The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. and its Carnegie Library home

The Historical Society of Washington, D.C, originally known as the Columbia Historical Society, was founded in 1894. With a mission of "the collection, preservation, and diffusion of knowledge respecting the history and topography of the District of Columbia and national history and biography," the organization aimed to serve as a forum for members to present historical research.

The society was initially composed of 36 men and women, growing to 108 members by 1899. For more than 50 years, the society used rented and donated rooms until 1955, when Amelia Keyser Heurich donated her family's four-story mansion near Dupont Circle. The society took possession of the mansion the following year after Mrs. Heurich died.

In 1959, the society hired its first director, although the office of the board of trustees' president still performed most of the work. For many years, the chairman lived on the third floor of the mansion, which also housed a library for the society's book, manuscript, and photograph collections. In 1989, the society was renamed the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. and relaunched its magazine as the journal Washington History.

Today, the society is based in the Carnegie Library of Washington D.C, a Beaux-Arts building in the center of Mount Vernon Square. The library houses the society's research library, rotating exhibits, and offices. The society's historic collections, which include artworks, documents, maps, objects, and over 100,000 photographs, are stored on-site. The building underwent renovation and reopened on May 11, 2019.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons