Washington, D.C

Is DC home to America's liveliest cemetery?

Published

1 year ago

October 5, 2024

Is DC home to America's liveliest cemetery?

Welcome to a spot in Southeast D.C. where you can hang out with your friends, have a cup of coffee, watch some live theater … and where 70,000 people have chosen to make their eternal resting place.

We’re wondering: Could historic Congressional Cemetery be America’s liveliest cemetery?

“We are still an active cemetery, so we’re actually still selling plots and burying people, as well as having movie nights, immersive theater,” said Jackie Spainhour, president of Congressional Cemetery. “We’re a certified 5K course. We have a writing group; we have a book club. Everything you can think of, we have tried here.”

They call it D.C.’s greatest undertaking.

In addition to its 70,000 permanent residents, the cemetery welcomed 10,000 guests to its events last year alone.

WRC

News4’s Tommy McFly talks to an actor for Soul Strolls, the annual immersive theater experience put on by the historic Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Those events include Soul Strolls, their immersive history theater experience and guided-lantern tour.

“We have actors actually portraying the people buried here, and we usually have these thematic stories that connect them,” Director of Programming AJ Orlikoff said. “This year it blew me away. We sold out over 1,600 tickets for four nights of the event in two and a half days. Ultimately, Soul Strolls is a fun, spooky time with your friends. But you know, it’s a fun, spooky history time with your friends.”

Permanent residents include some big names from local — and national — history

Speaking of history: Cemetery residents include former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, J. Edgar Hoover, composer John Philip Sousa and Civil War-era photographer Mathew Brady.

“I would say he’s the father of photojournalism,” Docent of the Year Rick Liebling said.

Way before selfies at events, Brady’s lens snapped Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and President Abraham Lincoln.

A gravesite monument to Mathew Brady, known as the father of photojournalism.

“Brady took pictures of Lincoln and made him look presidential, and Lincoln himself said, ‘Brady is the one who got me the presidency’,” Liebling told us.

Liebling also shared that he plans for Congressional to be his final resting place, too.

“But I’m comfortable knowing that there’s dogs here, and because there’s dogs here, that means people will actually walk near or around where I’m going to be. I find that somewhat comforting,” he said.

Dogs were the first to bring life back to Congressional Cemetery

Before interactive theater and movie nights and book clubs, it was dogs that brought life back to the cemetery.

“Well, I will tell you, way back around 1988 or so, it was not a real pleasant, comfortable place to come,” said Victor Romero, one of the founding members of Congressional Cemetery’s K9 Corps. “I mean, aside from the stones and the markers themselves being in various states of disrepair….”

Dogs sniff around Congressional Cemetery in Washington D.C.

There were also reports of illegal activities — not the welcoming place visitors know these days.

“And we brought more life to corners of the cemetery that people had not been to in ages,” Romero said. “This is indeed the liveliest place in Washington, D.C.”

Meet a death doula (and try not to freak out)

Laura Lyster-Mensh said people usually get unsettled when she tells them what she does.

“Then they meet me and they chill out a little, but yeah, no, it sounds scary, but it’s not,” said Lyster-Mensh, the cemetery’s death doula in residence. “It’s actually about living, not dying, to do things like death cafés.”

Think of Death Café as maybe getting a latte and talking about mortality.

“We do, of course, have people here with terminal illnesses who are dying and know that their their time is very finite, but most people are coming to be in groups to talk about this relationship with death, and they’re often young,” Lyster-Mensh said. “Some come on dates.”

Laura Lyster-Mensh is the death doula in residence at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

“I have much optimism for these couples,” she added, laughing.

‘Every cemetery has its own kind of brand, and this is ours’

Other historic cemeteries such as Laurel Hill in Philadelphia, Green-wood in Brooklyn and Oakland in Atlanta also look toward the living for a breath of fresh air.

“We’re really on the cusp of a real cultural transformation of cemeteries as spaces, and they really are spaces for the living now, and that entails everything that the living love to do,” Orlikoff said.

But do people ever feel like a lively scene at a cemetery is too disrespectful toward the dead?

“Yeah, we get that every once in a while, people who have different cultural traditions and maybe just don’t understand,” Spainhour said. “We’re very transparent that this may not be the space for you, if this isn’t what you like. You know, every cemetery has its own kind of brand, and this is ours.”

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Washington, D.C

Suspected National Guard shooter due back in court on two new charges

Published

4 hours ago

January 14, 2026

Press Room

Suspected National Guard shooter due back in court on two new charges

WASHINGTON – A deadly shooting case with ties to the National Guard and the White House is heading back to court, and prosecutors have now expanded the charges.

FOX 5’s Maureen Umeh reports this is one of the District’s highest profile cases, and the man accused in the ambush is expected to appear before a judge on Thursday.

What we know:

Prosecutors have added two new counts, and the hearing could help shape the direction of the case as it moves forward in federal court.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal is accused of opening fire on two West Virginia National Guard members near the White House the day before Thanksgiving. Prosecutors have now added two counts of assault with intent to kill, tied to the National Guard member who tackled and subdued him after the shooting.

READ MORE: Who is Rahmanullah Lakanwal? Afghan national accused of shooting 2 National Guard in DC

Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was killed. Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe was critically injured and continues to recover.

Lakanwal now faces first degree murder while armed, multiple assault charges, and several weapons offenses. Federal prosecutors say they are aggressively pursuing the case and note that nothing is off the table, including whether to seek the death penalty, one reason the case is now being handled at the federal level.

The indictment includes nine criminal counts. Lakanwal has pleaded not guilty to the initial charges.

READ MORE: Two new charges for alleged gunman in National Guard shooting

The Source: Information in this article comes from the Associated Press and previous FOX 5 reporting.

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Washington, D.C

D.C. set to receive $200M in federal funds

Published

16 hours ago

January 13, 2026

Press Room

The House and Senate appropriations committees included almost $200 million in the first draft of an upcoming appropriations bill, which, if approved by Congress, would fund D.C. programs including school choice, college tuition, HIV prevention, clean rivers and police overtime.

If approved, $90 million would reimburse the District government for the cost of providing police and other support at events like large protests, state funerals and the upcoming 250 birthday celebration of the country.

While the Bowser administration is happy with the funding, the mayor sent a letter to Congress asking for an additional $10 million to offset the added costs to D.C. taxpayers for the federal surge, writing, “This higher funding level is also essential to support the ongoing federal law enforcement surge and the associated increased costs to the Metropolitan Police Department, including MPD’s work to coordinate with federal agencies, facilitate National Guard deployments, and sustain police overtime required to support the surge.”

There is also $40 million to fund D.C. tuition assistance grants, which help offset the cost of college tuition for D.C. high school grads. If approved, the funds would allow D.C. to increase the amount students could qualify for each year from $10,000 to $15,000 and boost the lifetime cap from $50,000 to $75,000.

“Which is a huge amount of money for families, and that’s going to help us help more of our residents on their pathway to getting degrees,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser’s chief of staff, Tomas Talamante.

Schools would benefit, too.

“We were able to get 17.5 for D.C. Public Schools and 17.5 million for D.C. public charter schools, as well as the 17.5 million that goes to the voucher program,” Talamante said. “We also were able to get money for HIV/AIDS prevention, about $4 million that we were able to secure for HIV/AIDS prevention. We were also able to secure $8 million for DC Water, which their clean rivers project is the huge tunnel-boring system that helps keep the Anacostia and our waterways clean.”

The legislation includes riders placing restrictions on recreational cannabis, and Congress could add other riders, including changes like doing away with cashless bail or photo traffic enforcement in the District.

The legislation still must go through the House Rules Committee before a full House vote.

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Washington, D.C

DC weather: Wintry mix, snow showers possible late Wednesday into Thursday

Published

1 day ago

January 13, 2026

Press Room

DC weather: Wintry mix, snow showers possible late Wednesday into Thursday

WASHINGTON – A mild Tuesday is ahead for the Washington, D.C. region, with a brief chance of a wintry mix or even a few snow showers arriving late Wednesday into early Thursday.

What we know:

Tuesday starts cold, with temperatures in the 30s, but the day stays dry and warms into the low 50s with some afternoon sunshine.

Isolated showers move in Wednesday morning and linger at times throughout the day. FOX 5’s Taylor Grenda says colder air rushing into the region Wednesday into early Thursday could briefly flip that rain to a wintry mix or some light snow showers.

Any mix is expected to be brief and minimal. Snow chances should clear by early Thursday, leaving behind cold, blustery and dry conditions for the rest of the day.

What’s next:

Friday turns sunny but very cold, with highs only in the mid 30s. Saturday stays dry, and there’s a slight chance of snow showers returning on Sunday.

DC weather: Wintry mix, snow showers possible late Wednesday into Thursday

The Source: Information in this article comes from the FOX 5 Weather Team and the National Weather Service.

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