The Ward 6 Democrats will be voting on proposed revisions to our bylaws on Saturday, June 22, 2019 at our biennial convention, which will take place at Christ Church (620 G Street SE). The convention opens promptly at 10:00 a.m., and voting will be open until 1:00 p.m. Please plan to join us on June 22, and review the revised bylaws in advance and come prepared to cast your vote. 

You can review the proposed revisions here. 

Women of Ward 6 is a non-partisan monthly recognition of Ward 6’s women, sponsored by the Ward 6 Democrats. This effort, in partnership with the National Woman’s Party, the Capitol Hill Restoration Society and the Hill Rag, will culminate in the 2020 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

We will be recognizing women of Ward 6 – current or historical who lives or works in Ward 6 – for the significant contributions to better our lives. Follow along as we honor these women as part of our Women of Ward 6 Initiative here.

You can help with our initiative by nominating a woman for this honor. If you want to nominate a woman, or to serve on the committee to help with this important initiative, contact: marcihilt@aol.com

Nadine Winter (1924-2011) was an urban-housing activist who was one of the original members of the Council of the District of Columbia when DC gained home rule in 1974. She represented Ward 6 on the council until 1991.

Nadine P. Winter moved to Washington, DC in 1947 to work on housing issues. She was elected in 1974 to represent Ward 6, a diverse but largely poor area which stretched from Capitol Hill to Anacostia, and she held the seat for 16 years. She came to the council keenly aware of the housing problems that plagued the ward, as well as the city. She had been the director of the Hospitality House, one of the first shelters to house entire families and led the screen group for an uban homesteading program in the 1970’s.

She was born in New Bern, N.C.; one of five children of a brick mason and high-school dietician. A community activist from an early age, she helped found Winston-Salem’s first Girl Scout troop for black girls.

In 1980, she sponsored a DC law instituting recycling in DC.

She was an original organizer of the National Welfare Rights Organization and she served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. After she retired from government, she founded health Action Information Network, a non-profit agency providing health education. She was a four-time cancer survivor.

In 1892, she oversaw construction of the Haines Building, which now overlooks the Eastern Market Metro plaza. Total construction time for the building was six months, from ground breaking to store opening. An article published four years later described it as “a store with all the modern conveniences, where trading becomes a pleasure instead of a vexation.

In early 1893, a series of bankruptcies and bank runs caused a severe depression, whose effects were felt all over the United States. The economy did not recover until 1897. In spite of this, Haines persevered, and her store survived, even when a fire burned much of the store in 1905. Haines also gave money to causes she believed in, including posting bail for several of the leaders of Coxey’s Army, who held the first organized protest on the Capitol grounds.

In 1910, Haines sold her store. It was bought by Milton Ney and Joseph Goldenberg, who sold off most of the stock in a major “reorganization sale,” and then, having renamed it the “Haines’ Department Store,” continued to run it for many more years.

After she sold the store, she moved to Florida where she bought a large of property. She then took a trip around the world to research the types of fruit and crops she might grow there. Eventually, she reached the Philippines where she met the governor of Luzon Province. After about two years, she made it back to DC and then married the Luzon Province governor, who had resigned and followed her home. They entertained, traveled, and lived in Florida until she died there in 1928.

Join us for an intimate group discussion with our Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, who is one of city's leading advocates for improvements to all aspects of our election process.

Especially now, this is a critical discussion to address inequities and fairness in the District related to basic voting rights, influence of big money contributions, conflicts of interest for our elected officials, improper lobbying and the ways in which we elect our leaders.

We will explore and discuss these issues and ways we can improve our election process. Please join us!

Seating is limited to 20 attendees - RSVPs are restricted to Ward 6 Democrats. All attendees must RSVP here (no +1s please).

Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans is currently involved in a probe regarding improper ethical and lobbying actions with the DC Council and government. There has been significant coverage in the Washington Post and other local news sources regarding these serious charges. If you are not aware of this matter, we strongly suggest you investigate these allegations and the actions taken to date by the DC Council.

Councilmember Evans also serves as National Committeeman for the DC DSC, which is an elected position. Several members of the DC DSC have created a resolution asking Mr. Evans to step down from this position.

On May 2, 2019, the members of the DC Democratic State Committee will meet to vote on this resolution. 

We want to be clear that the resolution is not asking Councilmember Evans to resign from the DC Council. That is a decision for the voters of Ward 2. The resolution is asking Mr. Evans to step down as our party's DC representative to the Democratic National Committee.

We would like to hear from you, so we’ve set up a short survey athttps://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XWHL5CB. It will ask you to confirm that you are a Democrat residing in Ward 6. It then includes a link to the actual text of the resolution. Please review it, then let us know whether you’d like the Ward 6 Dems to support the request for Mr. Evans’s resignation or not. There is also a space to offer any comments you might have on the situation.

We request that ONLY Democrats in Ward 6 register their vote.

Please do take a few moments to review the resolution and let us know your thoughts on this extremely serious matter.

Fellow Ward 6 Democrats,

This edition of our newsletter is all about volunteer opportunities.

You can attend the upcoming DNC winter meeting, help your fellow Ward 6 Dems get in shape and prepare for the Race to Ratification 5K that will kick of the National Woman’s Party celebration of the centennial of women’s suffrage, take a two question survey to let us know what topics you’re interested in, or lobby for DC Statehoood.

There are LOTS of opportunities to get involved in February. All you have to do is pick the one that best suits your time, talents, and interests.  

Chuck Burger

President, Ward 6 Democrats

DNC Winter Meeting: Feb. 14-16

The Democratic National Committee will be holding their winter 2019 meeting here in DC at the Marriott Marquis (901 Massachusetts Avenue NW) Thursday, Feb. 14 – Saturday, Feb. 16.

The Ward 6 Dems have posted a PDF of the tentative schedule of public events on our website, under the Events Calendar, at https://www.ward6dems.org/calendar.

Daily Registration:

• Thursday, Feb. 14, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Friday, Feb. 15, 7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 16, 7 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Thursday will be mostly devoted to council and caucus meetings. Many of the committees meet on Friday, and there’s a general session from 1 – 4 p.m. and then a welcome reception from 6 – 8 p.m. Saturday kicks off with a Black History Month breakfast, followed by the regional caucuses in the morning, and another general session from 12 – 3 p.m.

The DC Democratic State Committee website indicates that they’ll be offering online registration soon at https://dcdemocraticparty.org.

Baby, Were You Born to Run?

We’re still looking for a volunteer to coordinate ONE weekly training run for the Ward 6 Dems team for the upcoming Race to Ratification 5K, Sunday, June 9. The race is the official National Woman’s Party (in partnership with Congressional Cemetery) kick off of a year’s worth of events celebrating the centennial of women’s suffrage. If you’re willing to coordinate ONE training run a week, email Elizabeth Engel at ewengel@yahoo.com. 

New This Year: Ward 6 Salons (and we need your help)

In 2019, the Ward 6 Dems will begin hosting a series of informal, topical conversations in a “salon” format – 15-20 attendees, hosted in volunteers’ houses, on a particular topic or issue, potentially with one or more invited special guests.

Please take our two question poll at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WYZYZS5 to let us know what topics you’re interested in and which guest participants you’d like us to invite.

DC Statehood Annual Lobbying Day – NEW DATE (Feb. 27)

Are you ready to take the plunge and help advocate for DC Statehood in 2019?

Wednesday, Feb. 27 (note the new date) is the statehood movement’s annual lobbying day on Capitol Hill. There are morning and afternoon shifts available, and training and meals are provided.

Never lobbied before? Don’t worry – experienced leaders of the statehood movement will be with you to guide the way. Experienced citizen lobbyist? That’s great, too. Either way, the movement needs you. Sign up to participate at https://www.facebook.com/events/1937302779700951/.

The Hill Center (921 Pennsylvania Avenue SE) will be hosting their seventh annual Volunteer Capitol Hill on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This event is designed to showcase the wide variety of opportunities for volunteer service in our community. The Ward 6 Democrats will have a table, and we need some volunteers to help us recruit more volunteers (how meta).

We need:

• Two volunteers from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. (who will also help with setup)
• Two volunteers from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m.
• Two volunteers from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. (who will also help us pack up)

If you can help, contact Dorinda White at dorindaw@gmail.com.

Ward 6 Democrats are continuing our recognition of the Woman of Ward 6 by honoring Winifred Mallon (1880-1954), an early Washington, DC, newspaper reporter.

According to the History of the Washington Press Corps, by Donald A. Ritchie, Winifred Mallon got her start as a clerk in the cable room of the State Department. She had written part-time for the Washington bureau of the Chicago Tribune since 1902. In 1905, she joined the staff of the newspaper. The Tribune gave her a byline whenever she dealt with women’s issues, but anything else she wrote appeared as an anonymous “special.” 

In 1913, Mallon started a column for the Tribune on the campaign for woman suffrage. During World War I, she earned a place on the Washington bureau’s regular staff, writing a column on legislation pending in Congress. She mastered immigration legislation so thoroughly that a House committee called her as an expert witness.

During the Jazz Age of the 1920’s when women exerted a greater degree of economic independence and social liberation than before, newspapers opened more jobs for women in their editorial and marketing departments and also as reporters. 

At the 1928 political conventions, Mallon freelanced for the New York Times, interviewing women delegates and wives of the candidates. That led the Times to hire her as the first woman member of its Washington staff, to cover the social side of the White House, weddings, the Red Cross, and similar assignments.

She was a small woman who carried an oversized handbag that trailed along the ground. She appeared eccentric, but colleagues recognized that she held her job because she possessed “a lively mind and the ability to think clearly and to write clearly.” Even after Times bureau chief considered the aged Mallon “virtually no use,” he kept her on the payroll because she was single and lacked a pension.

Mallon became close to Alva Belmont, who founded the National Women’s Party, and would sometimes sneak out of the Tribune building to the Women’s party headquarters on Capitol Hill (now the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument) to help write press releases and other publicity materials for the suffrage cause. 

Mallon, who helped found the Women’s National Press Club and served as its president for the 1935-1936 term, is buried in Ward 6’s Congressional Cemetery, and her grave is featured on the Suffrage Walking Tour.

Join your fellow Ward 6 Democrats for a happy hour in the upstairs room at Mr. Henry’s (601 Pennsylvania Avenue SE) TOMORROW NIGHT, Tuesday, April 9, from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. We’ll have a special guest, DC Attorney General Karl Racine, and extended happy hour specials and pricing. AG Racine has quietly become a major figure in the national movement to resist the Trump administration, through his leadership of the ongoing emoluments lawsuit against Donald Trump (with Maryland AG Brian Frosh), and his role as co-chair of the Democratic Attorneys General Association. AG Racine is also currently suing to get access to Trump's tax returns.  Find out more about AG Racine inthis recent Politico profile and join us TOMORROW NIGHT to meet this dynamic local and national political leader.