The document is titled Proposal to Americanize the District of Columbia and subtitled, Measured by Every American Standard The District of Columbia is entitled to a POLITICAL SQUARE DEAL. Published by the Citizens' Joint Committee on National Representation for the District of Columbia, this document addresses several of the arguments made in favor of granting the right to vote for President to DC residents. In particular, it identifies and lays out support for a 1939 joint resolution proposed by Hatton W. Sumners of Texas “providing for national representation for the people of the District of Columbia.”
The document also includes several political cartoons originally published in the Washington Star; a reprint of Theodore Noyes’s November 8, 1938 editorial titled “To the Un-americanized Americans of the District, a Day of Humiliation; To Other Americans, a Day of National Enthusiasm and Patriotic Pride”; and a list of more than 50 local, national, and state or regional organizations supporting or endorsing national representation for the District of Columbia.
The Citizens' Joint Committee on National Representation for the District of Columbia was a lobbying organization formed under the leadership of journalist Theodore Noyes (1858-1946) in 1916 or 1917 (accounts of the exact founding vary). Noyes served as editor-in-chief of the Washington Star for 38 years and often used the platform to promote the organization’s campaign. Noyes led the organization until his death, and it remained active until 1961 (the organization donated its papers to the Library of Congress that year). The purpose of the Joint Committee was to advocate for legislation that would allow the citizens of the District of Columbia to vote in presidential elections.
Through the decades, this organization advocated for passage of what would eventually become the Twenty-third Amendment to the Constitution. The 23rd Amendment was proposed by Congress in 1960 and ratified in 1961. The 1964 election was the first Presidential election in which any DC residents were eligible to participate in the electoral college since the election of 1800.
DCPS Cornerstones Curricular Connections
Social Studies
Grade 12 DC History and Government - The Founders' Intentions
Grade 12 DC History and Government - Home Rule
Grade 12 U.S. Government - Youth Vote
DCPS Standards
Social Studies
3.2. Students understand the basic structure of the Washington, DC, government.
12.DC.23: Students explain the relationship between the federal government and the District of Columbia as defined by Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution and the unique budgetary, legislative, and financial constraints placed on the District government by the U.S. Congress.
12.DC.22.6: Review the reasons why Washington, DC, residents do not have voting representation in Congress, and assess the prospects for current efforts to get congressional representation for the District.
12.6.4: Describe the means that citizens use to participate in the political process (e.g., voting, campaigning, lobbying, filing a legal challenge, demonstrating, petitioning, picketing, and running for political office).
English Language Arts
W.3.8: Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories.
Common Core Standards
Literacy in History/Social Studies
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.8 Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5 Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.8 Evaluate an author's premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.
The DC History Center's Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook traces the campaign for the passage of the 23rd Amendment by the Evening Star. The scrapbook's given title is "Prize winning newspaper series by Grace Bassett, Staff Writer, The Washington Star, chronicling the campaign that won the first vote for the residents of Washington, D.C., 1959-1961."
Mary Grace (M. G.) Bassett (1926-2020) was a journalist and lawyer who wrote for The Washington Post, The Evening Star, and King Features Syndicate in Washington, D.C., from 1952 to 1976. Many of the articles written as part of the campaign appear under a Bassett byline.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
From the Evening Star Twenty-Third Amendment Campaign Scrapbook, 1959-1961. MS 0797.
"Collections Snapshot: A Campaign for the Right to Vote" by Anne McDonough
DC History Center blog post, 2014
Washington History is the only scholarly publication devoted exclusively to the history of our nation’s capital. First published in 1989, the magazine replaced the Records of the Columbia Historical Society (1897-1989). Washington History is filled with scholarly articles edited for the general reader. It is written and edited by distinguished historians and journalists, offering a rich array of images as well as reviews and short features. The following articles support study of the issue of voting rights for District residents.
"Voice of the Voteless: The District of Columbia League of Women Voters, 1921-1941" by Katarina Hering
Washington History Vol. 28 No. 1, 2016.
"The Art of D.C. Politics: Broadsides, Banners, and Bumper Stickers" by Faye P. Haskins
Washington History Vol. 12 No. 2, 2000-2001.
"The City under the Hill," by Steven J. Diner
Washington History, Vol. 8 No. 1, 1996
"“Statehood is Far More Difficult”: The Struggle for D.C. Self-Determination, 1980–2017" by George Derek Musgrove
Washington History, Vol. 29 No. 2, 2017
"For More than Display: D.C.'s Adaptable Flag," by Matthew Pavesich
The records include correspondence with members of Congress, records of congressional hearings, publicity materials, lists of local groups backing the Twenty-third Amendment, and a file by state showing contacts made by the committee with leaders of the various state legislatures.
Accessible with a DCPL library card, this database offers the full run of the Star, from 1852-1981.