2025 Essays

Undergraduate Library Research Award Essay: "Histories of Privatization: Examining Culture, Legal Conflict, and Economic Transformation at Adams Morgan Plaza in Washington, DC"

Barrett, Ishaan

First-place winning essay in the Sophomore, Junior, or Senior category of the Undergraduate Library Research Award, presented by the Science, Engineering, and Social Sciences Libraries (SESSL).

Public spaces are disappearing at alarming rates as cities face mounting housing, economic, and social issues. Adams Morgan Plaza in Washington, DC is no different. Over the past several years, the Plaza has experienced numerous changes that have radically altered the neighborhood. It sparked community outrage and an ensuing lawsuit that wounds way, slowly, through the DC courts. This study uses census data and primary source documents to understand why Adams Morgan Plaza was privatized and how these changes are challenged. The results shed new light on how legal battles and economic pressures shaped the development of a central neighborhood landmark. It’s history as a theatre and communal epicenter are obscured by its liminality. The Plaza today contradicts Adams Morgan’s legacy of diversity and artistic culture,
but also finds itself on a new path: to create affordable housing. These findings provide insights into an ongoing history of change, cultural expression, and community within a vibrant neighborhood of the nation’s capital.

Keywords: Washington, DC; housing; historic preservation; Adams Morgan; public space; urban studies; economics; legal history; DC governance and politics; social and economic history.