Washington, D.C

Women of the Parks: Washington, D.C., Edition

Published

2 years ago

March 4, 2024

Women of the Parks: Washington, D.C., Edition

Check out three national park sites that represent significant stories in women’s history — and in the story of our nation.

Our nation’s capital is packed with national park sites telling the American story, from the iconic landmarks you recognize on the opening credits of your favorite TV political dramas to the lesser-known places where history unfolded and rippled across the country. In all, Washington, D.C., is home to 25 national parks and over 100 national monuments and memorials, yet only a handful tell the stories of women.

Although women make up 50% of the population, their stories are largely obscured here in D.C. and across the National Park System. I’ve written about women of the parks before, and during the course of my research I was stunned how few names were familiar to me, even as a recovering undergraduate gender studies major. It felt unfair that, while growing up, I learned about the same handful of women over and over, as if there were only a few who had ever done something worth talking about — but there are so many if you just look a little harder.

I have made it my personal mission to learn women’s names and support their work. In every national park gift shop, I seek out women authors and bring their work home with me, hoping to learn their stories of strength and perseverance and inspire others who peruse my bookshelves to see that the quantity of women’s contributions is as great as the quality.

Championing their stories is part of what inspired NPCA’s “Women of the Parks” bandana, which we are handing out at this year’s in-person Women’s History Month event. The artwork features more than 40 women who left their mark on our national parks. Some names might be familiar, others might not. I hope this wearable art spurs people to look deeper and see how women shaped our world — and our parks.

This month’s free, family friendly event to celebrate Women’s History Month will be the first of its kind. We’re visiting three D.C. sites that tell the stories of women trailblazers, joined by our partner Wondery Outdoors, a gear and apparel company committed to empowering women in the outdoors. Participants will get behind-the-scenes tours of Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial with the nearby Vietnam Women’s Memorial from rangers and experts as we foster community and explore the importance of representation.

Here’s what makes each of these sites significant, not only for women’s history but for the story of our nation.

1. Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument

Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument is named for Alice Paul, founder of the National Woman’s Party, and Alva Belmont, who served as the party’s president from 1920-1933. The monument sits on Capitol Hill, next door to the Hart Senate Office Building.

The 200-year-old brick structure is one of the oldest in D.C. and contains history critical to women all over the nation. Descendants of the original owners sold the house to the National Woman’s Party in 1929, and it functioned as headquarters, hotel and second home for some members until the 1990s.

While many people associate the National Woman’s Party with the 19th Amendment, which was ratified in 1920 to give women the legal right to vote, the group’s headquarters on Constitution Avenue became synonymous throughout the 20th century with the women leaders who lobbied from here for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and led international work for women’s equality.

The building’s location is significant: from the second floor, suffragists — and later second-wave feminists fighting for the ERA — could keep a watchful eye on the U.S. Supreme Court, located just across the street. The monument now contains the most complete collection of women’s suffrage and equal rights movement documents and artifacts in the United States.

Alice Paul unfurling banner in 1920

Alice Paul, chair of the National Woman’s Party, unfurls a banner in Washington, D.C., Aug. 18, 1920, to celebrate ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

Library of Congress, photograph by Harris & Ewing

The monument was closed for Great American Outdoors Act-funded renovations for a few years, but it reopened in 2023 with improvements that greatly enhance the visitor experience. New UV window coatings protect the artifacts inside, meaning heavy drapery is no longer needed and visitors can look outside and better understand the site’s location. There’s also a library where visitors can brush up on women’s history or create their own protest banners and sashes.

I found visiting Belmont-Paul to be especially powerful because it is one of the few museum experiences in the country where visitors almost exclusively see women’s faces and names.

2. Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens

Tucked in a residential neighborhood in northeast Washington, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens is the only national park site devoted to cultivated, water-loving plants. Kenilworth might not exist in its current form today without its steward, Helen Fowler Shaw. In 1889, Shaw’s family started a commercial aquatic garden, which grew from a hobby (today we might call it a side hustle) into a booming business, shipping flowers to as far away as New York and Chicago.

Shaw took over the management of the gardens from her father in 1911. Under her leadership, the business became the country’s largest exporter of cut water flowers, utilizing the area’s ecology to market 63 varieties of plants. Besides having sharp business acumen and horticultural skills, Shaw was the first woman in Washington licensed to drive a truck.

Internationally known as “The Water Lily Lady,” Shaw traveled around the world to bring back new water lilies and lotuses to cultivate.

Shaw opened the property to the public seasonally on Sunday mornings in the 1920s and 1930s, drawing up to 6,000 visitors per day. Shaw and her family resisted the U.S. government’s expansion of Anacostia Park but agreed to sell in 1938 following congressional pressure. Shaw rented her house on the property from the government and lived there until her death in 1957.

The National Park Service agreed to maintain the ponds, and she remained highly involved by training park personnel and giving occasional tours of the grounds.

Today, visitors can wander the ponds, make their way out to a boardwalk overlooking the tidal marshes, and view Shaw’s illustrations, many of which were featured in Shaw Gardens brochures.

3. Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial

The National Mall, known as “America’s Front Yard,” includes over 100 monuments and memorials spread across 1,000 acres of national parkland. But only a handful of these impressive structures honor the lives and contributions of women. This dominance of men even extends to the architects and artists who brought so many nationally recognized monuments to life. Two newer additions are — so far — the exception.

Maya Lin, then 21, won the largest design competition in American history with her submission for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1981. Originally a class project, her unconventional design featuring the names of 58,000 slain soldiers on 144 panels of polished black granite received criticism and accusations that it was unpatriotic.

The design is markedly different from other memorials on the National Mall — black when others are white, sunk into the ground instead of towering above, no American flags or iconography — yet today it’s the most-visited memorial on the National Mall, with over 5 million annual visitors. There was so much backlash that Lin’s name was not spoken during the unveiling. Fortunately, visitors soon saw how powerful the design was — and remains.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial includes eight women’s names, all nurses who were killed during the war. A nearby bronze sculpture by Glenna Goodacre honors all 11,500 women who served in Vietnam as physicians, nurses, intelligence analysts, air traffic controllers and communication specialists. The Vietnam Women’s Memorial, dedicated on Veterans Day in 1993, depicts three women caring for a fallen soldier.

Both sites are places of pilgrimage for veterans and their families — and even for women without personal connections to the war.

A ranger I spoke with described how the Vietnam Women’s Memorial has become a hub for small protests against patriarchy or current events that negatively affect women, as well as for gratitude, often in the form of hair elastics and scrunchies left at the foot of the statue.

The ranger said women feel called to this place, especially for its significance as one of the only sites dedicated to women within D.C.

More to explore

If you find yourself in the area, there are three additional women’s history sites worth exploring. The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site tells the story of a woman born into poverty who grew up to start a school for African American girls, serve as advisor to four U.S. presidents and establish the National Council of Negro Women. The Clara Barton National Historic Site reveals the life and legacy of the founder of the American Red Cross and is the first national park site dedicated to a woman. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park also sheds light on women’s history through the stories of women captains and lock tenders on the Potomac River.

Wondery Outdoors partners with NPCA as an extension of its mission to be a sustainable outdoor lifestyle brand dedicated to liberating women in the outdoors through awareness, resources and the creation of an inclusive outdoors community for women. To support this shared mission, Wondery will donate 3% of the purchase price of each of its Parks of the USA Bucket List Bottles to NPCA.

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Washington, D.C

Tax expert explains DC filing season amid Congress-District dispute

Published

17 minutes ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Tax expert explains DC filing season amid Congress-District dispute

WASHINGTON (7News) — D.C. taxpayers may be confused by back-and-forth between the D.C. City Council and Congress over taxprovision. The city’s financial officer sent a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson, that said the District’s tax laws will not change, despite recent actions by Congress.

7News spoke to director of Tax Policy at the Center for American Progress Corey Husak to explain the complicated tax policy.

“The short answer is, nothing changes. Filing Season can continue as it has been, continue as planned, and according to the laws as we understood them in January,” said Husak.

“If you’ve already filed your taxes, you don’t have to change anything. And if you want to file your taxes, the rules are still the same as they were on the books before,” said Husak.

RELATED | DC Council Chairman talks taxes, budget, bodycams, federal surge

Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee’s revenue estimate issued Friday does not include an estimated $180 million expected this fiscal year from the city’s decoupling law, “due to the uncertainty of the associated revenue as a result of Joint Resolution 142,” according to a released letter.

“The CFO was in a tough spot here. If he agreed with Congress, then businesses and overtime workers will get bigger refunds. But if he agreed with the Mayor and the Attorney General, then families with children and lower income workers would get bigger tax cuts,” said Husak.

SEE MORE | Development of new Commanders stadium scrutinized at DC oversight hearing

“We as District residents can’t control, you know what happens in the courts, what happens in, you know, what Congress does in the future,” said Husak. “But for now, the CFO has said, you know this is, this is a law as it stands, and the law that I’m going to enforce so, you know, file your legally obligated taxes, and maybe in the future, there’ll be a surprise.”

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW

7News spoke to director of Tax Policy at the Center for American Progress Corey Husak to explain the complicated tax policy (7News).{ }

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Washington, D.C

CHERRY BLOSSOM COUNTDOWN: Peak Bloom prediction drops Thursday

Published

12 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

CHERRY BLOSSOM COUNTDOWN: Peak Bloom prediction drops Thursday

WASHINGTON (7News) — The nation’s capital is just about ready to be transformed into a breathtaking pastel landscape of cherry trees in bloom. The famed blossoms around the Tidal Basin are not only a symbol of spring’s arrival, but also of a long-standing friendship — a gift of more than 3,000 trees from Tokyo, Japan, to the United States in 1912.

So what is considered “Peak Bloom”?

The National Park Service (NPS) defines peak bloom as the time when at least 70% of the Yoshino cherry trees around the Tidal Basin have opened their blossoms. This is the period when the blossoms appear most full and spectacular and most ideal for photos, and soaking up spring’s beauty here in DC.

Because cherry trees respond to the cumulative effects of winter and spring weather, especially daily temperatures, it’s very difficult to predict peak bloom more than about 10 days in advance. Warm spells accelerate blooming; cold snaps slow it down.

Average Timing — What History Shows

Since 1921 overall, national data indicate peak bloom typically fell around early April (April 4), based on historical averages.

Average date peak bloom – cherry blossom trees Washington DC Tidal Basin

Since 1990, the average has kept shifting earlier and earlier. In fact, the last 6 years our peak has occurred in late March.

These shifts reflect how warmer springs have nudged peak bloom earlier over the decades.

Earliest & Latest Blooms on Record

Earliest peak bloom: March 15 — recorded in 1990.

Latest peak bloom: April 18 — recorded in 1958.

Of course, most years fall between those dates, with the last week of March to the first week of April historically being the most consistent window for peak bloom.

Earliest Peak Bloom Washington DC

Recent peak blooms show how variable and climate-dependent the timing can be:

2025: The National Park Service predicted peak bloom between March 28–31 (and confirmed the official peak around March 28).

2024: Peak bloom arrived very early, on March 17, several days ahead of NPS projections — tied for one of the earliest peaks in decades.

These examples demonstrate not only how much each season can differ, but also a trend toward earlier spring blossoms in recent years.

What to Expect for Spring 2026

As of early March 2026, the cherry trees are still dormant. The buds haven’t begun significant growth yet. The weather will become more critical in the weeks leading up to the bloom will be the biggest factor in determining when peak bloom happens in 2026.

Heavy winter cold, as experienced this year, tends to delay bloom compared with recent early springs. In contrast, an early warm stretch could push peak bloom earlier — as long as it doesn’t come with subsequent frost.

Look for the green bud stage first. This is when the buds are small, tight, and green, with no sign of petals yet. Trees are still several weeks from blooming.

Tips for Cherry Blossom Visitors

Plan in the “sweet spot” — peak bloom often lasts a few days to about a week, but weather (rain, wind, heat) can shorten that window.

Visit slightly before or after the predicted peak dates for smaller crowds and extended color. Blossoms can be gorgeous even before 70% bloom or as petals begin falling.

Check NPS updates and First Alert Weather forecasts in late March for tweaked peak bloom dates.

The cherry blossoms of Washington, D.C. remain one of the most iconic harbingers of spring in the U.S., and while exact bloom dates vary year-to-year, history and natural patterns point to late March through early April as your best bet for seeing the Tidal Basin in full floral glory.

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Washington, D.C

Fact Check Team: Iran conflict revives Washington fight over who can authorize US force

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Fact Check Team: Iran conflict revives Washington fight over who can authorize US force

WASHINGTON (TNND) — As the war in Iran intensifies across the Middle East, a constitutional battle is unfolding in Washington over a fundamental question: Who has the authority to declare war, Congress or the president?

The debate focuses on the War Powers Resolution, a 1973 law designed to prevent years-long military conflicts without congressional approval. Lawmakers passed the measure in the aftermath of the Vietnam War to reclaim authority they believed had drifted too far toward the executive branch.

What Is the War Powers Resolution?

The War Powers Resolution was intended to put limits on a president’s ability to send U.S. troops into combat without Congress signing off.

Under the law, a president can deploy forces into hostilities only if Congress has formally declared war, passed a specific authorization for the use of military force, or the U.S. has been attacked.

The resolution also sets strict deadlines.

The president must notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing U.S. forces into hostilities. From there, a 60-day clock begins. If Congress does not approve the military action within that time, troops must be withdrawn — though the law allows an additional 30-day wind-down period.

Some argue the law was crafted to prevent “never-ending wars.” While others say presidents from both parties have routinely stretched and sidestepped its requirements.

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 14: Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) visits with Senate pages in the basement of the U.S. Capitol Police ahead of a vote on January 14, 2026 in Washington, DC. Republicans voted to block a Venezuela war powers resolution after receiving assurances from President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio of no U.S. forces remaining in Venezuela and pledges for congressional involvement in major future operations. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

What Does the Constitution Say?

The War Powers Resolution is rooted directly in the U.S. Constitution.

Article I, Section 8 gives Congress — not the president — the power “to declare War.”

Article II, Section 2 names the president as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy.

In simple terms, Congress decides whether the country goes to war. The president directs the military once it is engaged.

The framers intentionally split that authority. Their goal was to avoid concentrating too much war-making power in one person — likely a reaction to the monarchy they had just broken away from.

But how that balance plays out in real time is often a legal and political fight. At times, disputes over war powers have reached the courts, though Congress and the executive branch frequently resolve them through political pressure rather than judicial rulings.

A Pattern of Stretching the War Powers Resolution

Essentially, every president since 1973 has pushed the boundaries of the War Powers Resolution rather than fully complying with its original intent. As the Council on Foreign Relations explains, the resolution was designed to “provide presidents with the leeway to respond to attacks or other emergencies” but also to **require termination of combat after 60 to 90 days unless Congress authorizes continuation.”

For example:

Ronald Reagan ordered the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983 without prior congressional authorization, later reporting to Congress in a manner “consistent with” the resolution.
Bill Clinton directed the 1999 NATO air campaign in Kosovo after congressional authorization efforts failed, continuing U.S. engagement beyond the WPR’s typical 60-day reporting window.
Barack Obama oversaw U.S. participation in the 2011 Libya campaign, arguing that limited strikes did not trigger the full force of the WPR’s time limits.

In more recent years, Donald Trump’s administration has once again brought these issues to the forefront.

War Powers Arguments from the White House

The Trump administration’s principal legal rationale has centered on two points:

Short-term strikes or limited military actions do not always trigger the full 60-day clock under the War Powers Resolution, especially when described as defensive, limited in scope, or tied to national security emergencies rather than prolonged hostilities. In some cases, the White House relies on prior Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) or other statutory authorities rather than seeking new congressional approval.

Current Public Opinion on Iran Strikes

Public opinion reflects significant skepticism about the current U.S. military engagement with Iran. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that just 27% of Americans support the recent U.S. and allied strikes on Iran, while 43% disapprove and 29% remain uncertain.

Another national poll conducted by SSRS for CNN found that nearly 60% of U.S. citizens disapprove of the military actions, and a similar share said that President Trump should seek Congressional authorization for further action.

Beyond polling, internal deliberations in Congress have already begun. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have pushed for votes on war powers resolutions that would seek to limit or require authorization for further military action against Iran. Past attempts to pass similar restraints have failed, reflecting deep partisan divisions and the complexities of enforcing the War Powers Resolution.

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