GREATER WASHINGTON HISTORY

The Burning of Washington
Speaker: Anthony S. Pitch
In the summer of 1814 British troops captured Washington DC and burned the White House and Capitol. Anthony S. Pitch highlights eyewitness accounts of this humiliating drama, perhaps the lowest point in American history. The tables were turned three weeks later when defenders heroically repulsed the same British forces attacking Fort McHenry, inspiring eyewitness Francis Scott Key to write a poem that became the national anthem. Pitch concludes the narrative with Andrew Jackson's epic victory over the British At New Orleans.The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814 is a History Book Club selection, with movie rights optioned by National Geographic. Book signing and sales can be arranged to complement this presentation.

They Have Killed Papa Dead: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Speaker: Anthony S. Pitch
In his latest book,” They Have Killed Papa Dead!" - The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the award-winning author has unearthed new material in his relentless search for diaries, letters, journals and other original documents in private hands and in widely scattered archival repositories. He conveys the human drama of a story he believes to be the saddest in American history. This presentation includes a book signing and sale.

An Anecdotal Look at Capitol Hill
Speaker: Anthony S. Pitch
An amusing, informative and sometimes surprising look at the shenanigans of our elected officials on Capitol Hill as well as anecdotes about their immediate surroundings - the Supreme Court and Library of Congress.

William Marbury: The Man Whose Lawsuit Made The Supreme Court, Supreme
Speaker: James Johnston
William Marbury was the son of a impoverished tobacco farmer and his wife in Prince Georges County. When the young Marbury became an accounting clerk for the state in Annapolis, he dreamed of fame and fortune. By 1800, he had acquired the wealth and a large house in Georgetown. So, when the impertinent new president, Thomas Jefferson, told Secretary of State James Madison not to deliver to Marbury his commission as justice of the peace, Marbury wanted to use his wealth to teach Jefferson a lesson. Today, Marbury's and Madison's portraits hang side by side in the private dining room of the Supreme Court. The portraits are graphic reminders that the case of Marbury v. Madison established the proposition that the Supreme Court reigns supreme on matters of constitutional interpretation.