Paul V Grant

Bearing Witness

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Penn Branch digs out from our first snow storm of 2025

Happy New Year, Neighbors!
Last week I attended a panel hosted by Humanities DC that commemorated the 100th birthday of renowned American author and essayist James Baldwin. Three distinguished writers discussed the importance of bearing witness–sharing and preserving your own testimony of current or past events. Stories can deepen our understanding of the past, give meaning to our present, and inspire change.  So much of what PBCA does at this moment is also about bearing witness.

Paul Grant, President, Penn Branch Community Association (2022-2026)
Paul Grant, President, PBCA

9/11 Memorial Park
 Next month we will launch our memorial paver fundraising campaign for 9/11 Memorial Park. Our goal is to make that little pocket park a beautiful gathering space that memorializes those D.C. residents who tragically lost their lives on 9/11. Named pavers will be a testament to the many wonderful families–past and present–who have made Penn Branch the best neighborhood in the District of Columbia.

This year we will attempt to host a mix of virtual and two or three seasonal, in-person community meetings. Our January meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday. Please  join us. Our new Ward 7 Councilmember, Wendell Felder, is planning to join us.  Establishing meaningful dialog with our new councilmember will help him to shape a fruitful policy agenda for our communities. I want to congratulate him for taking the torch of service on the DC Council and wish him every success.
Also, Leah Gage from Humanities DC  will also join our meeting to share information about their open oral history and independent practitioner fellowship grants. Both are wonderful opportunities to get humanities training while preserving and interpreting D.C. stories. 

Renew Your Membership

Finally, please take a moment to visit our revised website and renew your membership. Your continued support is the engine that keeps our community on the move.  Membership runs January 1-Dec 31st.  Our executive board is laser focused on bringing greater value to your membership, increasing our connection to each other–and with greater Ward 7, and improving our public spaces.

Keep safe. Check on your neighbors. And never stop sharing your story.

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Penn Branch Oral History Project Officially Underway

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Last month PBCA Communications Director, Paul Grant was awarded a grant from DC Humanities, Oral History Collaborative Partnership to collect personal narratives from early Penn Branch families. The project, ‘We Are Penn Branch DC’ will focus on the stories of individuals who became residents of Penn Branch between 1945-1968.

PBCA Communications Director, Paul Grant will serve as Project Director for ‘We Are Penn Branch DC’ oral history project. He is has lived in Penn Branch since, 2012 and is also a member of the Oral History Association (OHA).

About DC Humanities

The DC Humanities Oral History Collaborative Partnership funds projects that explore and preserves Washington, DC life, history and culture through interviews with the people who have lived it.  Created in 2016 in response to a growing need to capture unrecorded Washington history, the DC Oral History Collaborative documents and preserves the stories and memories of DC residents as communities experience change and as residents age.  The Collaborative increases awareness of existing oral history recordings and gives residents the training and financial resources they need to conduct new interviews.  HumanitiesDC specializes in working with grantees who want to create new recorded stories or who want to dig into the archives and tell an old story with a new twist.

Why Oral History is Important?

Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events. Oral history is both the oldest type of historical inquiry, predating the written word, and one of the most modern, initiated with tape recorders in the 1940s and now using 21st-century digital technologies. These personal stories help fill gap between the major historical facts that we know and how real people experienced and understood these moments.  As the Washington, DC area and continues to experience significant political, cultural, and economic change over the past 70 years, it is critically important we preserve the memories  our most senior, and long-time residents and understand how the city’s evolution has impacted them.

The entire collection of stories will be archived in the permanent collection of the DC Public Library and the PBCA Executive Board is planning to host a public exhibition of the stories, once pandemic restrictions on public gatherings are released.  Interviews will be filmed through October 2021 and participants will receive a $75.00 honorarium for their time.

To share your story, please contact:

Paul Grant | E-mail :   [email protected]        Tel.: (202) 888-3236

To learn more about HumanitiesDC, please visit:

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Penn Branch digs out from our first snow storm of 2025

Bearing Witness

Happy New Year, Neighbors!Last week I attended a panel hosted by Humanities DC that commemorated the 100th birthday of renowned