Brookland is a neighborhood in northeast Washington, D.C. and is home to Catholic University (not to be confused with Brooklyn, New York, the home of StoryCorps). Brookland was also home to two brothers, David and Eric Toatley, in the 1950s. They came to StoryCorps to record their memories of the neighborhood.

“My parents moved [to Brookland] in 1946 and got the house on the G.I. Bill. And the blessing that I am showed up in 1947,” said David. His younger brother, Eric, quickly added, “And they improved it in 1951 when I showed up!”

Eric remembered Brookland as a diverse, middle-class neighborhood that was a great place to grow up. “Every house on the block had two or three kids, if not more, so you had plenty of playmates. You could just go from house to house all day long until the street lights came on and it was time to go home.”

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On Sunday, January 18, StoryCorps Door-to-Door had the pleasure of recording stories for Every Child Matters at their first-ever Children’s Inaugural Ball in Washington, DC. This free, kid-friendly event gave children the chance to celebrate and welcome our new president, and featured live music, arts and crafts, interactive exhibits, play areas, and a story-time stage. Parents and children from all over the country were in attendance, including members of Congress with their families.

Michael Petit, Founder and President of Every Child Matters, kicked off the recording day in an interview with his daughter Nicole (pictured below). Michael talked about how his parents taught him to value education, hard work, and compassion. He was proud to be the first to attend college in his family, where learning about government and the effects of poverty in the U.S. led him to embrace politics as a vehicle for change. He founded Every Child Matters because, “if politicians aren’t friends of children, they shouldn’t hold office.” We’re glad to say everyone we met on Sunday was a friend to children, and we’re honored to help preserve and share their stories!

We volunteered to go to war
–took games to the troops to make them smile
and were all the world like the girl next door
with a touch of home for a little while.

From “Where Can I Find Them?” by J. Holley Watts

We have all heard about the Vietnam War. Some have lived through it and some, like me, have only seen it in films like Apocalypse Now and Platoon. We are familiar with the voices of the men who bravely served, but what about the women? I had the unique opportunity to talk with and listen to the stories of American women who served alongside their countrymen in a war far from home.

_{J. Holley Watts (L) and Maggie Godson (R).}

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Opened in 1921 by Founder Duncan Phillips, Washington, D.C.’s Phillips Collection is America’s oldest museum of modern art, and during our visit we toured the museum’s extensive collection that is still mostly housed in its founder’s 1897 Georgian Revival home. What makes The Now so special for the museum is that its walls are now the temporary home of African-American artist Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series. Told through vivid patterns and brilliant colors, Lawrence’s series is the first to narrate the 20th-century exodus of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North. The Phillips Collection only owns the odd numbers of Lawrence’s series, but for the first time in years the entire 60-panel series is on view at the museum until October 26, 2008.

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