture, visiting a sculpture out front, Real Justice - The Spirit of Thurgood Marshall, an Ancestral Guardian Sculpture by Allen Uzikee Nelson. (11:20)

We enter the museum and visit an exhibit about African American Paper Dolls. (11:20)

We move onto an exhibit highlighting high school bands in the District. (15:20)

We play The Washington Post March, written by Washingtonian John Philip Sousa performed by the US Army Band from their album American Spirit. (18:33)

The final section we see photographs by DC Photographer Steven Cummings - an exhibit entitled DC Undercover. (21:09)

We return to the Metro, and Julie talks a little about the history of the Anacostia Museum before signing off. (24:31)

Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover!

• feedback@washingtontravelcast.net
• Julie@washingtontravelcast.net
• Mark@washingtontravelcast.net

Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our closing theme this week is Chicago Breakdown by Louis Armstrong's Hot 7. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia.

Check out our brief Anacostia Museum Photo Album, to see some of the sights we talk about today. Unfortunately the Museum limits photography, so we have a relatively short album today.

#On a very windy day we return to U Street for a tour of that area, and the Shaw Neighborhood. We suggest you start out on the walking tour at the U Street/African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Metro Station.

We start off at the African American Civil War Memorial - and after talking about the role of African Americans in the Civil War and the impact of that war on the population of Washington, DC. (1:18)

We Play Make Yourself Comfortable performed by Sarah Vaughn, from Jazz-on-line.com. (9:37)

We visit the Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage, which was also the historic 12th Street YMCA. We visit a corner that is dominated by churches. (12:15)

We visit 13th and T streets, the location of the Whitelaw hotel, deep in the center of Duke Ellington's neighborhood. (16:43)

We play Hop Head, performed by Duke Ellington's Washingtonians, from Jazz-on-line.com. (19:56)

We visit fourteenth street, the border between the black Shaw community and the surrounding white neighborhoods, and an area where segregation issues were particularly evident. (22:55)

We play Georgia on My Mind, performed by Billie Holiday, from Jazz-on-line.com. (28:34)

At New Hampshire and U Street we visit the Beaux Arts Buildings and the legacy of Mary Foote Henderson. (31:49)

We visit Meridien Hill Park, then head back to the heart of the U Street Corridor. (35:12)

We play Minnie the Moocher, performed by Cab Calloway. The recording comes to us from from Jazz-on-line.com. (22:19)

We stop by the U Street Cardozo metro station and go down into the 12th and U Street Entrance to see the Community Rhythms Mural, also appreciating the Duke Ellington Mural outside on the True Reformers Building. We end our podcast out front of Bohemian Caverns, a famous Jazz Club. (20:44)

Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know what you think, and what you'd like us to cover!

• feedback@washingtontravelcast.net
• Julie@washingtontravelcast.net
• Mark@washingtontravelcast.net

Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our closing theme this week is Chicago Breakdown by Louis Armstrong's Hot 7. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia.

Check our our U Street/Shaw Photo Album, to see some of the sights we talk about today.

We're back in the District for February, exploring the African American history of the District of Columbia. We start off with a walk through neighborhoods and sights associated with one of Washington's favorite sons, Duke Ellington. We suggest you start out on the walking tour at the Foggy Bottom Station.

We start off in the West End, the neighborhood just north of Foggy Bottom, with a visit to the site of his grandparents' house, where he was born. (3:09) We play Down in our Alley Blues performed by Duke Ellington's Washingtonians. This music, and all the music on this podcast come from a fantastic source for public domain jazz recordings, Jazz-on-line.com, which we heartily recommend.

After the music we find ourselves at the U Street/African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo metro station, right in the heart of the U Street Corridor. Indeed next week we'll do a tour of this neighborhood, and we invite you to add that walking tour to this one to get a real feel for the neighborhood that nurtured Duke Ellington, which was known as "Black Broadway." We visit the street where Duke lived, and check out U Street's Duke Ellington Mural.(9:16)

We play Happy Go Lucky Local Part 1, performed by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra. This also comes to us via Jazz-on-line.com. (13:32)

We visit True Reformers Hall, where a young Duke Ellington played his first paying Gig as a Jazz Musician. Next week we'll be telling you more about the history of True Reformers Hall. (16:26)

We play Trumpet No End (Blue Skies), performed by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, from Jazz-on-line.com. (18:10)

We visit the former site of Griffith Stadium, the original home of the Washington Senators, where at the age of 14, Duke Ellington took his first job as a concessionaire. (20:44)

We play Take the A Train, Duke Ellington's theme song, written by Billy Strayhorn and performed by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra. The recording comes to us from from Jazz-on-line.com. (22:19)

We talk about the move of the center of black culture from Black Broadway to Harlem, and Duke's exodus from Washington to New York City. We talk about three other Ellington-related sights. (25:11)

We don't have the directions to Armstrong school yet - will post later. Directions to the Duke Ellington School for the Arts

Email us and let us know what you think of our show! We want to know if you enjoyed our visit this month to the historic triangel

• feedback@washingtontravelcast.net
• Julie@washingtontravelcast.net
• Mark@washingtontravelcast.net

Our Opening Theme Music is Garden Walk by Kim Evans, and our closing theme this week is New York City Blues by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Logo design is by Kathleen Hamm at Hamm Multimedia.

Check our our Duke EllingtonPhoto Album, which includes a signed portrait of Duke Ellington, used by permission of Mark Mitchell, whose web site BlackHistoryMatters.com is worth a visit.