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  Starting from Lost Origins Gallery, the walking tours explored how the neighborhood has nurtured a range of music subcultures and small venues. From the Escuela de Rumba, to an underground radio station, to a homegrown Mt. Pleasant Day Festival, Tim Wright guided people through the sights and sounds of the disparate peoples and places of the neighborhood who coalesce to form a community.
  Photo by Daniel Martínez González, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Janel Leppin and Anthony Pirog performed a set of haunting, dreamy songs in Lost Origins Gallery between the two walking tours.
  Photo by Daniel Martínez González, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Allison Wolfe (Bratmobile, riot grrrl, “I’m in the band” podcast) and Jason Hamacher (Frodus, Battery, Lost Origins Gallery) shared emcee duties during the performance in Lamont Park.
  Photo by Xueying Chang , Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  (Left to right) Ara Casey, Maya Renfro, Selena Benally, Robzie Trulove, and Erin Frisby of The OSYX bring their set to a rousing finale.
  Photo by Daniel Martínez González, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Robzie Truelove, The OSYX
  Photo by Xueying Chang, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  The crowd in Lamont Park
  Photo by Xueying Chang, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  (Left to right) Chad McCall, Van Hillard, and Nenet of Park Snakes
  Photo by Daniel Martínez González, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Nenet of Park Snakes
  Photo by Xueying Chang, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Artist and comic creator Evan Keeling live sketched during the afternoon performances.
  Photo by Sojin Kim, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Michele Casto and Ashanti Mills from the DC Public Library offered stencil-flyer activities to the public that referred to recent mobilizations and debates around music, public space, and local culture.
  Photo by Sojin Kim, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Michele Casto helped Erin Dowdy prepare a stencil for spray painting.
  Photo by Sojin Kim, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  The DC Public Library also shared examples of flyers and other local music ephemera from their Punk Archives.
  Photo by Sojin Kim, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  In Lost Origins Gallery, Siobhan Hagan demonstrated how the DC Public Library can help people digitize and preserve their old photographs, home movies, audio cassettes, and slides.
  Photo by Sojin Kim, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  The audience for the performances included a mix of local neighbors and people from outside of the neighborhood.
  Photo by Xueying Chang, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Katie McD and Rena Hagins of Bacchae
  Photo by Daniel Martínez González, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  (Left to right) Drummer Eileen O’Grady, bassist/singer Rena Hagins, guitarist Andrew Breiner, and keyboardist/singer Katie McD of Bacchae.
  Photo by Xueying Chang, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Click on the image above to view full slideshow

Before last spring’s national mobilization around #DontMuteDC, there was Hear Mount Pleasant.

Mt. Pleasant is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C. Starting in the late 1990s, a public debate over the changing community’s culture and identity was waged over the issue of live music. This unfolded when local Latino restaurants were forced to sign agreements indicating that they would not present live music after a group of neighbors complained to the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, which permits restrictions on alcoholic beverage licenses.

A counter effort was led by another group of neighbors, organized as Hear Mount Pleasant. In 2011, they finally got the agreement reversed. Their decade-long clash reflected the challenges and possibilities of building communities that reflect the economic, racial/ethnic, and generational diversity of its residents.

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• Poster by Matthew Curry, Boy Vs. Dragon Studios

Today, along Mt. Pleasant’s eponymous main street, music is a much celebrated facet of local culture—where musicians serenade shoppers at the Saturday farmers market, young fandangueros informally gather to play son jarocho in Lamont Park, punk and mariachi musicians participate in a benefit inside the corner grocery store, the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Church annually processes on Good Friday with live and recorded musical accompaniment, and a local Salvadoran-owned restaurant boasts an eclectic weekly lineup ranging from zydeco to jazz to country and various Latin grooves.

On August 11, 2019, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival partnered with Lost Origins Gallery to continue its D.C.: The Social Power of Music programming by channeling this history and local vibe to explore music and social practice, highlighting the voices of women artists.

The long afternoon and evening of activities was produced in collaboration with District Bridges and the DC Public Library Punk Archive and supported in part by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative. It was anchored by Antonia Tricarico’s photo exhibition, Frame of Mind, which featured artists from the D.C. punk scene, 1997-2017.

The event also featured the following performances and activities:

• Cultivating Change: Music + Community in Mt. Pleasant walking tours organized by Tim Wright (Attucks Adams Walking Tours) and Natalie Avery (Javera Group, Radio CPR)
• A performance by multi-instrumentalist Janel Leppin and Anthony Pirog in Lost Origins Gallery
• Performances in Lamont Park by The OSYX, Park Snakes, and Bacchae, emceed by Allison Wolfe (Bratmobile, riot grrrl, and “I’m in the band” podcast)
• Demonstrations and activities by the DC Public Library’s Punk Archives and Memory Lab
• An afterparty at Haydee’s Restaurant with music by DJ Kristy La rAt

Special thanks to the following people for making these activities possible: Jason Hamacher of Lost Origins Gallery, Robert Frazier and Indu Chelliah of Mount Pleasant Main Street and Mount Pleasant Business Association, Brianne Dornbush and Carolina Buitrago of District Bridges, Haydee Vanegas, Matthew Curry, Olivia Cadaval, Tim Wright, and Natalie Avery.

Sojin Kim and Nichole Procopenko are curators of the D.C.: The Social Power of Music program.