Get some tips from the DC History Center’s KNOW BEFORE YOU GO email. All registrants as of noon on Wednesday, April 29 will have received this email.

For accommodations
Friday-Saturday: ASL interpretation will be provided Friday and Saturday for all panels during Sessions A-D, and both keynotes.

To request additional reasonable accommodation, including ASL interpretation during the network, showcase, or coffee chats, please contact the DC Public Library’s Center for Accessibility seven (7) days in advance at 202-727-2142 or by emailing DCPLaccess@dc.gov. These services were made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Quiet room
As part of our commitment to making the DC History Conference accessible, this year's conference will include a Quiet Room. Quiet Rooms are spaces designed for anyone needing a short time away from the stress and stimulation of the busy conference environment. Our Quiet Room will include limited environmental input (lights, sounds) as well as calming activities to assist with self-regulation, such as puzzles and art-making supplies. We ask that participants utilizing the Quiet Room move in and out of the space with respect for others.

The conference is free to attend! You may register at the door, but pre-registration makes check-in faster.

If you’re able, choosing a registration level that includes a donation helps fund production, staffing, and supply costs. Thank you for considering a gift in support of this shared community resource.

Activities take place at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 901 G St NW.

Street parking is metered and limited. We encourage taking public transportation, either the bus or the metro (Gallery Place-Chinatown (red/green/yellow) or Metro Center (orange/blue/silver).

Yes, we invite volunteers to assist during the conference! Email us at conference@dchistory.org for more information.

History is not an exclusive club, and in fact our understanding of the past is made stronger by including multiple perspectives. That’s why we strive to offer panels with a range of perspectives, balancing lived experience with scholarly study, and valuing what we learn from different ways of knowing. Community-based history encourages the perspective of community members, gives equal weight to lived experience, values memory, and creates space for dialogue. The DC History Conference is for everyone with an interest in our city.

The “A Guide for Educators” program pages identify relevant standards for each session and feature teacher professional development opportunities (pages 26-27).

Two types of panels appear in the program. Some panels are proposed as a single submission and appear that way in the program. Others are combined from multiple submissions. These list 2-3 presentation titles underneath the session name and description.

Other features—including the History Network, Coffee Chats, DC History Showcase, the Authors’ Corner, and Friday Offsite After Hours—are community-building opportunities that provide time for attendees to connect with organizations, research projects, scholars, students, and other history enthusiasts about their work.

The Conference Braintrust, a group of dedicated local history thought leaders, decided to create a new approach to the program. After four years of open call, the committee instead created a limited list of panel topics to generate submissions. Our goal was to create a more focused—but still inclusive—program that provided historical context for topics relevant to Washingtonians’ lives today.

While history is at the heart of this conference, it is interdisciplinary. The arts, archaeology, sociology, environmental science, political science, and other areas of study appear across the program, reflecting the rich, diverse history of Washington, DC. We can’t include every important and timely topic in this conference, but we do our best to create a program representative of what issues and histories are on our minds. At the heart of the content is the importance of using the past to understand the present and build a more justice-oriented future.

Be on the lookout for the call for submissions in fall 2027.

The planning committee is a group of dedicated volunteers supported by staff at the DC History Center. Learn who sits on the committee on the “Community” tab. Each volunteer has expertise across a variety of fields, all with a love for DC history.

New committee members join the committee at the start of the planning year in anticipation of the next annual conference. If you want to be involved with the committee, email us at conference@dchistory.org and specify you want to volunteer on the planning committee.

The DC History Conference is 100% free to attend and is run by a volunteer committee. As a result, donations and sponsorships are vital to sustaining the conference from year to year. If you want to support the future of the conference, there are a few ways you can get involved!

If you would like to make a gift of your choosing, you can donate online. Every dollar counts, and donations of all amounts are welcome and appreciated! Donations by mail can be sent to the DC History Center at 801 K St NW, Washington DC 20001, and should include their designation toward the DC History Conference.

For a quick food option, we recommend Marianne’s by DC Central Kitchen on library’s 1st floor. For other bites and coffee, we suggest exploring the neighborhood, but our staff recommends: Chaia, District Taco, Dolcezza, Poke Papa, SeoulSpice, and Teaism.