Washington History in the Classroom

This article, © the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., is provided free of charge to educators, parents, and students engaged in remote learning activities. It has been chosen to complement the DC Public Schools curriculum during this time of sheltering at home in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Washington History magazine is an essential teaching tool,” says Bill Stevens, a D.C. public charter school teacher. “In the 19 years I’ve been teaching D.C. history to high school students, my scholars have used Washington History to investigate their neighborhoods, compete in National History Day, and write plays based on historical characters. They’ve grappled with concepts such as compensated emancipation, the 1919 riots, school integration, and the evolution of the built environment of Washington, D.C. I could not teach courses on Washington, D.C. Bill Stevens engages with his SEED Public Charter School history without Washington History.” students in the Historical Society’s Kiplinger Research Library, 2016. Washington History is the only scholarly journal devoted exclusively to the history of our nation’s capital. It succeeds the Records of the Columbia Historical Society, first published in 1897. Washington History is filled with scholarly articles, reviews, and a rich array of images and is written and edited by distinguished historians and journalists. Washington History authors explore D.C. from the earliest days of the city to 20 years ago, covering neighborhoods, heroes and she-roes, businesses, health, arts and culture, architecture, immigration, city planning, and compelling issues that unite us and divide us.

The full runs of Washington History (1989-present) and its predecessor publication the Records of the Columbia Historical Society (1897-1988) are available through JSTOR, an online archive to which many institutions subscribe. It’s easy to set up a personal JSTOR account, which allows for free online reading of six articles per month in any of their journals, or join the Historical Society at the Membership Plus level for unlimited free access to our publications. Residents of Floral Street, N.W., dig out after the storm of February 18-19, 1979, which added 18.7 inches of snow to the 5 already on the ground. Such city -stopping storms defy technological solutions and reduce cities to earlier historical times. Courtesy, Washingtoniana Division, D.C. Public Library, © Washington Post.

4 Slush Funds A History of D.C. Snow Management

By Bernard Mergen

the talk is about weather, the Even 17 inches of snow falling over three District of Columbia is usually months in a dozen storms can significantly vilified for its heat and humidity affect people's lives. The failure of Con- and its abrupt seasonal change from gress, city administrators, and residents spring to summer. While it is true that the themselves to recognize the effects of snow city of Washington is often uncomfortable offers an interesting case study of environ- in the summer because of its "humiture," mental naivete. As the geographer John mechanical air conditioning in homes, Rooney, Jr., has pointed out, it is cities that automobiles, and offices has become fail to confront the "urban snow hazard" almost universal since the 1960s, enabling that suffer more than cities with greater its residents and visitors to live, work, andsnowfall but that are well prepared.2 play without great discomfort. Winter, the An examination of the history of snow in Blizzard of 1996 notwithstanding, is Washingtonthe also provides a number of forgotten season, perhaps because techno- insights into issues of current interest. logical control of winter weather is lessFirst, it reveals the changing relationships successful. between urban populations and nature. With an average of less than 17 inches of Too often our concept of the natural envi- snow annually, Washingtonians might well ronment is limited to parks and wilderness ignore winter. Cities such as Buffalo, areas, obscuring the fact that even in the Rochester, and Syracuse, New York, aver- "deseasonalized" city, climate, geography, age more than five times this amount, and biology play important roles.3 Second, Boston triple, New York, and Philadelphia once snow is perceived as a hazard in a double.1 Yet snow is important to everyday city, it requires legal, political, and admin- life in the nation's capital and to its image. istrative responses. The removal of snow from sidewalks and streets involves count- less decisions about how, when, where,

Notes begin on page 89. and who, decisions that rest on deeply

5 Washington History, Spring/ Summer 1996

held beliefs about technology, time, space, slush is at the cost of much sickness, and and quality of life. Finally, snow manage- probably many lives, each winter."5 He ment is part of the ongoing debates over achieved his goal of removing more snow cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment. for less money by instituting a system in Snow management, like the concept of which contractors hired their own shovel- urban snow hazard, is largely the creation ers and cartmen, allowing city workers to of those involved in the technological concentrate on crosswalk and gutter changes in transportation and the growth cleanup. City Hall patronage was abol- of cities in the late nineteenth century. In ished, and street railway companies were the years before streetcars and automo- required by ordinance to haul away all biles, snow in cities was an inconvenience, snow piled up by the sweeping machines. but residents were accustomed to walking Stidham also introduced horse-drawn or hitching their horses to a sleigh. In cities plows and the Hudson River ice-scraper served by electricity,, telephones, mass on asphalt streets. transit, and the daily delivery of such sta- Washingtonians may have been studying ples as bread, milk, and newspapers, snow Stidham's recommendations when the was a threat to civilization, an enemy Valentine's Day snowstorm struck the cap- invader to be fought with all available ital in 1899, bringing more than a foot of machines and organizational power. new snow to the record-breaking amount The blizzard of March 11-14, 1888, which already on the ground. As in New York a left snow accumulations of one to four feet decade earlier, all traffic came to a halt. The throughout the Northeast, remains the Washington Post ran stories of suffering benchmark for all snowstorms because it throughout the city, but there were no fatal- demonstrated the vulnerability of overhead ities. Forty-five passengers and employees wires and urban transit to wet, heavy snow.were trapped by fifteen-foot drifts on the Newspaper editors in New York and other electric railway at Four Mile Run, and food cities were quick to observe that the snowshortages and price gouging were report- had "overcome the boasted triumph of ed.civ- A front-page cartoon showed a woman ilization . . . our superior means of inter- waving a flag of surrender from the top of communication."4 In the aftermath of the the Washington Monument, the tip of blizzard the cities were quiet, a phenome- which emerged from the snow.6 non that still has the power to astonish. The Senate quickly responded to the One response to the blizzard of 1888 was urgent request from the District Commis- ^the reorganization of New York's snow sioners, appropriating $20,000 to pay for removal system. George E. Waring, Jr., the 2,000 men and 500 carts needed to dynamic commissioner of street cleaning remove the snow. The House took another who had created a new image for sanita- day to follow suit, many members com- tion workers in the early 1890s by putting plaining that their constituents should not the crews in uniform and dubbing them have to help pay for cleaning Washing- "White Wings," appointed H. L. Stidham ton's streets. The responsibilities of the pri- "snow-inspector." In good Progressive vate streetcar lines and homeowners to reformer fashion, Stidham linked snow remove snow from their properties were removal to public health, especially for the left unresolved.7 The problems associated tenement population of Manhattan's with urban snow removal were not, of Lower East Side. "Whether it be winter or course, unique to Washington, but ques- summer," Stidham observed, "the people tions about who was responsible and who must have this additional room opened shouldup pay were complicated by the feder- for them, and a delay in the removal of al-citythe relationship. As Howard Gillette almost-knee deep snow and befouled has made clear in his recent analysis of

6 Slush Funds

In 1867 snow and ice made the official list of nuisances, or health hazards, published by the local Board of Health. HSW

7 Washington History, Spring/ Summer 1996 urban policy in the District of Columbia, In the late 1890s, laborers on Pennsylvania the commission form of government never Avenue at 15th Street shovel snow into horse- kept pace with the city's physical growth, drawn carts for hauling to less-traveled areas. and Congress continued to dole out inade- Courtesy, Robert A. Truax. quate amounts of money for emergencies such as snow removal.8 In 1895 Congress passed an act that prising. Many cities faced opposition from required "the owner or tenant of each property owners when they tried to legis- house or other building, or lot or lots of late snow removal ordinances using their ground in the cities of Washington and police powers. Most state courts upheld the Georgetown" to remove, "within the first local laws, but some did not, and as late as four hours of daylight after every fall of 1927, when the Supreme Court of Maine snow," all the snow from the sidewalks affirmed a Portland city statute requiring opposite their premises, and to strew them all owners, tenants, and occupants of "with ashes, sand, sawdust, or some suit- buildings bordering on any sidewalks to able substance that will insure or con- remove snow within three hours of a tribute to the safety of pedestrians." storm's Those end, the decision was hailed as an who failed to comply could be fined important one victory in the municipal admin- dollar, or the commissioners could assess istrator's a struggle to manage snow.11 special property tax to cover the cost In 1905 of and again in 1910, the District's snow removal. Two years later a similarcommissioners attempted, but failed, to act was passed that extended responsibili- assert their authority to compel owners to ty for sidewalk snow removal to real clear estate snow from pavement adjacent to their agents selling unoccupied property9 property. In Coughlin v. District of Columbia, This act was repealed by the act of decided Feb- March 22, 1905, the Court of ruary 10, 1904, which retained the Appealsrespon- declared that only Congress had sibility of tenants and owners for the snow authority to make regulations for the removal from sidewalks adjacent toremoval their of snow. The commissioners property and increased the penalty appealed to a for such legislation in 1910, not- five-dollar fine or five days in jail.ing Thethat it would require 12,000 men work- commissioners were required to removeing four hours to clear away a three-inch snow in front of public buildings snowfall and from the city's estimated 550 squares, but no money for this purposemiles of paved sidewalks, but Congress was appropriated. Within three monthsfailed to act. Seven years later the commis- the act was challenged and held unconsti- sioners estimated that a six-inch snowfall tutional by the Court of Appeals, because would require 50,115 men and 19,162 it (1) imposed an unreasonable burden teams. on The Street Cleaning Department apartment house tenants, (2) an impris-employed 350 men and 90 teams.12 oned violator could not clean his walk of There matters rested until the snow- subsequent snow, (3) no similar penalty storm of January 27-28, 1922, which was imposed on the commissioners, (4) dumped no more than two feet of snow in a provisions were made for removal fromsingle storm and caused almost 100 deaths sidewalks in front of vacant improved when the roof of the Knickerbocker The- property, (5) it was therefore unjust atre to at 18th Street and Columbia Road, penalize owners of unimproved property, N.W., collapsed. Saturday, January 28, was and (6) trustees of property owned comedy by night in the fashionable theater, minors could not be held responsible.10 and the second showing of George M. That the court's reasons have an Alice in Cohan's "Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford" (Winter) Wonderland quality is not sur- was just beginning when disaster struck.

8 Slush Funds

An anonymous reporter for the Washington ing department, told reporters that he had Post concluded the lead story with this only 200 men for snow shoveling but dramatic depiction: planned to recruit 450 more. Senator Only this is known: There was Dillingham of Vermont blamed members applause and laughter following a of the House District Committee for particularly clever comedy situation. pigeonholing his bill to compel District There was a crash that struck terror householders to remove snow from in into the hearts a-trill with merriment. front of their properties. The chairman of There was a gust of wind, a rushing of the House committee responded, "This is air that blew open the closed doors of an act of Providence, and the only thing to the theater - and then, after one con- do is for the District commissioners to go certed groan, there was silence - and to work. If they need more money it will be Crandall's Knickerbocker theater, pre- provided," and the chairman of the appro- viously the temple of mirth, had been transformed into a tomb.13 priations subcommittee scoffed, "This talk that the commissioners are afraid to go Although the catastrophe overshad- ahead and clean up the snow for fear Con- owed other snow removal problems, they gress will censure them for creating a defi- were connected. The president of the Fed- ciency sounds like moonshine to me."14 eration of Citizens' Associations appealed A bill similar to that of 1895, but one that to all citizens to do their duty and clear allowed property owners up to eight hours snow from in front of their premises. to remove snow, passed February 6, 1922, Streets blocked with snow were blamed and technically remains in effect, although for delaying emergency vehicles. Morris a personal injury suit brought in 1948 Hacker, superintendent of the street-clean- when a boy slipped on the uncleared side-

9 Washington History, Spring/ Summer 1996

walk in front of a private home resulted in provided more than statu- a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that the sidewalk was actually public property, and PostCongress reported intory September support 1922 for snow removal. The the responsibility for keeping it clean that the city had purchased ten new snow could not be shifted to the owner of adja- plows and four new trucks to "pull [sic]" cent property.15 them. The 22 horse-drawn plows that had More interesting than the traditional been used in the past were "now in moth- buck passing between Congress and Dis- balls or whatever else is used to preserve trict officials is the juxtaposition in the con- snow plows from the kind of insectivora temporary Washington Post of the stories that would prey on such an unresponsive cataloging the 1922 Knickerbocker disaster article, but they're there and one of these with photographs of children and attrac- days will be brought out ready for use just tive young women playing in snowdrifts as last winter's overcoat or furs is salvaged in the streets. One young woman was from hock or tar bag."17 The reporter's joc- shown trying to free her car from a drift, ular tone erased the painful memories of while the steps to the house behind remain January's disaster and assured readers that snow covered. Only one photo showed a technology and organization could clear man clearing snow from a street. The same the streets of any amount of snow. focus on the snow as an opportunity to Motorized plows became an annual have fun can be seen in a commemorative acquisition. A report on a storm in January booklet, The Storm, by Martin A. Olmem. 1925 mentioned the city's 33 snow plows, The earlier emphasis in newspaper reports although they were deemed inadequate to on blizzards that challenge modern civi- the task of clearing 8 inches from the lization gives way to an implicit criticism streets. Six years later Morris Hacker, now of that civilization for having dehuman- supervisor of city refuse, had 6 hydraulic ized life. Snow begins to be seen as a loaders,cos- 30 snowplows, 60 trucks and 30 mic reversal of machine-age order, horse carts to clear 17 miles and plow 120 providing an opportunity for a carnival.16 miles of streets, 80 percent of which were in the business district. No plowing was done on residential streets. By comparison,

10 Slush Funds

This booklet is one of a number commemorating posted streets. A year later the prohibition the devastating Knickerbocker Theatre disaster on parking was declared illegal by a Dis- of 1922 when more than two feet of snow fell, trict Police Court judge, who found it caving in the packed theater's roof. Courtesy, "arbitrary and unreasonable."20 Washingtoniana Division, D.C. Public Library. Washington responded to winter weather one crisis at a the slightly smaller city of Hartford, Con- time, other snow-belt cities necticut, used 18 snowplows and 4 developed more sophisticated snow man- mechanical loaders to clear 22 miles and agement. The four main issues that plow 170 miles, 90 percent in the business emerged nationwide in the 1920s and district.18 Washington struggled to 1930s keep were (1) determining the costs and pace with national trends in snow manage- benefits of snow removal, (2) the selection ment in the 1930s. Parking bans from of2 toappropriate 8 plows and other snow a.m. were announced for some streets, removal "to equipment, (3) the use of chemi- make it possible to plow snow up on cals the to break up ice on streets and side- curb so as to open traffic the full width walks, of and (4) the establishment of legal the street. Without this ban a serious traffic authority to enforce snow removal from condition would exist following a heavy private property. Washingtonians, preoc- snow due to the narrowed width of road- cupied with the problems of conflicting way left for traffic after bulky windrows federal,of local, and private responsibilities, snow have been placed against automo- neglected the first three areas, although biles parked at the curb." The city the city added more equipment. In 1954, as promised to plow snow from 308 miles of the city approached its greatest popula- main thoroughfares and boulevards and tion, and its suburbs were also rapidly completely remove snow from 25 miles of expanding, public discussion finally recog- streets in the business districts using 1,550 nized the complexities of snow manage- men (185 "regular white wing forces," the ment. A four-inch snowfall in early others "extra hired men"), 250 trucks, 120 January of that year caused schools and plows, and 15 mechanical loaders.19 government offices to close and provoked The new snow management plans were the Washington Post to editorialize that tested February 7, 1936, when more than 14 "the cost to the Federal Government of dis- -inches blanketed the area. Predictably, missing employees an hour and a half although 4,000 men were hired to shovel, early (figured on the basis of 220,000 editors proclaimed snow removal inade- employees in the metropolitan area at an quate, blaming Congress for its failure to average hourly wage of $2.13) was in appropriate sufficient funds and city excess of $700,000," implying that it would authorities for their "puny efforts." The have been more cost-effective to spend Washington Post was whimsical: "Despite $50,000 for snow removal-21 the New Deal, streamlining, electric razors Chemical war on snow also began in and all the other devices conceived to frus- the 1920s in many cities. Salt and calcium trate Nature, our local snowfall sifted chloride (CaCl) replaced sand and ashes. through to affect almost every phase of Authorities in Washington had rejected the Washington life. . . . Everything was use of salt because of possible damage to deplorably inefficient; in fact quite refresh- pavement and to underground conduits ingly so," while the Washington Times tar- for streetcars, but in December 1956, when geted the parking ban because the city the city agreed to pay the D. C. Transit Sys- failed to remove snow from many of the tem for plowing and removing some of the

11 Washington History, Spring/ Summer 1996

city's snow, the contract included money sands of miles of streets and connecting for 15 trucks rigged with sand and salt highways meant that municipal govern- spreaders in addition to the 80 already ments needed a quick, but not too dirty, fix owned by the city. 22 to propitiate millions of new car owners. The war years saw an increased use of City dwellers were accustomed to indus- salt in the name of saving manpower and trial grime, but post-war suburbs were tires, since trucks had to spread only one intended to be smokeless Utopias of pastel layer of salt as opposed to three or four of hues. Thus, Banox was artificially colored sand. The campaign to use chemicals to green, to signal that streets were protected defeat an enemy, in this case snow, acceler- "both against traffic mishaps and car dam- ated in the 1950s, paralleling in many ways age," and to blend with the neatly the marketing strategies used to sell DDT trimmed and chemically treated lawns that and other pesticides as simple panaceas symbolized the deseasonalized and oasis for pest control. Calgon, Inc., of Pitts- communities of "light snowfall cities."23 burgh, manufacturer of the polyphosphate Although earlier snowstorms had Banox, and the National Aluminate Corpo- stalled traffic in Washington, the 14-inch ration of Chicago, maker of Nalco 8181-C, accumulation February 15-16, 1958, was convinced hundreds of city governments notable for its effect on commuters. Head- to add their products to the salt spread on lines in the Washington Post focused on dri- streets, claiming that the compound pre- ving conditions more than the traditional vented corrosion to automobiles. The stories of stranded pedestrians and starv- rapid expansion of suburbs with ing thou- birds. A new five-part Emergency Traf-

12 Slush Funds

A commuter takes a broom to his snowbound were treated more philosophically by the car during the great snow of February 15-16, press. They reasoned that the amounts 1958, which dropped up to 17 inches on the were so unusual that they could not have area. Courtesy, WD, DCPL, been removed more efficiently. Moreover, © Washington Post. the storms came on or near holidays and brought relatively less inconvenience. Besides, the city, like the nation, was expe- fie Plan was put into operation, requesting riencing the recreation boom and enjoying the cancellation of all unnecessary travel, more snow-based activities. With the per- the prohibition of parking on principal fect timing that marked his genius, urban streets, and the closing of federal and Dis- planner and historian Frederick Gutheim trict offices. In the words of Superinten- called for "Livable Winter Cities," where dent of the Division of Sanitation William snow would be left untouched in selected A. Xanten, "The entire metropolitan area neighborhoods is for aesthetic effect and for in for a severe case of 'stay put/" The recreation.27 "Scores of people schussed to newspapers tallied the number of traffic work on skis," wrote one reporter of the accidents and emergency calls to the first snow, while an observer of the later American Automobile Association.24 storm commented that President Reagan "Stay put" remains the basis of snow could see "more than 1,000 people in management in the District, despite the sweaters,fre- parkas, and wool caps circling quent changes of superintendents and thethe Ellipse on cross-country skis in the names of the bureaus they head. Today, Winter Festival being held there."28 almost 40 winters later, the wry 1962 obser- The facade of good cheer cracked when vation of columnist Mary McGrory thatanother major snowstorm of the season hit "the District government tries to cope withWashington on January 23, 1987. Although the snow through stern regulations" is stillthe snow unleashed "playful streaks in true. The often unclear or overlapping many adults" according to the Washington responsibilities of governments in the Cap-Post, it also forced families to spend time ital area and the relatively mild climate together, exacerbating domestic problems. make this inevitable. From the Inaugural Several Washington-area psychoanalysts Day snow of 1961 through the even heavier were interviewed, one of whom observed snowfalls of January 1966, February 1979 that "in some ways, being stuck in the and 1983, and January and November 1987, Great Blizzard is like forced psychothera- Washingtonians have fashioned an image py on a massive scale." The contrast of themselves as hopelessly inept at driv- between the unplowed streets of the city ing in the snow, intermittently successful andat the successful removal of snow from removing it, and explicitly proud of their the suburbs caused the paper's editorial ability to laugh at themselves and seize writersthe to snap. Under the headline opportunity to play25 "Breakdown - Total Breakdown," the Post Each snowfall that caused the closing askedof sarcastically, and with a thinly government offices triggered an avalanche veiled reference to rumors of Mayor Mari- of editorial comment on the cost and the on Barry's drug habits, "What did the city amount that could be saved if the city government use to get rid of the snow - invested in enough snow removal equip- spoons and matchbooks?"29 ment to keep streets open in even the The mayor, in the tradition of East Coast severest storms.26 The President's Daypoliticians, was away during the storm. By snow of 1979 and the February 12, 1983, ignoring the advice attributed to Mayor storm, which brought accumulations Richard of Daley of Chicago - "just keep the more than 18 and 16 inches, respectively, streets clean and the buses moving and

13 Washington History, Spring/ Summer 1996 you can steal anything you want" - Barry Shoppers on F Street wait for the green light joined Daley's successor Michael Bilandic, four days before Christmas, 1966. The snows John Lindsay of New York, Stanley of Washington traditionally cause major Makowski of Buffalo, Michael Dukakis of disruptions in the local economy. Courtesy, WD, DCPL, © Washington Post. Massachusetts, and dozens of other politi- cians whose names are eponyms for snow storms of the 1960s and 1970s.30 Mayor removal laws and new red and white street Barry apologized for his administration's failure to clear the streets, but tried to signs that read: excuse himself by observing: "I didn't SNOW bring it [the snow] here." This was his sec- EMERGENCY ond and more profound error. Nature, as ROUTE the anthropologist Mary Douglas has NO PARKING shown, is often dragged into the moral DURING code.31 Meteorological disasters acquire EMERGENCY political dimensions beyond issues of Where many cities use graphics - bureaucratic inefficiency. In what was per- snowflakes in Bozeman, Montana, a snow- ceived as a crisis, Washingtonians found plow in St. Paul, Minnesota, a snowman in political corruption in the piles of dirty and unremoved snow. St. Louis, Missouri - Washington, a city of big memos and little snow, used words.32 Barry announced a new snow removal Barry's plan was tested sooner than any- plan in fall 1987 with an eight-page flyer one anticipated by the foot of snow that explaining the parking ban and snow fell on Veterans Day 1987. Since none of the jurisdictions in the area was prepared, the District escaped blame for snarled traf- fic and school closings. By the time the next heavy snowfall occurred, March 13, 1993, the city had a new mayor, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Gov- ernments had instituted a plan that released government workers in four half- hour increments based on the distance they lived from the federal city. The Wash- ington Post praised the city for "setting the pace in the snowplowing marathon." Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly was so pleased with her record on snow removal that she made it an issue in her re-election cam- paign. A flyer mailed to all District voters pictured a snowplow with the claim that her opponents - former Mayor Barry and Councilman John Ray - had incorrectly identified it as an ambulance. The absurdi- ty of her ploy was reflected in her defeat at A plow clears the streetcar rails on Pennsylva- nia Avenue, March 1960. Courtesy, the polls.33 Robert A. Truax. "All climates are local," writes the French historian Fernand Braudel, which means, I think, that we must be careful not

14 to generalize too much from singular and nivaphiles alike, the former lamenting events and circumstances.34 Washington's their inability to control the weather, the winter weather provides ample evidence latter delighting in their participation in an that seasonal inconvenience does not sig- American experience. Daily reports on tele- nificantly affect our basic beliefs about our vision, radio, and in newspapers remind us ability to control nature. Yet snow cannot of our national as well as local weather. be completely banished from our con- Mayor Barry is not the first city official sciousness. Like the proverbial cloud no to rely on a snow removal plan called larger than a man's hand, the memory of spring.36 His view that snow-blockaded winter snows floats on the horizon as a streets are essentially nature's problem, reminder that the cycle of anticipation not of, man's, is widely held, as is his belief preparation for, experience with, recovery that image overcomes reality. Snow has from, and recollection of snow is a univer- always been seen as a kind of litter in the sal human condition.35 streets, refuse for the sanitation depart- Snow reduces cities to earlier historical ment to remove. Nature's bounty is also times. A heavy snowfall confines or elimi- nature's toll, a paradox that neither funds nates automobile traffic and strips bare for the slush, nor slush funds can solve. E shelves of supermarkets. The transient nature of much of metropolitan Washing- Bernard Mergen is a professor of American ton's population - tourists, political Civilization at George Washington University sojourners, recent immigrants from tropi- and author of a study of snow and American cal zones - also contributes to the capital's identity tentatively titled "Snow: Resource unique responses to snow. Situated on the and Refuse," forthcoming from Smithsonian edge of the snow frontier separating the Institution Press. He is currently a Fulbright snow-covered North from the snowless professor of American Civilization at National South, the city is a mecca for nivaphobes University of Mongolia.

15 Notes

acknowledgments appear in hundreds of publications. Dorothy Porter also compiled several bibliographies and finding aids. A prolific ^ NOTES ^ writer, she published, among others, Early Negro Writing, 1760-1837 (1971), North American Negro Poets (1945), Negro Protest Pamphlets (1969), The Negro in the United States (1970), and Afro-Braziliana: A Work- ing Bibliography (1978). She contributed to such journals as Howard Bulletin, Journal of Negro History, Phylon, Journal of Negro Edu- cation, Bulletin of Negro History, Opportuni- Slush Funds ty, and African Studies Bulletin. Bernard Mergen, pp. 4-15 The list of honors and awards bestowed 1. Sources vary, but see for example, "How to En- on Dorothy Porter for her contributions to hance Your Winter-mobility/" The American City 82 the study of African- American history, too (Nov. 1967): 34, and Peter R. Chaston, "1975-1985: long to recount here, includes Ford Foun- Snowiest Major Cities/' Weatherwise 39 (Feb. 1986): dation consultant to the National Library, 45. On snow in cities generally, see Blake Lagos, Nigeria, and a third honorary doc- McKelvey, Snow in the Cities: A History of America's torate in 1990 from Radcliffe College. Four Urban Response (Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester Press, 1995). years later President Bill Clinton present- ed her with the National Endowment for 2. John Rooney, Jr., 'The Urban Snow Hazard in the United States: An Appraisal of Disruption," the Humanities' Frankel Award. Geographical Review 57 (Oct. 1967): 538-59. Dorothy Porter Wesley is now part of 3. The concept of the deseasonalized city is advanced the African- American history she helped by Professor Andre Guillerme, director of the to promote. - Esme Bhan, research associate, Institut Francais d'Urbanisme, University of Paris VIII, who argues that technology allows society to Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, 1975-94. regulate the seasons through heating, lighting, and air conditioning systems. "The Disappearance of Seasons in the City," paper read at the meeting of * A REMINDER ^ the American Society for Environmental History, Pittsburgh, Pa., Mar. 7, 1993. from the people at 4. New York Times, Mar. 13, 1888, 1-3; Robert S. Kyff, the Kiplinger Washington Editors "Their World Came to a Halt," Hartford Courant, Mar. 13, 1988, quotes similar sentiments. For local The Kiplinger Collection photographs, see Kevin Ambrose, Blizzards and of Washingtoniana Snowstorms of Washington, D.C. (Merrifield, Va.: is on display Historical Enterprises, 1993). in the Kiplinger Offices 5. H. L. Stidham, "The Removal of Snow," in George at 1729 H Street NW E. Waring, Jr., ed., Street-Cleaning and the Disposal of

and is available for view by interested groups a City's Wastes: Methods and Results and the Effect with prior planning and arrangement. Upon Public Health, Public Morals, and Municipal Prosperity (New York: Doubleday, 1898), 91. On If you are interested, Waring's contribution, see Martin Melosi, Garbage call Cindy Janke, Curator, in the Cities: Refuse, Reform, and the Environment, at 202-887-6537 and talk it over. 1880-1980 (Chicago: Dorsey Press, 1981), 68-69. 6. Washington Post, Feb. 14, 1899, 1. The Collection mounts periodic exhibits on various phases of Washington history, 7. Washington Post, Feb. 15, 1899, 10. architecture and related topics. 8. Howard Gillette, Jr., Between Justice and Beauty: Race, Planning, and the Failure of Urban Policy in These are shown in the gallery Washington, D.C. (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins on the first floor. University Press, 1995); "Snow Funds," Evening Star, Jan. 9, 1909. I thank my colleague Howard

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Mergen, continued 23. William H. Woodward, "Melting Ice with Salt Saves Men and Tires," The American City 58 (Jan. Gillette for the reference. 1943): 79; Edward J. Anderson, "The Snowless 9. W. H. McClenon, "Removal of Snow and Ice in City," The American City 65 (Jan. 1950): 100-01; Ray District of Columbia: History of Attempts by Blessing, "Colored Salt- Contented Cars," The Congress and the D.C. Commissioners to Impose American City 70 (Oct. 1955): 155-56. On the pesti- Burden upon Real Estate/' typescript, Feb. 7, 1918, cide campaigns, see Pete Daniel, "A Rogue Washingtoniana Division, D.C. Public Library. Bureaucracy: USDA Fire Ant Campaign of the Late 10. Ibid. 1950s," Agricultural History 64 (Spring 1990): 99- 11. A. L. H. Street, "The City's Legal Rights and Du- 114. On the significance of the lawn, see Virginia ties," The American City 37 (Sept. 1927): 395. Scott Jenkins, The Lawn: A History of an American 12. "Removal of Snow and Ice from Sidewalks of the Obsession (Washington: Smithsonian Institution District of Columbia," Senate Report No. 937, to Press, 1994). accompany S. 4988, Dec. 19, 1910, letter from presi- 24. Washington Post, Feb. 16, 1958, Al; Feb. 17, 1958, dent of Board of Commissioners in response to aAl; Feb. 18, 1958, Al. William A. Xanten, "Five Senate Resolution, Dec. 29, 1917, WD, DCPL. Emergency Snow Measures," The American City 77 13. Washington Post, Jan. 29, 1922, 2. (Feb. 1962): 77-79. 14. Ibid. 25. Mary McGrory, "Snow? No, Please," Evening Star, 15. "Removal of Snow and Ice from Sidewalks in the Dec. 22, 1962; Peggy Thompson, "It All Adds Up to District of Columbia," Report to accompany S. Snow!" Washington Post, Potomac, Jan. 5, 1964, 4-6; 3086, House of Representatives Report No. 664, Washington Post, Feb. 19, 1979, Al; Feb. 12, 1983, Feb. 6, 1922, 2-4; "New Snow Law Brings Up Old All; Jan. 23, 1987, Al; Nov. 12, 1987, Al. Validity Problem," Washington Post, Sept. 10, 1922, 26. For example, Washington Post, Feb. 7, 1966, A16. 15; "The City Is on Slippery Legal Ground," 27. Frederick Gutheim, "Livable Winter Cities," Archi- Washington Daily News, Feb. 10, 1966, 6. tectural Record, Feb. 1979, 111-16. 16. Washington Post, Jan. 29, 1922, 20; M. A. Olmem, 28. Martin Weil, "Overnight Legend Descends on The Storm, Washington, D.C, Jan. 27, 28, 1922, WD, City," Washington Post, Feb. 20, 1979; Ed Bruske, DCPL. "Area Wakes Up from a Blizzard to Find a Winter 17. Washington Post, Sept. 10, 1922, 15. Playground," Washington Post, Feb. 13, 1983. 18. "How 92 Cities Handle Their Snow-Removal Prob- 29. Washington Post, Jan. 23, 1987, Cl, C2; Jan. 27, 1987, lems," The American City 44 (Mar. 1931): 144-47. C7;Jan.28,1987,A20. 19. "Information on Snow and Ice Control in the Dis- 30. On Daley's remark, as reported by columnist Mike trict of Columbia," undated typescript (stamped Royko, and how Jane Byrne used snow removal to 1941), WD, DCPL. See Washington Post, Nov. 25, defeat Bilandic, see Bill and Lori Granger, Fighting 1930, on the parking ban. Jane: Mayor Jane and the Chicago Machine (New York: 20. Washington Post, Feb. 8, 1936, 1; Washington Times, Dial Press, 1980), 209-16. On Lindsay, see New York Feb. 27, 1937, 10. Times, Feb. 10-13, 1969; on Makowski, see Robert 21. Washington Post, Jan. 13, 1954, 10. On cost-benefit Bahr, The Blizzard (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice- analysis of snow removal, see, for example, "Does It Hall, 1980); and on Dukakis, see Boston Globe, Feb. Pay to Clean City Streets in Winter?" The American 8-10, 1978. City 24 (Feb. 1921): 149; V.R. Burton, "Cost Analysis 31. Washington Post, Jan. 30, 1987, Al. Mary Douglas, of Snow Removal in Michigan," The American City Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of 34 (Apr. 1926): 386-93; John H. Nuttall, "What Shall Pollution and Taboo (London: Routledge & Kegan We Do With Snow and Ice?" The American City 44 Paul, 1966). (Feb. 1931): 102-103; "Don't Forget Snow Removal," 32. Washington Post, Sept. 26, 1987, Bl, B2; "Snow The American City 45 (Nov. 1931): 53-56. Burton's Removal Program, Winter 1987-1988," flyer, WD, model for computing the costs of snow removal DCPL. includes such variables as topography, wind direc- 33. "Snow Plan Calls for Staggered Closings," Wash- tion, temperature, depth, and type of snow. Nuttall, ington Times, Oct. 21, 1988; Mike Causey, "The Fed- a consulting civil engineer in Philadelphia, worked eral Diary," Washington Post, Feb. 13, 1992; Mar. 16, formulas for determining the amount of snow that 1993, Bl; Sharon Pratt Kelly Committee, "District could be melted in sewers of various dimensions News." and calculated the weight of dry snow, wet snow, 34. Fernand Braudel, The Identity of France: History and slush, and dirty snow. Environment, vol. I (New York: Harper & Row, 22. Washington Times-Herald, Jan. 24, 1954, 1; Evening 1989), 63. Star, Dec. 11, 1956, 1. On the use of chemicals, see 35. Attributed to Mayor Barry in a letter to the editor "Calcium Chloride Breaks Up Stubborn Street Ice," from Ryan E. Bliss and Elaine D. Blatt, Washington The American City 40 (Jan. 1929): 160. Post, Jan. 19, 1996.

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