It was always a delight to be notified of an email from Ann Kessler, who died on August 19th after a long battle with leukemia. It meant that that this dogged and creative chronicler of our neighborhood’s history had dug up something new and fascinating about the people who used to live here, and the places that used to be here.
Kessler researched and told the neighborhood’s stories for decades. Her two children were Murch Elementary students in the 1980s, and in 1990, she wrote a history of the school. She then lent her talents to the Forest Hills Citizens Association, and to the Images of America book on Forest Hills.
Schools and children figured prominently in some of her first articles for Forest Hills Connection. Kessler in 2013 wrote about first public school in Forest Hills predated Murch and Hearst Elementary by more than 60 years, and one of the first to serve Black children in segregated Washington. In the late 1880s, this area was still considered “the country,” and was home to a summer retreat for poor and ailing kids from “the city.”
Through her stories, we could imagine walking down Connecticut Avenue in the early 1940s and seeing then-Senator Harry Truman out for a stroll or heading to the Hot Shoppe near his two-bedroom apartment for a quick meal. You might have seen Lady Bird Johnson collecting Red Cross donations from her neighbors, and, in the 1950s, volunteered with her at a Murch function.
Speaking of the Hot Shoppe: Kessler taught us how a neighborhood that sprang up around the Connecticut Avenue streetcar was further shaped by the automobile. Through her research and writings we learned that the Van Ness commercial district was once known as “Gasoline Alley,” and through nine decades of change on a single Connecticut Avenue block, an “auto laundry” was the one constant.
Kessler, a retired librarian, also contributed to the DC historical record through her volunteer work with the DC Public Library and the DC History Center, which published this interview with her only a few days before she died. And her family wrote lovingly of her life and contributions in an obituary published in The Washington Post.
Truly, Ann Kessler left us a neighborhood history treasure trove. She had a knack for finding details about local figures, famous and obscure, and bringing their stories to life. We will miss her, and will miss that feeling of curiosity and discovery that she ignited in us with every email.
David Jonas Bardin says
May Ann’s memory be a blessing to all of us. We will miss her diligence, insights, and generosity.
Condolences to her family.
David Cohen says
Thanks for this wonderful memorial, and for its links. By pure coincidence, I just finished reading her 1990 history of Ben W. Murch Elementary School (where I had Mrs. Rich for fifth grade, Mrs. Mitchell for sixth grade, and Miss Kaufman as principal) a few nights ago. It’s a remarkable account of a remarkable history.
Paul and Merry Pearlstein says
Our condolences.
Gary G Stevens says
A true loss for all of Forest Hills.
Our deepest sympathies to her family.
Gary and Rebecca Stevens
Leslie Buhler says
This is such a loss. Her curiosity about the past and her love of history was a gift to all.
To her daughter, son, husband and extended family, we send our condolences.
She is missed. Leslie Buhler and Robert Berendt