Below are books Teaching for Change recommends on Washington, D.C. The ones with reviews are noted with an asterisk (*).
Our offices are located in D.C., where we work locally with educators via our DC Area Educators for Social Justice. Additionally, through Teach the Beat, we bring go-go, D.C.'s distinctive music, to the classroom.
Take our quiz on DC History and see how well you know the real D.C.
Elementary and Middle School | Young Adult and Adult Nonfiction | Fiction & Poetry | Learn More
Ablaze with Color: A Story of Painter Alma Thomas
By Jeanne Walker Harvey and Loveis Wise (Illustrator)
Adventures in Ana Park (Books by Teens #23)
By Kahliya Ruffin, Trevon Evans, Liu Light (Illustrator)
Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir
By Eloise Greenfield, Jerry Pinkney (Illustrator), Lessie Jones Little
Passenger on the Pearl: The True Story of Emily Edmonson's Flight from Slavery *
By Winifred Conkling
Philip Reid Saves the Statue of Freedom
By Steven Sellers Lapham, Eugene Walton, and R. Gregory Christie (Illustrator)
We Want to Go to School! The Fight for Disability Rights
By Maryann Cocca-Leffler and Janine Leffler
Between Freedom and Equality: The History of an African American Family in Washington, DC
By Barbara Boyle Torrey and Clara Myrick Green
Black Georgetown Remembered: A History of Its
By Kathleen M. Lesko, Samuel Harvey (Foreword by), Valerie Babb (With)
Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital
By Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove
City of Magnificent Intentions: A History of Washington, District of Columbia
Melder, Keith E.; Stuart, Melinda Young; Stuart, Melinda Young [Editor]
DC Jazz: Stories of Jazz Music in Washington, DC
By Maurice Jackson (Editor), Blair A. Ruble (Editor)
Fighting to Breathe: Race, Toxicity, and the Rise of Youth Activism in Baltimore
By Nicole Fabricant
First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America's First Black Public High School
By Alison Stewart, Melissa Harris-Perry (Foreword by)
Freedom Was in Sight: A Graphic History of Reconstruction in the Washington, D.C., Region
By Kate Masur and Elizabeth Clarke (Illustrator)
Growing Up in Washington, D.C.:: An Oral History
By Historical Society of Washington D. C., Edited By Jill Connors
The Guide to Black Washington, Revised Illustrated Edition
By Sandra Fitzpatrick, Maria R. Goodwin, Adele Logan Alexander (Introduction by)
In the Shadow of Freedom: The Politics of Slavery in the National Capital
By Paul Finkelman (Editor), Donald R. Kennon (Editor)
Indigenous DC: Native Peoples and the Nation's Capital
By Elizabeth Rule
Mary McLeod Bethune in Washington, D.C.: Activism and Education in Logan Circle
By Ida E. Jones, Elizabeth Clark-Lewis (Foreword by)
The Nats and the Grays: How Baseball in the Nation's Capital Survived WWII and Changed the Game Forever
By David E. Hubler, Joshua H. Drazen
Through My Anacostia Eyes: Environmental Problems and Possibilities
By Anacostia High School Students, edited by Caroline Brewer
Washington, DC, Jazz
By Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Rev Dr. Sandra Butler-Truesdale, forward by Willard Jenkins
Learn More
Our offices are located in D.C., where we work locally with educators via our DC Area Educators for Social Justice. Additionally, through Teach the Beat, we bring go-go, D.C.'s distinctive music, to the classroom.
Take our quiz on DC History and see how well you know the real D.C.
Most of the books on this page are linked for more information or purchase to Bookshop (an indie bookstore platform) and / or Powells.com (an indie, unionized bookstore). While we always encourage people to boycott anti-labor Amazon, it is all the more relevant for this labor list!
A small percentage from book sales through these links goes to Teaching for Change to support Social Justice Books.